Customer Reviews

On a Night Like This

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Ellen Sussman has written a beautiful story. As an avid reader, sometimes I find a book that keeps my thoughts totally fixed on the story. This is one of them. No "wandering" at all!

The "lifestyle" of Blair is depicted early in the book pretty graphically. This is the only thing I would like to see changed - the author will soon learn to leave a little more to the readers' imaginations.

I will eagerly await her next book - let's hope there are many "next books!"

What a marvelous book! "On A Night Like This" is anything but expected. The characters are real and heartfelt - complicated people who are fighting their way through a painful crucible. I cheered for them while feeling their sorrows. The style of "On A Night Like This" soars above - way above - the romance and chick lit it's been compared to. The mother-daughter struggles of Blair and Amanda are familiar enough, but Ellen Sussman infuses this relationship with some wonderfully wise twists. And Luke, while he earns his stripes as a jerk at times, makes for a worthy counterpoint to Blair's unvarnished emotion. The beautifully drawn California setting further enhances this sad but enveloping novel. This is a terrific read.

This book is a graceful collision between a cheesy newstand romance, a melodramatic literary novel, and hippie chick-lit. The premise is totally relate-able -- two former high school classmates, who never spoke more than a few words to each other, meet years and years later. It's a little hard to believe how grounded the main female character is -- she is dying of cancer, she is a single mom, she suffered a major trauma in high school. Yet she remains a happy hippie chef. I also had diffiult buying that the two main characters could fall in love so easily, just like that. They almost overnight went from strangers walking his dog together while she was in her nightgown and jeans to deeply in love. The daughter was also the usual jaded, hard-bitten, angry daughter. But, in the end, it kept my attention. So it was cliche -- but it did the cliches well.

I cried through so much of this book but I couldn't put it down. 3 lost people found each other at a time in their lives when it was most needed. Blair, who is dying, needed to find true love for the completion of her life. Luke, who has recently been separated from his wife, needed to find unconditional and unselfish love. Amanda, Blair's 16 year old daughter, needed to learn to love someone besides Mom and to deal with the hardships of life. As the book goes on, the 3 of them bonded together in such a way that the bond would never be broken. I loved Sweetpea, the dog. She was the unselfish constant in all 3 lives and, as a pet lover, I know the importance of a pet's unconditional support. She was great!

I loved it and I think everyone should read it.

This is a wonderful book. It made me cry,yet it was so uplifting. Much in the style of Elizabeth Berg (Never Change).

It is the story of three lost people who find each other. Blair is dying of cancer. Amanda is her 16 year old daughter struggling with loss and then there is Luke the old high school friend who was nothing to her then and becomes everything to her now.

I highly reccomend this book. Good story. Loved it.

Reads more like a screen play than a novel...Thinly developed characters,intriguing
plot line, lots of witty banter but never achieves any true psychological depth... Although
the story is a sad one the author uses humour to tell the story of two lovers brought together
by a high school reunion which neither attends....San Francisco is the backdrop and anyone
who knows that city will enjoy the intimate glimpses of certain neighborhoods....A good read
but don't expect great literature.

This debut novel is both engaging and entertaining, and makes a good one-night read. Ultimately, though, in limiting herself primarily to fast-paced, witty dialog with little introspection or exposition, Sussman fails to develop multifaceted characters who linger with the reader after the book is finished. Although topically about deeply emotional and moral issues, the book takes the easy way out by allowing its characters to skim along the surface. However, if you're in the mood for a not-too-heavy tear-jerker with characters you can like, this is a good choice.

In San Francisco, Blair Clemens works as a chef while raising her teenaged daughter Amanda by herself. The two female Clemens are best friends, resulting in neither having pals their age. Blair is contented with her life mostly because of Amanda. However, her harmonious life collapses when Blair learns that she is dying from melanoma for she fears for her cherished daughter.

Since his wife Emily deserted him, screenwriter Luke Bellingham has hidden in the mountains. However, his prep school reunion committee assigns him to find "lost souls" so that they can attend the gala. His first missing alumni is Blair because though they ran in different circles, he wrote an Academy Award-winning script based on the true story of her being raped. Surprisingly Luke and Blair hit it off and he begins to win over the suspicious Amanda. However, a pregnant Emily demands he take her back. Will he choose his spouse and their unborn child or will he opt for a dying woman and her teenage daughter though secrets revealed later will make his selection much easier.

This is a solid relationship drama starring three delightful protagonists who readers will like and hope for a miracle to occur. Though Ellen Sussman makes the difficult choice too easy for the ethical Luke and a subplot involving a teen-adult romance script adds nothing, the overall tale is a powerful character study. Fans will feel for empathy for the trio, but especially towards Blair as she nears death in an upbeat manner because she now knows adult love and that he cares deeply for her beloved Amanda.

Harriet Klausner

This book is a total page-turner. It has a riveting plot, a pair of unique and engaging main characters in Blair and Luke, and an interesting mother-teen daughter relationship as well. While the story begins with a clearly tragic set of circumstances, the author prevents the book from becoming overly sentimental and mawkish. At each point where I worried that the book might dip into melodrama, the plot took a totally different turn. I would definitely recommend On a Night Like This to anyone who is looking for a well-written, compelling and emotionally satisfying story.

Forget that this is a debut novel. This is a wonderful book in its own right. Clearly Sussman has a knack not only for plot, but also for characterization and dialogue. This book is at times very funny, very sad, and very much for grown-ups. I picked the book up on a recommendation from a friend, and could not put it down. I wan't to see more from Sussman.