Miriam the Medium [Hardcover]

Rochelle Shapiro (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 4, 2004

In the tradition of Susan Isaacs comes a charming debut novel featuring a lovable phone psychic, whose talents will either save her family from financial ruin -- or ruin her family altogether.

What do you do when your husband's business is failing, your daughter is ashamed of you, and your faith in your own talents hits rock bottom? Miriam is a modern-day Long Island housewife, who just happens to be a professional phone psychic. But while she can heal broken hearts, mend relationships, and help others find new careers, her own life is in shambles.

It starts with the family business. Her husband, Rory, is working every spare minute to keep his business, Mirror Pharmacy, afloat, but no matter what cost-saving measures he takes, a profit seems farther and farther away. Using her gift, Miriam tries to channel to the heart of the problem, but Rory's patience with her "readings" has worn as thin as his cash flow. Then there is Miriam's teenage daughter, Cara, who cannot stand to be in the same room with her, much less listen to any psychically generated advice. Now involved with a particularly bad-news boyfriend, she's too in love to take Miriam's warnings seriously. Miriam struggles to maintain a positive outlook -- things are bad, but they can always be worse, goes her mantra. So when a persistent agent proclaims her talents remarkable and marketable, Miriam decides to take action. But will going public ruin her family's already questionable standing in their prim Long Island community? And will her trusted spirits -- her dear departed Dad and Russian grandmother, Bubbie -- remain faithful if she "sells out"? Miriam struggles to sort through her escalating troubles and trust her abilities in times of crisis, even as her visions are becoming too cloudy to interpret.

In a quirky tale full of humor and heartache, Rochelle Shapiro captures the universal desire to find one's true self, no matter the opinions of others. Smart and sassy, Miriam the Medium is the debut of a talented and imaginative author -- one who is able to conjure with words and spirit.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

If, round about page 40, you want to tell Miriam Kaminsky to stuff it up her aura, you're in good company. Her pharmacist husband, Rory, has had it with her well-meant new-age meddling in his business. As for their daughter, Cara, she figures no teen ever had a more embarrassing mom than this phone psychic with her flowing clothes and herbal remedies. Miriam could help support her family if she expanded her psychic business, but Cara certainly doesn't want her to. Yet first-time novelist Shapiro has a gift of her own; even the skeptical reader can't help believing that Miriam is wired differently from the rest of us. She sees her dead grandmother and her husband's deceased parents, hears sounds beyond the normal range of hearing and perceives the love her daughter feels for bad boy Lance Stark as a "pink haze." Poor, sweet Miriam! Why isn't life easier? Things will work out, of course, but only after Miriam must use her gifts to save Cara from freezing in the woods after she runs off with Lance. When Cara discovers her dead grandmother's sewing machine, it seems that she, too, has a gift: all she has to do is look at a piece of fabric to know what it should become. In addition to delivering touching wisdom about mothers and daughters, Shapiro also offers a sharp portrait of fastidious, appearance-obsessed Great Neck, N.Y.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

The mother of teenage Cara, wife of hardworking pharmacist Rory, Miriam Calhoun seems utterly ordinary. Actually, she's anything but. Not only can she foresee the future (she works from home as a telephone psychic), she also sees ghosts! Unlike her embarrassed daughter, her husband accepts her gifts, but he has always drawn the line when it comes to interfering in family business, causing Miriam to doubt herself. Now, however, money is tight, and Cara, in full teen meltdown, has run away with a sexy "bad boy." It's time for Miriam to be a little more proactive. Comic relief comes in the shape of Miriam's scandalized neighbors and batty phone customers as well as her own self-deprecating voice, but emotions ring surprisingly serious and true. And even the ghosts seem acceptable within the careful construct of Miriam's daily life. After all, as Miriam muses early on, "the Old Testament was full of visionaries and dreamers like Joseph and Isaiah," so what's the big deal? Stephanie Zvirin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (May 4, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743244788
• ISBN-13: 978-0743244787
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,157,553 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Like Miriam Kaminsky, the heroine in my novel, MIRIAM THE MEDIUM, (Simon & Schuster, May, 2004, I'm a professional phone psychic who lives in Great Neck. I've also been published in NEWSWEEK, My Turn, "Out of the Candlelight into the Spotlight," February 12, 2004, NEW YORK TIMES (LIVES) "The Medium Has A Message," 3/28/99 and in many anthologies such as FATHER, Pocket Books, 2000, "The Wild Russian," (short story) and essays in It's A Boy, Seal Press, 2005. and literary magazines. Articles have been written about me REDBOOK MAGAZINE, "My Best Friend is a Psychic," by Caroline Leavitt and in the Long Island section of NEW YORK TIMES by Marcelle Fischler, 2/13/2005. I will be teaching personal essay at UCLA online this summer. My novel, MIRIAM THE MEDIUM, was nominated for the Harold Ribelow award and was sold in Holland. I'm hard at work on my second novel, a sequel to Miriam the Medium

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I LOVED this book, June 8, 2004

By 

J. Robinson (Thousand Oaks, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Miriam the Medium (Hardcover)

What a great book! I couldn't put this down no matter how hard I tried. The author has a way with writing, and the story was so original I found myself biting my nails waiting to see what happened next. The concept of a medium living in suburbia, doing phone readings for a living, was unique and intriguing. I loved reading about her encounters with the spirits of the customers she read, and I thought the parallels of her own life and family with her gift was wonderfully done. I loved Miriam from the first page and I was sorry to see her story end. I'll look forward to reading other books by this talented author!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just what I needed!, May 11, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Miriam the Medium (Hardcover)

Miriam the Medium is one of those books you pick up because of the title and browse through it, intending to set it back down. But chances are, you will stand there reading until the bookstore clerk gives you a dirty look. I got it as a Mother's Day present and stayed on the couch all day reading it.

The magic in this book is two-fold. Miriam, certainly, but the story itself is magical, too. It made me believe in myself as a woman even more, and I applaud the author. Great read, great present!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Summer Reading!, June 7, 2004

By 

TM (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Miriam the Medium (Hardcover)

I read this delightful debut novel in two very busy days and I highly recommend it - take it to the beach, read it in your garden, stash it in your bag for work - I guarantee you won't regret making time for Miriam the Medium!