Love, Work, Children: A Novel [Hardcover]

Cheryl Mendelson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2, 2005

Morningside Heights, a Manhattan neighborhood sandwiched between Columbia University and the Hudson River, is home to an eclectic mix of academics, struggling artists, and rooted families. In this distinctive world, Peter Frankel, a successful partner in a prestigious law firm, lives a seemingly contented life with his talented wife and his two Ivy League—educated children.

Yet in middle age Peter finds himself discontent. His wife’s narrowness and her preoccupation with appearances leaves him cold, his job does not fulfill his creative bent, and he fears that his children, Susan and Louis, have grown into skeptical young adults who shun marriage and stability.

So when Peter’s wife is badly hurt in a car accident and lies in a coma, he finds himself guiltily relieved–and newly drawn toward his children as they too struggle with ambivalent feelings about the mother who’s never really shown them much love. As Susan, a cerebral doctoral student, becomes unhappily involved with an aspiring playwright and Louis is caught up in a futile pursuit of an ambitious journalist, Peter’s own quiet life is shaken up, and longings he has stifled for years come rumbling to the surface.

Freed from his wife’s judgments, Peter throws himself into his greatest pleasure, the work he does for a foundation that funds offbeat artistic projects. And as his passion for this work ignites, so does his desire for another woman. But the stubborn morality that has steered Peter’s life is a force to be reckoned with–and one from which he may never entirely escape.

Love, Work, Children is a profoundly insightful novel about two generations and the colorful urban world they inhabit. A superb portrayal of one of New York’s exceptional neighborhoods, this is a story, ultimately, about the self-imposed obstacles to true happiness–and a testament to the joy one can find in overcoming them.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Mendelson returns to the well-to-do residents of Manhattan's Upper West Side for the second book of a projected trilogy (after Morningside Heights). Peter Frankl is the conflicted paterfamilias who regrets his early marriage and pursuit of wealth and wonders about his reluctant-to-marry children. His son, Louis, is a Harvard M.B.A. slated for Wall Street riches; his daughter, Susan, is a student in musicology. The complicated and star-crossed plot begins with a party given by Susan's best friend, Mallory, that introduces all the younger characters. Susan and Louis are called away from the party with the news that their mother, Lesley, is in a coma after a car accident. Will she live? Do her husband and kids want her to live? And who is writing strange notes to Peter at the office? And most important, will these children of privilege stick with their own kind or venture down the social ladder? This is a deliberately old-fashioned novel of manners, morals, character and happy endings, reality be damned. A certain kind of reader will be eager for Mendelson's third. (Aug. 9)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* In the second novel of a planned trilogy, afterMorningside Heights (2003), Mendelson turns in another sophisticated comedy of manners depicting a barbarous new age in which gentle, kindhearted people continually come under siege. The author again homes in on the Manhattan neighborhood surrounding Columbia University, populated by an arts-loving community with a high tolerance for the unconventional. Peter Frankl, "the nicest man in New York City," is facing trouble on all fronts. He's been married, unhappily, for 30 years to spendthrift Lesley; has suddenly realized that he ceded responsibility for his children, especially his son, Louis, to keep peace in the house; and finds his work with the whimsical Devereaux Foundation much more rewarding than his lucrative job at a stultifying corporate law firm. When Lesley is left in a coma after a car accident, the Frankl family interactions start to shift in new and liberating ways. Meanwhile, the Devereaux Foundation comes under attack by an unscrupulous journalist, and the wildly eccentric board members, unschooled in political squabbling, must be convinced that the venomous reporter is an enemy worth engaging. In a deeply satisfying story, told in fluid, elegant prose, Mendelson artfully champions the triumph of whimsy over avarice. Joanne Wilkinson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Random House (August 2, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375508376
• ISBN-13: 978-0375508370
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,181,231 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Cheryl Mendelson is a Harvard Law School graduate, a sometime philosophy professor, a novelist (Morningside Heights and Love, Work, Children), and a homemaker by choice. Born into a rural family in Greene County, Pennsylvania, she now lives in New York City with her husband and son.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another splendid novel of manners!, August 13, 2005

By 

a reader (Clemson, SC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Love, Work, Children: A Novel (Hardcover)

Cheryl Mendelson casts her net a bit wider in this second novel, still focusing on one family in the Morningside Heights area of New York City but branching out to include their friends and coworkers. Though it doesn't have the warmth of Anne Braithwaite's (from MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS) wonderful perspective, it's a fascinating novel and a bit of a reach, I suspect, that bodes well for future books.

The heart of the novel is the narrative voice, with its strong sense of moral clarity and fair play. Everyone in the world is compared to Jane Austen these days, but Cheryl Mendelson really HAS inherited Austen's sense of the importance of being honest and reasonable in all one's doings, from behavior at work to the choice of a spouse. And, thank goodness, Mendelson also has something of Austen's wit. The chapter describing the meeting of the Devereaux Foundation is hysterical; Hilda Hughes is a wilder and less exasperating take on the lifelong analysand than Merrit was in MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS; and the moments involving children are always, always spot-on.

