Jody Horowitz grew up in an upscale Jewish community outside Boston with her narcissistic mother, her passive father, and her snooty older sister. Jody, now 33, with a one-year-old daughter, learns that her husband has been screwing a "shiksa," and Mother suggests that in order to fix her marriage, Jody “wear more lingerie.” Instead, Jody kicks the cheater out, recovers her life with her work, her daughter and their dog....and, despite Mother's shaming falls for a kind Italian Catholic widower. Jody seems truly happy for the first time in a long time…despite the secret she must keep from him, and the secret she finds out about him.
With her loving Bubbe's support, Jody resolves to finally emerge from her mother's shadow and be true to herself, her daughter, and her new man. Surprisingly, this decision unravels her soul and leads to a dramatic personal breakdown that stretches from Boston to California to Maine, which even her wise, best friend Ruthie can't fix for Jody this time. By the start of a highly-charged family reunion, Jody must summon the courage to proclaim her allegiance to her man, not be a pawn to her family, and be a positive role-model for her daughter. To everyone’s surprise, a third choice, amid a tumultuous night of secret-revealing, comes to light.
Will Jody remain mired in Mother's manipulation or freed from a lifetime of controlling, narcissistic influences? Can love and intimacy guide Jody’s exodus, or is the grip of the past too powerful to overcome?
With suspense, humor, romance, a compelling plot, and a Yiddish glossary, this novel grips the reader from start to finish--whether or not they understand the enormous challenges that the daughter of a narcissistic mother must overcome in order to become her own person. Those who do understand, or have lived with a self-absorbed or narcissistic mother, will see themselves in Jody--and cheer her on all the way to her final decision.
This fourth-generation Jewish and interfaith family story is gripping from page one to the surprise ending.
