The Playgroup: A Novel [Paperback]

Nelsie Spencer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 18, 2004

I Don't Know How She Does It meets Unfaithful as a west side Manhattan mother joins an east side playgroup and the playing turns into high voltage sex and other dangerous games.

Before she signed up for the mommy role, Ellie Fuller was a stand-up comic, a good best friend, and a secret bulimic. As part of her recovery she adopts a whole new lifestyle, but when she takes a knowing step into unknown territory, that recovery and everything else is suddenly in jeopardy. At the Park Avenue playgroup where Ellie takes her daughter, Ellie meets Missy Hanover, an elegant ice princess who tempts her with what Ellie believes she might be missing. Ellie is soon in the midst of a secret affair and darker romantic entanglements, but the cracks begin to show. A skillful, addictive first novel that feeds right into the frenzy for "mommy" fiction.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Spencer aims for edgy in a debut that tosses addiction and a steamy lesbian love affair into the standard metropolitan-mommy fiction mix. Ellie Fuller, a former stand-up comic and recovering bulimic, adores her sweet, libidinous husband, Peter, and their two darling children. But when the West Side Manhattan couple decide to enroll their three-year-old in an exclusive East Side playgroup, Ellie's seemingly perfect, post-12-step life begins to unravel. Initially feeling both "superior and intimidated" in the company of the glitzy playgroup mothers ("they all know each other and they all speak French"), Ellie becomes friends and then, improbably, lovers, with Missy Hanover, a beautiful heiress who maintains her irresistible self-possession through a full staff and an old-money prestige unavailable to Ellie's self-made husband. As Ellie spends more and more time with Missy, she lies to hide her bulimic past as well as her working-class background, alcoholic mother and incarcerated father. Spencer deftly chronicles Ellie's growing desperation as she deceives her lover and her husband, increasingly neglects her kids and struggles to resist her desires to binge and purge ("the toilet bowl was calling her-hungry, begging to be fed"). Though it's sure to be compared to The Nanny Diaries for its setting, subject and relentless class-consciousness, Spencer's sex-filled debut isn't as funny: there are smirk-worthy descriptions, but the cattiness grows wearisome. Spencer, like her protagonist, is a former stand-up comic, but the book feels more like a study of attraction, lies and self-destruction than a fun, light read.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Riveting from start to finish. Nelsie Spencer takes you inside Ellie-a place by turns bright, funny and sharp, then dark, sharp and cutting-but always surprising, always exciting. You'll love Ellie. You'll laugh with her, worry for her, be infuriated by her, challenged by her, and time and time again be lifted by her great spirit. Reading this book is like having an entire relationship-and it's far less expensive."
- Dennis Drake, Screenwriter, Down With Love

"Nelsie Spencer has achieved something very difficult. She has written a commercial book and a smart book. Ellie is so fresh...both brazen and vulnerable and perfectly of her moment. She reminds me of Isadora Wing in Fear of Flying."
- Ellen Pall, author of Corpse de Ballet

"The Playgroup is Bridget Jones's Diary meets The Nanny Diaries for the Upper West Side mom."
- Ally Sheedy, Actor, High Art

"What a book! Once I picked up The Playgroup I didn't talk to my husband or play with my children or do any of the other dozens of things that I should've been doing until I read the very last word."
- Pamela Hogan, Documentary Filmmaker

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (November 18, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312311737
• ISBN-13: 978-0312311735
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,436,718 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Much better than the other "mommie" novels..., October 2, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Playgroup: A Novel (Hardcover)

I wasn't surprised that The Playgroup was funny and sexy... but I was surprised that it also dared to explore much more interesting questions than other "light read" Nanny Diaries-style novels. Even as it made me laugh out loud, The Playgroup brought out deeper and sometimes sadder issues for its mommy-protagonist... addressing difficulties I think will be familiar to any modern urban woman: How do we reconcile our "hip" exterior vision of ourselves with our fragile inner search for identity and love? The review from Ashland is so right... this book will easily make a great movie!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sexy, funny, serious, should be a movie, September 27, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Playgroup: A Novel (Hardcover)

Nelsie Spencer's "The Playgroup" catches you off guard -- it's not just a social satire, but also an exploration of motherhood, marriage, expressions of love in all its forms, self-denial and revelation. It's a brave book and a grand achievement for Spencer. Someone should make a movie out of this.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Playgroup Rocks, September 20, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Playgroup: A Novel (Hardcover)

Drawn by the sexy cover art, I was well pleased by "The Playgroup". It's really, really funny, but with a pulsing undercurrent of dysfunction. (I wanted to SHOOT her mother Sara- the scenes between her and her daughter Ellie ALONE make this book worthwhile). I found it heartbreaking, tender, and outrageous. You won't be bored, or disappointed- the author obviously has extensive experience in "WaspWorld" and skewers it deftly. I also love the scene where she tapes a gift box to her behindular area as a birthday gift for her dreamy hubby Peter (the "Lyon Burke" of the new millenium)
Bravo "The Playgroup"!