I think it may have been difficult for Mendelson to write from the perspective of a male character who had chosen poorly in both marriage and career. Because these issues are so important to her novels, Peter Frankl's failure at both leaves the reader in a moral quandary: we want him to leave his wife and quit his job, yet know that neither of these is really feasible. Of course, this is just like real life, where complications attach to any decision, but Mendelson is not sure what to do with Peter as he searches for a solution.

The one real criticism I have of the novel is that several of the characters are simply unrepetently nasty, if not evil, every single time we encounter them on the page. Of course we all know these ghastly people in life, but to describe them with no redeeming qualities whatsoever is too jarring in this novel that presents fine ethical questions and shades of behavior. The weakest part of MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS was the evil great-nephew (whose name I forget) of the old lady, and in LOVE, WORK, CHILDREN he has been cloned several times over! We just don't need these characters to be quite so black-and-white; we can see them as petty or destructive or even malignant without such overkill.

That said, LOVE, WORK, CHILDREN is a wonderful novel and a very promising follow-up to MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS. Cheryl Mendelson is a superb writer who deserves a far wider and more vocal readership.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "All life stories end in the middle.", August 23, 2005

By 

E. Bukowsky "booklover10" (NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Love, Work, Children: A Novel (Hardcover)

In "Love, Work, Children," Cheryl Mendelson continues her scrutiny of the eccentric, well-to-do, and sophisticated people who populate the Manhattan neighborhood of Morningside Heights. Mendelson focuses on Peter Frankl, his wife, Lesley, and their two grown children, Susan and Louis. Peter is miserable in his job at a law firm, and he secretly dislikes his self-centered wife. However, being a moral and altruistic man, Peter would not consider divorcing Lesley and, for the most part, he suffers in silence. However, when Lesley gets into a serious car accident, the family's equilibrium is upset and nothing is ever the same again.

Mendelson's leisurely prose style requires great patience from the reader. The author digs deeply into the psyches of at least a half-dozen main characters, and her complicated plot unfolds at a snail's pace. Romance plays a large part in this novel, and there are a number of young lovers who engage in complicated mating rituals before they settle down with their soulmates. As the title implies, the author also examines the world of work, especially what makes a job either satisfying or stultifying. In "Love, Work, Children" Mendelson looks at a particular lifestyle in which everyone knows everyone else's business and no one hesitates to interfere with people's lives.

The characters in this book are colorful and offbeat. Besides the Frankl family, we meet Mallory, a pretty and popular young woman who is a fledgling journalist and Alexei, a young Russian man who is good looking, brilliant, talented, and very poor. He is a chess grandmaster who sings divinely, fixes computers, and gives a large part of his meager earnings to his family. Alexei pursues Mallory, but she looks down at him, since his future is so insecure. Hilda Hughes is a frumpy and nervous woman who works for the Devereaux Foundation, a charitable organization to which Peter Frankl is devoted. Hilda is very intelligent and insightful, but she is also isolated and a bit batty. Her sessions with her therapist are very amusing and undoubtedly helpful because, over time, Hilda slowly starts to emerge from her shell. If there are villains in this story, they are Edmond Lockhart, his estranged wife Wanda, and his partner, Ivy Hurst. Edmond, Wanda, and Ivy are selfish, mean-spirited, and devious, and they cause the Frankls much grief.

Cheryl Mendelson's novels are not for everyone. Readers who like fast-moving narratives and clear cut themes may find Mendelson irritating. However, those who love well-developed characters and gentle humor will be entertained, and many readers will enjoy the author's thoughtful riffs on life's vicissitudes. "Love, Work, and Children" explores many important themes: Is everyone suited to be a parent? How responsible are we for the way our kids turn out? Should we stay in unsatisfying marriages for the sake of our children? Is it better to take a job that pays well or that makes us happy? Why is life so messy and complicated? "Love, Work, Children" is a quirky, rambling, and unpredictable look at the strivings, failures, hopes, and triumphs of a group of New Yorkers whose lives are immeasurably enriched by the love of their family and friends.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Chanelling" Laurie Colwin?, August 21, 2005

By 

Jill Meyer (United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Love, Work, Children: A Novel (Hardcover)

I'm enjoying this sequel to Morningside Heights. I've always loved an author's return to previous characters and "updating" them. Rita Mae Brown does this with her writing, often bringing back well-loved characters.

The review just above mine compares Mendelson's writing to George Eliot and Jane Austin. I'd like to add that, perhaps, some of the writing of the late, great Laurie Colwin has influenced Mendelson's view of polite New York society.

I am looking forward to her third, and final, novel in the trilogy.