Herself [Paperback]

Leslie Carroll (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 27, 2007

Forty is fabulous for Tessa Craig. Heck, she has it all—a glamorous job as a political speechwriter, a Manhattan duplex, and a handsome boyfriend, Congressman David Weyburn, whose integrity, charisma, and good looks have made him his party's rising star. But her fabulosity fizzles when scandal strikes, and Tessa watches helplessly as her seemingly happy love life and successful career collapse like a house of cards.

Tessa realizes it's time to embark on a new journey, one she should have made a long time ago. It's a trip that takes her to the Emerald Isle and back, leading her heart in unimagined directions. She makes new friends, unexpectedly adopts a new family (or do they adopt her?), and discovers unanticipated love with silver-tongued, green-eyed, aspiring pub owner, Jamie Doyle. And, most importantly, Tessa makes that uphill climb over the rainbow to find the ultimate pot of gold: Herself.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Forty-year-old Tessa Craig has been Congressman David Weyburn's speechwriter by day and lover by night for three years. So after David dumps her (he says he needs to be alone), she takes a short trip to Dublin and realizes she'd fallen in love with the "magical semi-fiction" of David's dashing public persona (that, as his speechwriter, she'd helped create). She also quickly finds another man: Jamie Doyle, a fisherman who alternately cracks one-liners and drops kernels of Yeatsian wisdom. Although Carroll (Spin Doctor) throws obstacles in the way, she leaves no doubt that Tessa and Jamie are fated—never mind that Tessa is a lapsed Jew and Jamie has a ferociously possessive and traditionally Catholic mother, Maureen. Jamie follows Tessa back to New York, and the story culminates in Tessa's run for David's congressional seat after he's sidelined by a heart attack. Politics proves punishing, especially after Maureen and Jamie's sister arrive on Tessa's Manhattan doorstep to reclaim Jamie and the New York Post publishes steamy excerpts from Tessa's purloined diary. Though Carroll tends to let her scenes run on too long, her endearingly quirky cast and (mostly) snappy dialogue should keep readers rooting for Tessa up to the tears-of-joy ending. (Mar.)
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About the Author

Native New Yorker Leslie Carroll is also a professional actress, dramatist, and journalist. Her first two books, contemporary romantic comedies set in her hometown, won a series of rave reviews. She also writes historical and New York "tart noir" detective fiction. Leslie has worked more temp jobs than she cares to remember in the fields of politics, advertising, public relations, and -- far too frequently -- law. But it's all ripe for social satire and fodder for fiction!

Product Details

• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (February 27, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060859954
• ISBN-13: 978-0060859954
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,480,353 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I used to tell people that I was born in Manhattan and raised in the Bronx; but the truth is that apart from the stellar education I received at the Fieldston School in Riverdale, much of who I am was shaped by my two grandmothers, who encouraged me to follow my bliss long before it became the sort of catchphrase you find on tee-shirts and new-age tchotchkes. My East Side grandmother took me to FAO Schwarz, the New York City Ballet, and afternoon tea at the Plaza Hotel, where I dreamed of becoming another Eloise. My West Side grandmother took me to the Central Park carousel and the zoo and treated me to colorful paper parasols and gummy, lukewarm pretzels from the vendors whose wares my East Side grandmother deemed too "dirty" for human consumption.

There are writers on both sides of my family, and although I always loved to write, I never anticipated that it would become my profession. I had wanted to be a ballerina; and though my club feet were corrected at birth (from the stilettos I adore now, you'd never know) and my short Achilles tendons made my toes turn in (corrected at the age of 9), I was never going to end up en pointe.

About a year later, I decided to become an actress when (if?) I grew up, and I never looked back. I majored in Theatre at Cornell University, worked in summer stock, and took classes with a couple of acknowledged masters. I performed a lot of Shakespeare and other classics in New York parks, basements, church choir lofts, and the occasional Off-Broadway theatre; then founded and ran my own nonprofit theatre company for several years. And when things got slow, and I found myself working three survival jobs simultaneously (one of them as a journalist and editor), I decided it was time to pursue an additional creative avenue.

Fast forward a decade. I'm now a multi-published author in three genres, as well as a freelance journalist. And I've also adapted a number of classic texts (IVANHOE; THE PRISONER OF ZENDA; THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL; Mark Twain's "The Diaries of Adam and Eve") for the stage. I began writing women's fiction and historical fiction simultaneously, but my first published novel was the urban romantic comedy MISS MATCH in 2002. In 2005, as I continued to write about feisty female New Yorkers, my first historical novel was published under the pen name Amanda Elyot. While keeping those literary plates spinning I made my historical nonfiction debut in the spring of 2008.

In what I laughingly refer to as my spare time, I'm still a professional actress, working when the scripts and the roles excite me.

I'm such a native New Yorker that I still don't have a driver's license, "Big Sky Country" means Central Park, and the farthest I've ever been from the Upper West Side for any great length of time was my four-year stint upstate in Ithaca, at Cornell, known for its rigorous academics and its equally harsh permafrost.

My birthday falls on the same day as two of my heroes--F. Scott Fitzgerald and Jim Henson. So I reread THE GREAT GATSBY every year and number Miss Piggy among the great actresses of her generation. My favorite color is deep hydrangea blue, and it just kills me that it doesn't look good with red hair.

