Cheap Better Homes and Husbands (Book) (Valerie Ann Leff) Price

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Customer Reviews of Better Homes and Husbands

A Charming Debut for Valerie Ann Leff
Welcome to Manhattan's 980 Park Avenue where the rich and filthy rich reside. Don't be jealous, though, because they're not without their problems. They have their share of struggles, scandals and grief. As the poor are so fond of saying, "Money can't buy happiness." But let us not forget the retort of the rich, "It makes misery so much easier." Such is the case at 980 Park Avenue.

BETTER HOMES & HUSBANDS gives us an inside look at the lives of those who live and work in the building; those who are separated not only by walls of plaster and plywood but also by walls of class, society and snobbery. However, no wall is enough to keep them out of each other's lives completely. Their joys and their tragedies intermingle over the years and no one's business is as confidential as they'd like to pretend it is.

Take, for instance, Claudia and Madeline, girlhood friends who are as close as sisters but become separated due to a terrible tragedy. What starts out as a simple life and close friendship becomes hopelessly complicated as misunderstandings occur. Then there's Claudia's father, Dick Sapphire, who finds love for the second time and then has to adjust himself to a wife and a life so much different from what he had anticipated.

There's Vinnie, the elevator man, who leaves the building behind in what seems like misfortune only to find that it has led him to the greatest opportunity of his life. And let us not forget the Baroness Idabell Smith d'Alencon, a woman whose invitations are few and far between but coveted by every woman in the building. You'll also meet Angelita Somoza, an exquisite woman who has a never-ending procession of maids and nannies who seem to have no skills whatsoever for cleaning or childcare.

The stories in this book span the timeframe of 1970 to 2000 and the changes that occur in the lives of the residents and in society. The residents of 980 Park Avenue may know which stock to buy to increase their fortunes. They may know the designer from which to purchase an evening gown for the next society ball. The one thing they don't seem to be familiar with is the old adage that good fences make for good neighbors.

Valerie Ann Leff makes a charming debut with her first novel.

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This Year's Must Read - A Great Summer Book!
I didn't exactly grow up in the world (the haves and have mores) depicted in Better Homes and Husbands, but I grew up adjacent to it-certainly close enough to marvel at Valerie Ann Leff's ability to x-ray the lives and loves, illusions and delusions of a certain caste of moneyed New Yorkers who inhabit one of Park Avenue's storied addresses (albeit a fictional one).

Valerie's talent for observation is flawless, and her prose effortless. Her deftly drawn characters are compelling without exception. Taken together they make 980 Park Avenue a kaleidoscope of old money and new, power and fame, devastating lies and universal truths. In the end, the building becomes kind of a character itself, something to aspire to and something to escape from, a dream and a nightmare, a postcard from the past and a letter to the future.

Wherever you live now, Park Avenue or Pacoima, this book is one great summer read. You won't want to put it down, and you will never want it to end.