The Love Book

September 15, 2014
Solomon’s follow-up to her 2003 debut Single Wife revolves around four unlikely friends who first meet during a disastrous Flaubert-themed bike trip in France. There, one of them comes across the titular book about attracting a mate. While the premise of four disparate personalities meeting cute may seem trite at first, Solomon’s effort eventually blossoms into a compelling mix of story lines. Back in Manhattan, Emily, a freelance writer with an impressionable 10-year-old son, catches the eye of Duncan, a charming author with a mean streak that rivals Emily’s ex-husband’s. Fellow New Yorker Max, a tough tomboy who guards her heart fiercely and worries about having fallen for too-good-to-be-true Garrett, works as a personal trainer. Superstitious Cathy, who found the Love Book and keeps trying to get the four together to follow its exercises, lives with her elderly father after having lost her home in a fire. She’s dying to find her soul mate, unlike fiery Beatrice, who is fiercely independent at 69 and determined not to let any man tie her down, even her married paramour Freddy, who wants to marry her, or his brother Malcolm, who is clearly the guy for her. Things may end a little too neatly for the protagonists, but there’s plenty of good banter and characterization before the inevitable happy conclusion.

November 15, 2014
Women find love and friendship with the help of a mysterious guidebook in this novel from Solomon (Single Wife, 2003).The four women who meet on a "Tour de Flaubert" bike trip in Normandy don't necessarily expect that the trip will change their lives, but they end up forming a bond that affects each of them. Emily is a divorced mother and writer, Max is a tough personal trainer, Cathy is a teacher and hopeless romantic, and Beatrice is a 69-year-old cynic who has no time for romance. They seem unlikely friends, but one thing keeps them together-The Love Book, an instructional guide Cathy finds on a bookshelf. Although not everyone takes The Love Book as seriously as dreamy, naive Cathy does, the book continues to figure prominently in the women's lives as they attempt to navigate their own personal dilemmas. Emily deals with her ex-husband, her son and a pompous literary boyfriend, while Beatrice tries her hardest to avoid any sort of romantic commitment. Max's tough past makes it hard for her to move forward, while Cathy is so hopeful that she continues believing in the book's power even after her house burns down. The women's stories can drag at times, and some are more interesting than others, but their friendships make up the heart of the story. Happy endings abound in this novel about the power of love and friendship.

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December 1, 2014
Emily, Beatrice, Max, and Cathy would never have met if it wasn't for Madame Bovary. Grouped together on a cycling tour of Flaubert's Normandy, the four women share adventures, frustrations, the full scope of French weather, and plenty of calvados. Back in the U.S., the women find that they have a strange book in common, too. The Love Book continues to insert itself into their lives, appearing in purses and on shelves, forcing its red leather-bound cover into their hands. All four women have been unlucky in love recently, and The Love Book might hold all the answers they need. On the other hand, can you really trust a book to find your soul mate? Intermingling their stories and voices, the novel delves into the lives of four very different women joined by a common purpose. Though voicing an ensemble novel can be tough, Solomon does an admirable job of keeping the four characters distinct and relatable. Fans of Sarah Dessen and Mary Kay Andrews will enjoy this grown-up Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, a story of risk, reward, loss, and love.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)