FICTION

The View from Penthouse B.

The View from Penthouse B. Houghton Harcourt. Apr. 2013. 272p. ISBN 9780547576213. $25; ebk. ISBN 9780547840628. F
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Gwen-Laura Consadine, widowed and still grieving after two years, moves into a swanky Manhattan penthouse at her older sister Margot's invitation. Margot's place is a bit too much for her to keep on her own now that her money has been Madoff-Ponzied away, a fact that she chronicles on her little-read blog. Margot has reason to vent publicly: her ex-husband, a fertility specialist, is doing prison time for an überscandal. While Gwen needs to be shaken out of her grief and Margot needs to come out of her rage, both need occupation, money, and direction. Enter Anthony, their third roommate and a cupcake artist with a knack for handling older women. Anthony is essential when Gwen is determined to start a business built on the idea of the "Chaste Dates" for which she longs, and once the fertility doctor is back on the scene.
VERDICT Lipman (Then She Found Me; The Inn at Lake Devine) hits her stride again. Middle-age love, family dynamics, and friendship makes her latest jarringly funny, touching, and vividly amusing.
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