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.

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 have read all of Elinor Lipman's books and am waiting for her to write another one! Like the previous reviewer, I have re-read this book many times and always enjoy being drawn into the story. One of the things I like best about this book is the way that Elinor Lipman can gently poke fun at exasperating characters (April's biological mother, Bernice) without being cruel. And the relationship between April and Dwight is one of the most realistic and touching I've read in a long time. Yes, I much prefer them to Cathy and Heathcliff!

I've read all of Lipman's novels, and have thoroughly enjoyed them. If you think about it, there's not really much that you can object to -- the flaky characters are likable, the plot is helped along by various humorous/embarassing/poignant incidents, and the writing is quite good. Lipman's books are well-packaged reflections of real life, suitable for a bit of entertainment and escapism. After all, it's much more fun to read about the dating woes of someone else than to dwell on your own. The Way Men Act falls into this category as well. It's a fun book, full of quick-paced dialogue, interesting characters, and humorous observations.

I sped right through this book and I'm terrible about finishing books. I was kinda sad when it was over -- you really get to know the characters. This was the first Elinor Lipman book I had read and I immediately went out and got the rest of her books. Right now I'm reading "Isabel's Bed'' and so far it's great. Can't wait for the new book

My book club read "The Inn at Lake Divine" but the bookstore clerk recommended this book as Lipman's best. What a great read! I did enjoy this book much more. Her descriptions of the fly fishing shop and the customers and staff were wonderful. The interactions between the characters seemed very plausible. I've now read a third of her books. Each is written in a different style and I've enjoyed them all. I'm looking forward to many more works from Lipman.

For fans of Elinor Lipman's brilliant novels, this one might well be a disappointment. I couldn't find much to root for in her protagonist, a brainy surgical intern with zero social skills, and there wasn't enough about the more interesting secondary characters to redeem the novel for me. As for Alice's unorthodox fudge salesman suitor, Ray Russo, it seemed as if Lipman couldn't decide how she felt about him. One minute he was showing incredible thoughtfulness toward Alice, and the next minute he was portrayed as a hopeless cad. Based on my past experiences with the author, however, I've given the book one more star than it really deserves. For those unfamiliar with Elinor Lipman, don't hold this one against her. Try any of her other novels, and enjoy.

If you like Jane Austen, you have to read Elinor Lipman. Every reviewer says her books are funny and charming. But more than that, they're very smart. Her stories start where obvious novels end, then twist around and around until the final surprise. Also, she doesn't think a list of brand-name clothing passes for characterization. This one is my favorite, because while the heroine is a complete social klutz she's also totally honest and expects other people to be the same. Fat chance. She hasn't a clue, and it was just as hard for me to tell until the very end if her suitor would turn out to be a Darcy or a Wickham.

Thank God, more Elinor Lipman! Her latest gem is the story of the initiation into simple humanity of Alice Thrift, a brilliant but socially-challenged surgical resident who has all the instinctive people skills of a chilly stethoscope. The paradoxical inversion of Lipman's usual lucidly insightful heroines works to perfection here; Alice's cluelessness is itself a kind of x-ray vision and Lipman is as hilariously wise about men and women as ever. Alice's insanely persistent suitor, the sublimely slimy Ray Russo, is a perverse delight; watching the twists and turns of the courtship is like watching a car wreck in slow motion, but it dawns on us slowly that this is precisely the car wreck Alice needed. The novel's minor characters are realized wonderfully, and the delicious unfolding process of naive Alice's education in the intricacies of actual human beings is pure joy. I can't agree that this falls short of Lipman's usual wonders; it's simply a delightful read, laced with laugh-out-loud dialogue pitched to perfection and all the treasures of Lipman's effortlessly graceful style. She is our Jane Austen and hurray there's more of her now to read.

While I really enjoyed Elinor Lipman's Inn at Lake Devine - I felt that Isabel's Bed did not quite live up to my expectations. It got rave reviews so I was looking forward to reading it but it was slow going and once I got into it the book ended.

Isabel's Bed is the story of Harriet Mahoney, a middle aged, recently jilted, unpublished writer who finds a job and a home with Isabel Krug - the "other woman" in a scandoulous murder. Isabel hires Harriet to ghost write her story.

The novel is about their friendship and how it helps Harriet (and Isabel) put her life back on track.

