Customer Reviews

Olivia or the Weight of the Past

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Judith Rossner surely caught our eyes with "Looking For Mr. Goodbar," an on target encapsulation of the singles scene. With this title she hones in on troubled family relationships as she relates the story of a celebrated cook and her estranged daughter.

Caroline, the narrator, has grown up in New York City, neglected by career driven parents. Seeking affection Caroline stakes claims on the family cooks. When the last of them, Anna, returns to a family restaurant in Italy, Caroline scrambles after her.

After marrying the father of her child, the insensitive womanizing Angelo, Caroline takes over the running of the restaurant's kitchen, and is soon repeating her mother's mistakes. When Olivia, her daughter is 12, Caroline returns to New York City without her.

The gist of Rossner's story begins when a sutbborn and antagonistic Olivia follows her mother to America. Mix the mother daughter relationship with the doctor who lives in the apartment above Caroline, and Caroline's mother who is now a wonderful grandmother, then stir in all of these women seeking their place in the world.

Rossner's description of food, and culinary how-to are as satisfying as the novel's ending.

- Gail Cooke

If you liked Marilyn French's Her Mother's Daughter you'll love this book. Judith Rossner does a wonderful job developing her characters. You'll feel like you really know all of them when you're done reading the book. I really can't recommend this book highly enough!

I read this on a recent holiday - ideal for reading on the beach and dreaming of a woman who could cook you gourmet italian meals every day of your life! Do such people really exist or is this why the genre is fiction. I learnt a lot about food and New York style neurosis. Got a bit slow towards the end but overall a good light read

Caroline is a cook with a cooking show...she was married in Italy to an Italian who cheated on her and their daughter was born there. For some reason, when she divorced her husband Angelo, she was afraid to take her daughter with her back to America, and gave him custody.

But a few years later, her daughter doesn't want to live with him any more due to his fawning over his new wife, who is a saint, and has money. So Olivia goes to New York to stay with Caroline.

I didn't like either character. Olivia was a snotty, greedy, self-centered brat, and Caroline was an ignorant wimpy doormat. The book is mostly repetition of Caroline warning Olivia to not get pregnant (at 15 dating a 27 year old man) over and over, Olivia rudely snapping back, and of course getting pregnant. Since she's a good Catholic, she will have the baby, but at great cost to her mental health...and everyone else's in the family who must put up with her. Also, she somehow manages to stay 17 years old for over 14 months. Caroline pretty much does whatever Olivia tells her to do, although she is offering her good advice, left and right, Olivia refuses it all, but that's okay, Mama will clean up all her messes.

Just a story with no point, except that blind allegiance to religion interferes with common sense, but I don't think that's what the author was really going for.