Play Dates

February 1, 2005
In Manhattan's world of competitive mothering, Claire Marsh becomes seriously handicapped when her 15-years-senior husband leaves her for an older woman. Without a well-to-do husband and Hilda the housekeeper, how is Claire supposed to stay in the game of birthday parties that cost more than some weddings and a full roster of baby bikram (yoga) and kinder karate? Having married her husband when she was only 18, Claire finds herself a 26-year-old mother who has never had a job. Now she must find work, care for her daughter, and try not to let the sniping comments of other moms get to her. Fans of Carroll's lighthearted comedies--" Reality Check "(2002), " Temporary Insanity "(2004)--will find more of the same here. The story is engaging, and Carroll's mockery of the snobbishness that pervades some urban parenting circles is spot-on.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)