Customer Reviews

Then She Found Me: A Novel

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was a young mom when I discovered this book at the local library. Although I'd always been a voracious reader, it had been a few years since I'd found anything that engrossed me. With rambunctious toddlers to tend, I found myself reading Parents magazine instead of the sharp, insightful, quirky fiction that I'd always loved.
And then I found Elinor Lipman. I think the description on the back of the book pulled me in: toad-sized earrings? Should be an interesting character, I thought. I read the book in one sitting and then flipped to the first page and read it over again. I was starved for fiction and Elinor Lipman served up a delicious entree in a completely unique way. She doesn't get the credit she deserves for being one of the first (and best) of the witty-women-fiction-writers who are now so common.
Lipman's gift for dialogue, her light touch and her original, imperfect but charming characters make her a modern-day Jane Austen. She can write a comedy of manners better than anyone who's currently publishing. The romance between April and her unlikely Prince Charming is a touching surprise, and the tension between the laid-back, no-frills April and her overbearing birth mother is perfectly depicted through Lipman's well-chosen descriptions and naturally witty dialogue. She makes it look easy.
When I worked at a bookstore, I recommended this book to anyone who was looking for a well-written light love story with a bit of an edge. I'll always have a special place in my heart for this book: it was the first novel I read after a few years of reading nothing but baby-related stuff, and it reminded me again how fiction can really touch your heart. I'm glad I made time for this book, and I'm glad I bought my own copy and have reread it several times since that first day (my kids are teenagers now and this remains on my all-time favorites list!) Although some of her subsequent books haven't been as engaging, Elinor Lipman remains a master at what she does, creating memorable heroines and surprising love interests, dialogue that crackles with wit, and plot lines that are a wonderful escape from the harsh realities of most of today's good fiction. A new book from Lipman is always a cause for celebration and a reason to shell out the extra bucks for a hardcover.

I finished Isabel's bed and ran out to get another Lipman book. I wasn't disappointed in the least. I found this book to be a wonderful ride full of pathos & humor. The characters (in both books) are truly believable and quirky, the kind of people you would come to know and love. The story is so entertaining yet, touches deep truths with sensitivity, humor, astuteness and compassion. Elinor Lipman is brilliant as a writer and I think it is a mistake to think of her as a light comedy writer even though she is hysterical. I'd love to meet Ms. Lipman, she's wonderful at dialogue and I think we would laugh a lot.

I was skeptical about this book as I am not a fan of humorous novels, but this book was a shining exception. Several parts made me laugh out loud, but other parts were so touching and dramatic. I couldn't put this book down!

A great read. Might particularly resonate with adoptees, but should be enjoyed by all gentle readers. To give you a good feel for the book, I'm going to quote one-half of my very favorite passage. If it doesn't make you want to read this book IMMEDIATELY, then this book isn't for you. Here goes:

"He held me and let me cry into his neck for what felt like hours. He produced a bubble bath somehow when I didn't even own the stuff. He found a tray and a bud vase and the makings of cinnamon toast. I told him I loved him, and not because I was vulnerable and hysterical and orphaned or because he was acting like a paid companion from the Visiting Nurses Association, but because he left school for me and never mentioned the leaving or getting back. 'You'd do it for me,' he said."

I liked Lipman's second book, "The Way Men Act," but not as much as this one. Her short story collection, "Into Love and Out Again" was pleasant, but her third novel, "Isabel's Bed," was a tedious bore. Because of how disappointed I was by "Isabel," I gave up on Lipman, and have not read her most recent couple of novels.

But I'll ALWAYS remember how glad I was that I found "Then She Found Me."

This charming little story reveals how a reunion between a grown woman and her birth mother can totally change the lives of each of them, in unexpected ways.

April Epner teaches high school Latin, dresses for comfort, and lives a no-nonsense life. Not much going on socially, but this doesn't seem to bother her.

Her adoptive parents have died, within two years of one another, and April does feel at loose ends. She doesn't think much about her birth mother, so when she is contacted by a friend of the woman, she doesn't really believe it at first. This celebrity talk-show hostess couldn't
possibly be her mother!