The book meandered for a while and finally got rolling about 100 pages or so before it ended. I guess if I am still interested in knowing what happens with these character's (which I definitely am) then I really did enjoy the book - I just wish that it had a bit more depth or about 50 more pages...

The blurbs on the cover of this book really put me off at first - someone on the front cover saying that 'by about page ten the reader has a grin on his face' and on the back something about her being the new Jane Austen - etc etc. While being none of those things to me though, I found a lot else in it which grew on me as the book progressed, and surprising to myself I found that I couldn't put it down - and reading to the finish I found it a fun, and infinitely satisfying read.

The heroine of the novel is Harriet Mahoney - 42, failed in a long term relationship, aspiring novellist and looking for a way to escape New York and her ex-partner for a while - wound-licking stuff. She applies for a position ghost-writing Isabel Krug's life story - the fact that she has no idea just who Isabel is, or how notorious her story is, is the subject of the book. Harriet goes to live with her at Cape Cod and in fact it is the growing relationship between these two women which was for me, the most interesting part of the book. As we learn more about Harriet we also have more of Isabel revealed. Its all done in context of the novel and some of it is quite startling. One thing I'll say for Elinor Lipman is she really knows how to tell a story without over-killing points - but she is also wonderful at providing great twists to the story at various points.

It really is an 'engaging' read, but it might take you more than 10 pages to get into. I certainly didn't find I was grinning for a week - but I found it a great read and I think itsworth perservering with if you aren't immediately grabbed by it.

What a wonderful novel! This book had everything - romance, intrigue, friendship and revenge. Such a great combination. I really did love this book, a second for me by Elinor Lipman, and much semi-drivel that was The Inn at Lake Devine.

One thing bothered me about Isabel's Bed - the absence of you-know-who by the end of the book. The Itzy-Hare-Pete-Costas combination should have ended with a collective bang!

Needless to state, I highly recommend this book! It's a light and fast read, packed with humour and realism.

Like so much of Lipman's writing, these stories probably won't change your life, but they're truly sweet - not cloying or sacharine - which is a rarity these days.

The first chapter really had me - a twelve year old's indignation at her family's exclusion from a Vermont resort because of their religion. Natalie's revenge tactics were amusing, thought provoking and admirable.

I eagerly read on, hoping to see how Natalie would deal with this bit of discrimination - how it would affect her life and shape her as a person. After all, it occurred at a crucial "coming of age" point in her life, so there was the perfect opportunity for Ms. Lipman to plunge into an intriguing storyline.

Instead, it felt as if the following chapters were written by someone else using the classic pattern of girl-meets-boy, girl-loses-boy, girl-finds-boy-again. What this story lacked was a stormy confrontational scene between Natalie and the villainess who discriminated against her. I never got a true feeling for Natalie's concern for her Jewish heritage, even when Yiddish words were hastily tossed into the stilted dialogue towards the end.

When the story concluded, there was no real lesson learned by either protagonist or antagonist. There was no life-affirming changes, no maturation of character, no revelations or final acceptance.

Truly a disappointment since this had some real potential.

I'm an Elinor Lipman fan but was disappointed by "Isabel's Bed," and didn't find the summary of "The Inn at Lake Devine" all that compelling. But I ended up reading this little trifle of a book in one sitting--laughing out loud on occasion. It's a great light read with some interesting points about society and prejudice, and a cute little love story you root for besides. My reservations are that the adult Robin isn't more developed, and the anti-Semitic innkeeper's views aren't explained in more depth. But maybe the latter is the point--many of these attitudes develop without people realizing them or recognizing that they're wrong.

As a society we are divided by class, religion and color. Whenever we try to intermingle any of these differences in personal relationships it is, often times, met with disapproving attitudes by others. And eventhough we may be reminded, justifiably so, by the holocaust or by slavery our nation still discriminates, still judges. Elinor Lipman in her novel, "The Inn at Lake Devine" writes with great wit and humor about the great divide between Jews and Gentiles. Ms. Lipman's story centers around a hotel in Vermont in the 60's that flatly states they do not accept Jews as guests. The main character, Natalie Marx, challenges the hotels policy and after meeting a gentile friend at summer camp, whose family spends each summer at the Inn, invites herself to vacation there with her friends family (as that is the only way she can "legally" get into the Inn). Natalie's eyes are widened even further after witnessing the owners and their family during that vacation. Years later she returns to the Inn to attend the wedding of her summer camp friend where unforeseen circustances occur and relationships develope between Natalie and the innkeepers 2 sons. Interestingly, Ms. Lipman takes the action to the Catskills, where the tables are now turned as the Jews talk about the Gentiles. All of this is done with great style and wit by Ms. Lipman and she never judges anyone so that we dislike them. Instead, Ms. Lipman allows us to observe the inner-workings of our society and how we, as a whole, can improve all our lives together. What happens to Natalie, the owners 2 sons and the Inn will have to be discovered by the reader. In the meantime, buy Ms. Lipman's novel - she addressess a subject worth writing about and delivers it humorously and professionally.

