Elinor Lipman

A hysterical phone call from Henry Archer's ex-wife and a familiar face in a photograph upend his well-ordered life and bring him back into contact with the child he adored, a short-term stepdaughter from a misbegotten marriage long ago. Henry is a lawyer, an old-fashioned man, gay, successful, lonely. Thalia is now twenty-nine, an actress-hopeful, estranged from her newly widowed eccentric mother—Denise, Henry's ex. Hoping it will lead to better...

"An endearing romantic comedy from the beloved best-selling author of The Family Man and The View from Penthouse B At thirty-two, Faith Frankel has returned to her claustro-suburban hometown, where she writes institutional thank-you notes for her alma mater. It's a peaceful life, really, and surely with her recent purchase of a sweet bungalow on Turpentine Lane her life is finally on track. Never mind that her fiancé is off on a crowdfunded cross-country...

My Latest Grievance stars the beguiling teenager Frederica Hatch, the "Eloise of Dewing College." Born and raised in the dormitory of this small women's college and chafing under the care of "the most annoyingly evenhanded parental team in the history of civilization," Frederica is starting to feel that her life is stiflingly snug. That all changes with the arrival on campus of a new dorm mother, the glamorous Laura Lee French, the frenetic center...

Advertising executive Harvey Nash, a famed womanizer, returns to his fiancée, 30 years after walking out on her. Still single, Adele Dobbin lives with two unmarried sisters and the result is a ménage à quatre, plus all the other women in his life.

A budding writer, Harriet Mahoney, is hired by a socialite to ghost write her biography. The socialite, Isabel Krug, was in bed with her lover when his wife appeared, gun in hand. Now Isabel wants the world to know her side of the story. Harriet moves into Isabel's huge mansion and the novel chronicles their amusing relationship. By the author of The Way Men Act.

Elinor Lipman has populated her fictional universe with characters so utterly real that we feel like they're old friends. Now she shares an even more intimate world with us - her own - in essays that offer a candid, charming take on modern life. Looking back and forging ahead, she considers the subjects that matter most: childhood and condiments, long marriage and solo living, career and politics. Here you'll find the lighthearted: a celebration of...

Desperate to start a family, New York schoolteacher, April Epner hits a midlife crisis when, in quick succession, her husband unexpectedly abandons her and her adoptive mother dies. She gets another shock when she meets her biological mother, an eccentric, self-centered talk show host, whom at first she rejects. Then the divorced dad of one of her students begins courting April. As her life is turned upside-down, April finds herself opening up in...

One-time popular and eye-catching Melinda LeBlanc finds her world as a successful florist is not enough.

Desperate to start a family, New York schoolteacher, April Epner hits a midlife crisis when, in quick succession, her husband unexpectedly abandons her and her adoptive mother dies. She gets another shock when she meets her biological mother, an eccentric, self-centered talk show host, whom at first she rejects. Then the divorced dad of one of her students begins courting April. As her life is turned upside-down, April finds herself opening up in...