Kirkus Review
In a remarkably confident debut, a woman's life is revealed through fragments and meditations hinting at a life of great daring and unrealized dreams.The book's 24 short, largely chronological chapters are titled like some kind of unorthodox primer"On How to Study," "On the Importance of Big Pockets," "On One-Night Stands," "On Looking the Part"and indeed, Lillian holds forth, witty, crass and vulnerable, imparting the wisdom of a carefully reckless life. Despite being born to conventional Midwesterners in the 1930s, Lillian falls into a sophisticated life of love affairs and independence. After a couple of years at Vassar and polite Yale men, then a minor breakdown that sends her home to finish her English lit degree in Missouri, Lillian finds a temporary job typing a manuscript for a journalist in Germany. In Munich, she's shellshocked by isolation and innocence, wandering around with a copy of The Brothers Karamazov to keep her dining-for-one respectable. An ardent Hungarian named Lazlo forces himself on her, though "[s]uch things weren't called rape back then." Lillian finds permanent work at a newswire service, and her career takes her to Paris in the '50s (and to the bed of Willis, a man of great taste and rash decisions), to London in the early '60s (and a house with John, an icy columnist), and to New York in the '70s (with Ted, her married boss, filling her every thought). Although she wanted marriage and children, a number of very bad and very good choices kept her single, though rarely alone. Unconventionally plotted, Lillian's tale is filled with lush details and cool observations about the twins of female freedom: contentment and compromise. A slim novel that feels just perfecteach thought measured, each syllable counted, a kind of haiku to an independent woman. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Debut author Lester brings to life a fascinating protagonist, Lillian, a middle-aged woman with a delightfully honest approach to life, love, and happiness. Scenes from Lillian's life are presented in a series of brief chapters that are arranged in a nonlinear format, which heightens the feeling that the reader is in a conversation with this compelling woman, learning about her experiences as she chooses to describe them. Love is a common theme Lillian has had one grand romance and many lesser loves but her subjects include everything from late-in-life sexuality to family to the workplace. Lillian is the cosmopolitan aunt we all wish we had the one who always bestows the best advice just when it's needed, knows the perfect gift to give for every occasion, and tells the most interesting stories about her life. It's easy to imagine Lillian passing along her collected musings on life and love to a beloved niece with the inscription, Here is what I've learned. Go forth and seize every opportunity, and experience everything it leads to. Lester has given readers the grand gift of Lillian's wisdom, beauty, and candor in this lovely novel.--Donohue, Nanette Copyright 2014 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Women have, for generations, heard talk of the concept of having it all; sexagenarian Lillian can speak knowledgeably on the topic. In a series of vignettes she recounts the decisions she's made that have brought her here, to present-day New York City, along with the importance of self-actualization. From her early years in the Midwest, where she enjoyed a special bond with her father to career and love-life decisions that led to living as an expat in Europe to finding and losing the love of her life in New York, this lively and insightful debut novel (after the author's collection Locked Out: Stories Far from Home) holds up the decisions women make every day to analysis and introspection. It is startlingly frank and sometimes funny or shocking or heartbreaking. There's a raw and intimate quality to the first-person narrative that counterbalances the vignette structure, which is a little hard to get into. VERDICT While this book is more demanding than typical women's fiction, the rewards are worth the time. It's a strong choice for book groups and readers seeking "something different."-Amy Brozio-Andrews, Albany P.L., NY (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
