Customer Reviews

Chloe Zhivago's Recipe for Marriage and Mischief: A Novel

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In London, forty-three years old psychotherapist Chloe Zhivago seems to be living the perfect life. She loves her spouse Dr. Greg and cherishes her two teenage children who seem abnormal because they cause no trouble and adore their parents. Perhaps the only downside in her life is Greg's phobic reaction to his uncle having Alzheimer's; and to be honest she finds it cute when he hides household items so that he can recall where he put them; that is except the teakettle. Chloe knows life is good so why is she going through a crisis of is that all there is.

Greg seems to have one Alzheimer's' trait that annoys Chloe; he has forgotten the erotic weekends when they first married seventeen years ago. She and her best friend corporate climber and mommy Ruth Zimmer discuss the lack of spontaneity especially sex in their lives. Seeking passion (and sex) Chloe wonders if the new hunk on the block, married Ivan the Russian can light her fire. His notes of love (in Russian) entice Chloe to consider a tryst; that is after she has it converted into the Queen's English, which loses something in the translation.

Tongue in cheek, this is an amusing look at the middle age crisis starring a woman whose recipes add to the fun of the tale. The support cast is a zany eccentric bunch whether they are family, friend, potential lover, or patient. However, this is clearly Chloe's fling as she ponders the critical issue facing a forty something person: to cheat or not to cheat that is the titillating question.

Harriet Klausner

I wish this author would pen more novels. I found her story to be realistic, funny and a charming read. This is not typical chick-lit - but a more sophistocated novel.

I've read plenty of chick lit, but this book would not rank among the top reads. I felt that the author was trying to hard to have characters doing weird things (chloe's brother Sammy converted to Buddhism and lives in a teepee in Spain, a lesbian affair involving Chloe's au pair and one of her Czech friends, the far-fetched story of chloe's father meeting his love interest through a german soldier in world war 2). Honestly, i couldn't believe that this book was supposed to take place in London. The mood of the book was so gloomy and focused on eastern european culture that it might as well have taken place in belgrade. the cherry on top was chloe's having a baby at the end of the novel: ridiculous. Her other children are teenagers, and she's past forty. Some may look at welcoming a new life into the world as a fresh start for the family, but I think Chloe has enough "problems" already...

Final Verdict:

Really, don't bother.

4+ stars - This author has created a thoroughly well crafted story and I was amazed by her insight and ability to describe the feelings and thoughts that the characters were experiencing. Very well done! It was also quite funny! I listened to the audio version and the narrator was exceptional as well. Conservative individuals will probably not like the subject matter in this story. I look forward to another book by this author!

I picked this up in the "new titles" section of the library and am pleased that I did. Most of the characters were lovable, even though they were doing some unlovable things. I thought the insights into what women (only women??) think about what their marriages have turned into were spot on. An exciting adventure!