Dear Great Book Guru, With the long Columbus Day weekend coming up, I’m planning on spending my days and nights in Sea Cliff- it’s such a beautiful time of year here and the perfect opportunity to read a good novel.  Any suggestions? 

Loving October in Sea Cliff

Dear Loving…. I just finished a fun book I’m sure you will enjoy: THE MISFORTUNE OF MARION PALM  by Emily Culliton. It’s a first novel, and the young author is skillful at capturing voice and venue. Marion Palm is a Brooklyn Heights mother who has been embezzling money from her daughters’ exclusive private school.  When the book opens, Marion has just learned the IRS is about to audit the school’s tax returns.  She packs a knapsack with $40,000 in cash, takes her children out to a local restaurant for a farewell lunch, skips out without paying, and thus begins her odyssey through the outlying neighborhoods of Brooklyn in an attempt to avoid her clueless poet- husband, a baffled detective, and an avenging school board. It’s a madcap journey with strong feminist undertones as she confronts and defies many of society’s stereotypes.  Told in very short chapters in the voices of Marion, her husband, and daughters, the novel is a compelling read and highly recommended!