Customer Reviews

A Departure from the Script

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A Jewish "Joy Luck Club" - heartwarming, sensitive & funny. Rochelle Hollander Schwab weaves an intricate story of the bond between husband & wife, parent & daughter, and our relationship with society. This story tugs at your heart, is a refreshing look at love and commitment.

Rochelle Schwab uses the vehicle of a delightful, fun story to deal with difficult issues in a sensitive, thoughtful, and effective way. In presenting the struggles of Sheila Katz as she deals with the homosexuality of her daughter, and the reactions of her husband, family, and friends, Schwab uses a variety of situations and characters and some delightfully funny happenings. The book doesn't stop at dealing with the sexuality of Sheila's daughter. It takes a hard look at the fluid and sometimes surprising sexual reactions we find in ourselves when we look deep enough. Schwab also takes careful and loving aim at the American cruelty towards those carrying extra weight and deals with the effects it has on the individual as well. Schwab demonstrates a remarkable understanding of human nature, with all its foibles and faults, draws her characters with real clarity--something too few authors do--and builds a story filled with humor, fun, and a little suspense.
The book starts slow, and the first few pages are a little pedantic. However, once the story kicks in, which it does fairly quickly, there's no looking back--you're hooked and avidly reading till the end. I recommend this book especially for those dealing with any gay family member, or for a gay trying to understand family reactions. An excellent book. This is Schwab's second, and I'll definitely be looking forward to a third!

Using amusing, often unexpected humor, Rochelle Hollander Schwab's latest is a delightful novel about family, marriage, and the process of growing comfortable with all shades of the rainbow. Jewish mother/wife/amateur actress Sheila Katz, married for over thirty years, is stunned from complacency when she learns her daughter Jenny is getting married to a woman named Tamara. Dan, her husband, doesn't take the news well and thinks that given time, Jenny will pass through the phase. He's already suffered enough criticism because his son married a Catholic girl-and converted!-and he refuses to acknowledge his daughter's sexual orientation. This pushes Sheila and Dan's marriage to the edge and contributes to the uproar over Jenny's lifestyle.

Sheila is a survivor, though, and she definitely does not want to lose her daughter, so she chooses the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" tactic. She starts attending PFLAG meetings, works at readjusting her thinking, and helps to plan the Jewish wedding ceremony behind Dan's back. Little does she know that meeting an attractive lesbian artist will have such an affect her. If her life wasn't turned upside down before, it truly is now.

The story of how Sheila and the Katz family deals with this very topical issue is engrossing, endearing, and entertaining, while also sometimes sobering. Schwab uses a smooth and highly readable style to write a novel for the new millennium. With the legalization of marriage in Canada in 2003 and the ongoing social arguments about fair treatment of gays and lesbians, including marriage, this book is timely and fascinating. It's a book all parents-and non-parents-should read. In Schwab's skillful and sensitive hands, A DEPARTURE FROM THE SCRIPT is funny and true to life, but poses no easy answers. Highly recommended. ~Lori L. Lake, book reviewer for Midwest Book Review, The Independent Gay Writer, Just About Write, and TheGayRead.com.

What's a Jewish mother to do when the dream wedding she's always envisioned for her daughter turns out--lesbian?

This book is wickedly funny and oh-so-poignant. Buy it. (And eat a little while you read it--what, you want to wither away from malnutrition? :*)

In her latest offering, the author presents a fully realized, multi-demensional protagonist thrust into a highly charged, emotionally challenging situation. The plotting is deft; the supporting characters clearly limned; and the story really "grabs" your attention. This one is very hard to put down. The author's skill and imagination keep this tale sailing "full speed ahead". As you can tell, I found this to be a highly satisfying, "can't wait to see what happens next," reading experience.

A Departure From The Script by Rochelle Hollander Schwab is the compelling novel of a Jewish mother Sheila Katz, whose son became Catholic when he married, and whose daughter came out a lesbian. Though Sheila's husband disapproves, Sheila herself comes to accept the situation with the help of a support group. Yet as Sheila helps plan her daughter's wedding, she becomes infatuated with a glamorous lesbian artist... and the possibility of radically altering her life forever. Highly recommended reading, A Depature From The Script is humorous, thoughtful, and filled with very real human emotion from first page to last.

This novel is about the ups and downs that Sheila, a loving wife and good Jewish mother, experiences as she helps her daughter, Jenny, plan her wedding. Only one little thing keeps this from being the wonderful affair that Sheila has dreamed of all her life -- Jenny is marrying another woman. Schwab has written an incredibly funny yet sensitive book that explores some of the issues and feelings that loving parents experience when an adult child comes out. Sheila is an unforgettable character who struggles mightily to hide her own ambivalence about Jenny's sexuality and wedding plans, while running interference between Jenny and less supportive members of the family (including her husband Dan).

Through a budding friendship with a lesbian artist she meets through PFLAG (a support group for parents of gay men and lesbians), Sheila eventually achieves peace with herself and her complicated family situation. She also realizes a hard lesson - that everyone else's happiness isn't her responsibility.

A wonderful read, Schwab's characters and their relationshiops are complex and portrayed with an unfailing eye for truth. Although flawed, these are well-meaning people who do their best to be loving even if often acting at cross-purposes. In the end, Schwab deftly pulls together many different plot threads to provide us with a satisfying and believable resolution. At the end of the book, I wanted to shake the author's hand and give her a hearty "Mazel Tov!"

I am in a diversity book club where I work and we chose A Departure from the Script as one of our reading selections. What a great read! This book explored multiple levels of diversity - not only homosexuality but religion and weight issues. Additionally, the book delved into husband/wife, man/woman and parent/child issues with equal ease. The book spawned lively discussion and thought-provoking introspection. Although dealing with meaty issues, the book was an easy page turner. I not only recommend A Departure from the Script as a great book highlighting diverse issues but just simply a good book.

. In many ways I AM Sheila Katz (especially on the weight) and I know everyone else (same people, different names and faces.) Some of the remarks Dan made at the beginning were so like my husband's that I would have thought you were quoting him. I am also active in PFLAG. Your explanation of Jewish customs are great. It was a very enjoyable book.

This book has it all- it's funny, touching, realistic, and truly entertaining. A must read for every Jewish lesbian!