Finding Clarity: A Mom, A Dwarf and a Posh Private School in the People's Republic of Berkeley [Kindle Edition]

Laura Novak (Author)

Book Description

"Novak is as funny as Janet Evanovich, as clever a plotter
as Sue Grafton, and as deft in creating compelling characters as Laura
Lippman."

"Laura Novak may be the Erma Bombeck of mystery writers. The
pace and wit of her writing makes Finding Clarity a delight from cover to
cover."

Clari Drake was once a former hot shot TV reporter of ample
proportions who took San Francisco by storm. Now, Clari is a middle-aged,
misfit mom who tops 200 pounds and wears Birkenstocks with woolen socks in the
city everyone loves to laugh at, quirky Berkeley, California. The fur flies
when Clari takes on the ruling class at her son's elite academy where the
beloved headmaster is let go and a loser from Las Vegas takes his place. Clari
suspects the wealthy folks running the school are up to financial malfeasance
and strange social shenanigans. So she teams up with an impossibly odd posse to
right some wrongs and reclaim her glory days with the biggest story of her
career. But in the process, Clari causes major problems for the rich power
brokers whom she loves to hate, while working in weekly visits to Weight
Watchers. Join Clari as she answers the questions: Who am I? Where do I belong?
And what's in the new Ikea catalogue? 

"One part Carl Hiaasen, one part Lewis Grizzard, and a whole
lot of Susan Isaacs...Laura Novak hits a home run by finding clarity, and
hilarity, in Berkeley."

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Laura Novak is a career journalist, debut novelist. She has worked for ABC News in London and New York, for Fox News in the Bay Area, and for a small radio station in Sacramento where she sat next to a guy named Rush Limbaugh. She has written extensively for The New York Times on health, business and the arts.

Product Details

• File Size: 396 KB
• Print Length: 242 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Amazon (August 16, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B005HRNIUK
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #256,134 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Triumphant debut novel August 22, 2011

By BradS

Format:Kindle Edition

Laura Novak's first novel shows that a strong new voice in mystery writing has appeared. In Finding Clarity, Novak is as funny as Janet Evanovich, as clever a plotter as Sue Grafton, and as deft in creating compelling characters as Laura Lippman. Her heroine is someone you care about, a woman struggling to find truth and to find herself. Her journey takes the reader to strange locales and even stranger characters that bring to life the fabled but real place called Berkeley, CA. I had trouble putting the novel down once I started. And the surprise ending was the whipped cream and cherry on the sundae I had just consumed. Very highly recommended. And watch for Laura Novak in the future. I see a wonderful series coming.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars It was...eh. March 31, 2012

By MelloCello

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I have to say I was disappointed. It started out really great; I liked the author's sense of humor and writing style, but the more I got into it I thought there were just too many distracting details that didn't matter and mean-spirited comments about other characters that seemed unnecessary. Get rid of those and the story would tighten up immensely. Clari started out as someone I liked: cynical, biting wit but still basically a regular and compassionate person. As the book went on I found her less and less likeable and the character of Sydney was grating as well. I'm a fan and frequent user of the f-word myself, but I thought there was too much use of it, especially in a school setting. Clari wants fair and sympathetic treatment for her son, who's a little person, and yet she refers to him as "midget" a couple of times (ironically, I'm sure, but still!) after saying that word was repellent to her. It just didn't ring true that when she was angry, that would be the first word out of her mouth. As the story went on I just didn't like any of the characters and I couldn't care less whether they "saved" their school or not. Real education seemed to be the last thing on any character's mind, behind such things as greed, self-glory and class prejudice.

Grammatical errors seem to be a problem with every Kindle book I've read and they are annoying and take me out of the story every time. I wonder if there is a business opportunity in proofreading for Kindle authors??

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Finding Clarity is a cracking good read! August 26, 2011

By Leslie Ann Ashing

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Whether it's the People's Republic of Berkeley or a town near you, Laura Novak has perfectly captured the private school scene from the wry & witty perspective of a mother who feels she's on the outside looking in---a vantage point which seems to hamper her efforts at getting to the bottom of an academic mystery that would be close to the heart (and wallet) of any tuition-paying parent. The book is full of quirky characters as well as people we seem to have already met in real life. It's a page turner with rapid fire satire that swoops you up into the trials and travails of heroine, Clari Drake, while posing the following question to its reader, "Given your financial resources or lack thereof, to what lengths would you be willing to go in order to secure a place for your child in the school of your choice?" Laura's story made me laugh at the follies and foibles of her characters---and laugh at myself. I heartily recommend this book and await a sequel from Ms. Novak.

More About the Author

Laura Novak is a career journalist - debut novelist. For 25 years she worked every which way in the news business, from ABC News in New York and London, to local TV in San Francisco, with a stop at all-news radio in Sacramento where she sat near a guy named Rush Limbaugh. While raising a medically fragile child, Laura reported for The New York Times on everything from business and non-profits, to health and the arts. Many of her articles are collected on Scribd where she has had more than 146,000 reads of her work. "Finding Clarity" is Laura's first foray into fiction, and rumor has it the ending takes everyone by surprise!