They gradually come to know one another---kind of like mixing oil and water---but April finds that her life is changing pleasantly, in subtle ways. She opens herself to a relationship with the school librarian and she even allows herself to make small changes in other aspects of her life. Closed off and detached from relationships as she has been, she finds that, even at the unlikely age of thirty-six, one can find love and family connections.

There are some predictable moments in this tale, like seeing a "talk-show reunion moment" played out, but Then She Found Me: A Novel leaves the reader with a warm, tingly glow.

Then She Found Me is a fun, unusual read about a girl whose exotic, outrageous birth mother finds her as an adult. The main character grew up happily with an adoptive family. When both of her adoptive parents die Bernice, her birth mother, tracks her down. She proves, however, to be not as easily molded as Bernice would like, which provides interesting tension throughout the book. In addition to interesting character development, both with family and romantic relationships, the book sparkles with witty, realistic dialogue and funny turns of events. The plot, like Bernice, tends toward outrageous, but it is easy to be drawn in none-the-less, and to believe everything that happens. An enjoyable, thought-provoking read.

From the first one I picked up, "Isabel's Bed" I read nothing but Elinor Lipman until I had gone through all of her books. "Then She Found Me" is an amusing story, a good read. I am sure any women that reads this book will find passages that she can relate to her own life. That is why Lipman's books are so amusing because they are a part of us all, or a part of something we would all like to be. I would highly recommend this book for anyone looking for an entertaining story, that is both funny and enlightening at the same time.

"My biological mother was 17 when she had me in 1952, and even that was more than I wanted to know about her." But April Epner is about to find out more - a whole lot more. Then She Found Me is a bittersweet gem of a novel dealing with the reunion of mother and daughter, when the daughter is 36 and the mother in her fifties. April is a serious, reserved Latin teacher whose adoptive parents have since died. Bernice G is a local talk show host, brash, narcissistic, and determined to always have lots of attention and her own way. She also tells a lot of lies. Their attempts to get to know each other bring about many situations, some poignant, but most exasperatingly funny. Along the way, as a side effect of some of Bernice's ceaseless micromanaging, April is stunned to find herself in love with a most unlikely guy.

Ms. Lipman has created a quirky, attractive, and genuine cast of characters in this story about all kinds of love. She has authored eight other novels, and smart but gentle satire is a hallmark of her work, , which has prompted some critics to label her "the Jewish Jane Austen." But you don't have to be Jewish to enjoy her writing, just human. Then She Found Me is a breath of literary fresh air.

A book where I am actually hoping the movie is a little more entertaining. Ms. Lipman writes extremely well - refreshing. However, I felt the main character a little dull. I know this book is fiction but as someone who is adopted I don't think I would be so "dull" if someone showed up at my door saying "hi, I'm your mother".

The scenes were well written, you were there at the dinner table, at the restaurant. I was researching in the library, but at times I was bored.

Look forward to the movie.

I definitely liked Then She Found Me, but I didn't love it. And quite honestly I'm not sure exactly why.

I loved the energy of Bernice's character. I think it would be hard in reading this book to not at least laugh at how crazy she is in everything she does. April was a little flat, to some degree. She really seemed easy going about everything - maybe too easygoing. She just seemed to take everything in stride. Maybe that's a good thing in life, but it just didn't seem a typical response given her situation - coming into contact with a birth mother you hadn't ever met! Dwight, although not glamorous in any sense, seemed funny, and was probably my favorite character if I had to choose.

I think, perhaps, during my reading of Then She Found Me, I kept thinking how it might make a better movie. (And I knew in advance of reading the book that it had been made into one). But upon checking the film out online, I find it doesn't appear like it follows in the same manner of the book, which definitely confuses me. I think Bernice on screen would come off hilariously! But when I saw Colin Firth and Matthew Broderick I questioned what characters they play. Broderick plays Ben. Who the heck is Ben?

Overall, I think Elinor Lipman wrote a good book, but perhaps not a great book, at least not in my mind. I enjoyed reading it, but I will most likely not read it again. When I first started the book I found myself curious to find out how much of Bernice's "stories" were truth versus lies. I was enticed by the mystery. But the enticement faded once the "truth" was out. For some reason the reality of the second half of Then She Found Me just didn't live up to the excitement of the first.