I live in Manhattan with my husband Scott--who is my hero and everything I ever dreamed of. For the past couple of years we've been considering an addition to the family in the form of a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Quick Read, June 15, 2007

By 

Monkeyville Citizen (Arlington, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Herself (Paperback)

The amount of detail, particularly with respect to the political campaigns, really made this feel like a true story in places.

When the story begins, Tessa is a speech-writer for a successful and charismatic Congressman, David, that she has been in a secret relationship with for three years. She seemingly has it all, until things start unraveling. When David breaks up with her, Tess crys on the shoulders of her cousin, Imogen, and her best friend, Venus. They convince her to schedule a trip to Ireland to "find herself." When she gets to Ireland she quickly finds Jamie, a fisherman from a large family. She doesn't want to give up her alone time or use Jamie as her rebound guy and then David shows up in Dublin.

Through the twists and turns in the book, Tessa does manage to find herself and fall in love. The journey, though, is the joy in the story. A few other characters evolve along the way as well.

This was beautifully written, funny, and a very quick read. Great for a trip to the beach or a quiet evening. A must read!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars fine contemporary romance, March 3, 2007

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Herself (Paperback)

Speechwriter Tessa Craig is probably the most dedicated member of the reelect New York Congressman David Weyburn team because she enjoys being his discrete lover. However, during an aerobic exercise session at the Metropolitan Health Club, forty-three years old David collapses with Kelly Adonis the male instructor giving him CPR and saving his life. Rumors erupt that David is gay with Kelly as his male hunk lover. David's political manager decides he must stay sexually clean until the preference storm blows away so heeding that advice he severs his personal relationship with Tessa though he still wants her as his writer.

Hurt by his choosing political expedience over her, Tessa decides to leave town with a trip to Dublin. There she meets kindhearted Star Trek aficionado fisherman Jamie Doyle. He soon falls in love with the American and shows her in many little ways how he feels; so opposite of her David who never showed inner affection towards her. When her vacation ends, Tessa returns to the Big Apple but Jamie follows and crashes on her couch as he seeks employment and ultimately open a pub. However, as David keeps reappearing and vanishing David's mother arrives from Ireland to begin a campaign to rid her son of the Jew that holds his heart.

The moving of romance into the political world works quite nicely as heated issues like sexual preference and health make for a fine subplot. When the story line twists into Tessa running for her former boss' seat that stretches the believability of the audience as money, support, and preparations do not occur overnight for most people. Still the romance is top rate as Jamie constantly shows Tessa that he loves her even when his mom accompanied by his sister arrive to bring him home. Readers will enjoy this fine contemporary romance with its interesting political spin.

Harriet Klausner

2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Life Makes a Turnaround at 40, February 27, 2007

By 

Grammy L "New York Grandma" (Riverdale, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Herself (Paperback)

HERSELF, Leslie Carroll's latest work of contemporary fiction could be an old-fashioned fairy tale. The heroine, Tessa Goldsmith Craig, was working as a speech writer for a young, handsome, well liked Congressman. Then life deals her some sharp blows and she has to make some serious changes. Her lady friends decide she has to go far away; so she journeys off to Ireland, where magic happens and she literally "finds" herself. Before she has a chance to recover from jet lag she's thrown into a whole new culture and environment. She goes pub-crawling, solo, and meets the handsome Jamie Doyle. It doesn't take long for Tessa to figure out that while their backgrounds are totally different, Jamie does something to her. She begins to feel good about herself. She had thought she needed to be alone to figure out the rest of her life. She wasn't yet ready to start all over again...but being with Jamie had an amazing effect on her.
Blackpool's is a typical Irish pub -and Jamie's traditional Irish family owns it. In birth order, each of his siblings has a job. The bartender is the rather quiet, shy older son, Niall. Gregarious, people loving Jamie spends a lot of time alone as the fisherman (where else to get the goods for those fish and chips?); a third son is a hansom cab driver showing tourists around Dublin. And, to complete the family piucture, a younger sister is in training to become a nun.
Their Mum is American born and is the homemaker. She tends her garden and makes strangely lifelike baby dolls that she sells. Da is not a typical Irish father; though he rules the brood with a strict hand, contrary to the image one conjurs of an Irish patriarch, he doesn't drink and he loves to run marathons. Jamie's first step toward making Tessa part of his life comes when he introduces her to his family. Then they all band together to show her their Ireland -the one beyond Dublin's tourist sights.
When her week of vacation concludes, Tessa is surprised to find Jamie on the plane back to NY with her. Now her life is really destined to change in unimaginable ways. She had told her friends she wanted a man who would say he "couldn't live without her"...and he there he is! Be careful what you wish for! As their lives meld Tessa realizes she has found "herself" and Jamie gets what he's been looking for...but not without a few obstacles along the way. They begin to travel the road together toward a truly happy ending.
As in all of her previous books,Ms. Carroll vividly describes wherever she happens to be. Her characters speak in the dialects of the areas in which they were raised, which creates very interesting dialogue and gives readers an insight into their personalities and lifestyles.
Herself is great travel reading; the perfect book for a lazy weekend in the country. Many readers might not believe things can truly happen as quickly as they do; but its fun to read this charming urban fairy tale and root for its leading players.