The Sinner's Guide to Confession [Mass Market Paperback]

Phyllis Schieber (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2008

From the author of Willing Spirits?a novel of three women, their deepest longings, and their most profound secrets.

Barbara, Kaye, and Ellen, longtime friends, are inseparable?but each nurtures her own secret. As a widowed mother, Barbara hides her persona as a writer of erotica. Kaye is having an extramarital affair that reawakens her passion but fills her with conflict. Ellen has lost her husband to a younger woman who is now pregnant?a painful blow, since Ellen and her husband were never able to conceive. But she is not childless?

Ellen is still haunted by the memory of the baby girl she had at sixteen and was forced to relinquish at birth. Estranged from her family, Ellen realizes that if she is ever to find her lost daughter?now a grown woman herself?she will have to confront her shame and rely on her dearest friends.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Three Manhattan friends, who are close as sisters, each guards a secret so deep that she cannot share it with the others. Kaye, married forever and mother of grown children, is in the middle of an intense affair she finds almost addictive. Barbara is a widow who writes for a living. Publicly, she writes romance novels. Under a pseudonym, she writes erotica. She fears that exposure would alienate her fans, friends, and children, but she needs it. And Ellen’s husband has left her for a younger woman, who he has gotten pregnant. Ellen’s marriage was childless, so not only does this hurt but it’s also the event that brings her own shameful secret to the forefront: she had a child when she was 16 and gave it up for adoption. Schieber’s novel explores friendship, the nature of secrets, and how we all harbor them. And although the characters and their acts may not always be likable, they are authentic, and Schieber’s story will resonate long after the last page is read. --Maria Hatton

Review

“As they navigate midlife in Manhattan, 50-somethings Kaye, Barbara and Ellen are not shrinking violets: Kaye, her children grown, is having an affair; Barbara, widowed with an empty nest, writes erotic novels under a pen name; and Ellen, whose husband has left their childless marriage, must watch him start a new family with a much younger woman—while bearing a secret. The three rely on each other, but Kaye and Barbara have kept the affair and erotica secret, and Ellen's own secret, long held, is only now about to surface: she gave birth at 16 and was forced by her family to give her daughter up for adoption. As Barbara and Kaye accompany Ellen to her father's funeral, none can guess the cascade of revelations that will rock all of their lives. Schieber (Willing Spirits)never falls back on easy answers or convenient outcomes; with patience and sensitivity, she illuminates the three women's choices and their friendship.”
--Publisher’s Weekly --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 374 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Trade (July 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425221539
• ISBN-13: 978-0425221532
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,900,866 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

The first great irony of my life was that I was born in a Catholic hospital. My parents, survivors of the Holocaust, had settled in the South Bronx among other new immigrants. My mother was apparently so nervous she barely slept the entire time she was in the hospital, fearing her fair-skinned, blue-eyed newborn would be switched with another baby. When my paternal grandfather, an observant Jew, came to see his newest granddaughter in the hospital, he was so uncertain of how to behave around the kindly nuns that he tipped his yarmulke to them each time one passed. It was in this haze of paranoia and neuroses, as well as black humor, that the makings of a writer were initiated.

In the mid-fifties, my family moved to Washington Heights, an enclave for German Jews, known as 'Frankfurt-on-the-Hudson.' The area offered scenic views of the Hudson River and the Palisades, as well as access to Fort Tryon Park and the mysteries of the Cloisters. I graduated from George Washington High School. Among its famous graduates was Henry Kissinger, former US Secretary of State (my grandmother played cards with his mother at the YMWHA on Nagle Avenue).

I graduated from high school at sixteen, went on to Bronx Community College, transferred to and graduated from Herbert H. Lehman College with a B.A. in English and a New York State license to teach English. I earned my M.A. in Literature from New York University and later my M.S. as a developmental specialist from Yeshiva University. I have worked as a high school English teacher, a special education teacher, and as a learning disabilties specialist in several college programs.

Reading was the first line of defense against anything I did not want to do. 'I'm reading,' was an excuse my parents never challenged. Education was paramount in our home. There were weekly trips to the library, and the greatly anticipated Friday afternoon story hour. Everything about words seemed interesting and important.. I could make sense of the world if I put it on paper. I could even make the world better; people could become smarter and more attractive, and I could make people laugh and cry at will. Writng was powerful. I thought in stories, answered questions in my head and added, 'she said' at the end of a sentence. I still do.
My first novel , Strictly Personal, for young adults, was published by Fawcett-Juniper. Willing Spirits was published by William Morrow. My most recent novel, The Sinner's Guide to Confession, will be published by Berkley Putnam on July 1, 2008. In March 2008, Berkley Putnam will issue the first paperback publication of Willing Spirits.


Phyllis Schieber lives in Westchester County, New York She works privately with students, teaching writing, and is currently working on a new novel.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Testament to the power of female friendship, August 5, 2008

By 

L. Carter (NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: The Sinner's Guide to Confession (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is a delight from start to finish. The author's trademark humor sparkles throughout, and the dialogue crackles with wit. Gracefully written, it is at once funny and profound, and offers a moving testament to the healing power of female friendship. "Sinner's Guide" is a perfect selection for book clubs. Don't miss it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Confess to Loving The Sinner's Guide, July 7, 2008

By 

Bookworm "Cindy" (NY, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sinner's Guide to Confession (Mass Market Paperback)

From the very first page, I was gripped by Phyllis Schieber's wonderful novel, completely entranced by the friendships and choices made by three memorable characters. You'll want to recommend this novel to all your friends, and it's a perfect selection for any book club.

5.0 out of 5 stars Fighting the tears, November 16, 2009

By 

vickie lake (NE) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Sinner's Guide to Confession (Mass Market Paperback)

There were the insights and revelations that gave little jabs of recognition throughout. The last forty or so pages I was fighting tears which were clouding my ability to read. So touched by Ellen's story. Nice read for women of "a certain age" as one reviewer commented, but I think women of all ages would benefit from this book.