I have read many Elinor Lipman books and I found this to be one of the better ones. The characters were interesting and I found my self wishing there was more history on each of them. I wanted the book to go back 20 years and start the story there. I was very dissapointed with end and the revelations about Margaret - really didn't think it was necessary and did not add anything to the book or to the character.

Elinor Lipman creates off-the-wall characters (generally misfits), who have difficulty keeping jobs and maintaining relationships.

In her latest novel, "The Dearly Departed," Margaret Batten and her lover Miles Finn are found dead, the victims of a defective furnace that leaked carbon monoxide. Brought together for the funeral are Sunny Batten and Fletcher Finn, two half-siblings who never knew of one another's existence. Sunny and Fletcher are both at loose ends and they are dissatisfied with their lives. When they come to the small New Hampshire town of King George to bury their parents, they also try make peace with the past and figure out where they are headed in life.

Sunny revisits the people with whom she grew up, and she finds romance with the Chief of Police, Joey Loach. Joey had a crush on Sunny in high school. Although he is now a respected peace officer, Joey is also a stifled mama's boy straining to get out from under his mother's ministrations. This book is filled with comic characters, such as Dr. Emil Ouimet, who, although married, harbored a deep (albeit unrequited) passion for Margaret Batten over the years. The doctor publicly and embarrassingly falls apart at Margaret's funeral, and he continues to cry at the drop of a hat for days afterward.

What makes Lipman's books unique is her light touch with plot and characters. Everything is played for laughs and even sudden death is fodder for the author's droll humor. The characters trade witticisms, insults and assorted bon mots on every page and their repartee is entertaining and outrageous. For a light comedy of manners with characters too funny to be true, pick up Lipman's "The Dearly Departed".

Elinor Lipman has written another perfect book for summertime reading--a witty, wry commentary on social conventions combined with characters with whom most readers would want to invite to the next party. I started this Friday evening and finished it before I left the beach on Saturday afternoon. Much to my dismay, I read them far more quickly than Lipman can write them. I anxiously await the next group of characters she'll introduce to me.

I've loved all of Elinor Lipman's other books, but this one just wasn't as good. I found the frequent shifts in point of view to be jarring, and because the reader is constantly getting inside the head of different characters, she doesn't learn much of substance about any of them. I was also less interested in the middle-aged characters, who seemed to be lifted out of an Anne Tyler novel. Elinor Lipman is a wonderful writer, though, and this book is well-written. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more if I didn't loathe Harvey Nash as much (but the fact that I did says a lot about the quality of the writing).

I am an Elinoir Lipman fan. I enjoyed this book, especially the end. All of the sister's had to take a hard look at themselves. They had bought into their parent's world and the ideas and standards of that time, and it was this world that prevented them from living their lives to the fullest. How many of us reach fifty and realize we have been living someone else's version of what life is and not our own. Nash Harvey is the man many a female has run into in a vunerable moment. We want to believe it is love and that last chance for it only to have our dreams smashed back to reality after we have been taken for the fool. I found this to be enjoyable summer reading with more meat to the story and character development then other books designated as women's summer reading. I became engrossed in the lives of the characters and the story held my attention. I would recommend this to women to read. it addresses a vulnerable side of the female sex that they don't always want to show. It speaks of the relationships among sisters and the need for friends to sustain us through the hard times and laugh with us.

This was the second book I read by Elinor Lipman. The first--"Isabel's Bed" had something missing. Nonetheless, "Isabel's Bed" prompted me to try Lipman for a second time when I picked up "Ladies' Man."

This book had me hooked from the very first sentence, and it didn't let go. It's not easy to find a "funny" book--many make that promise, but few seems to actually come through. This book was extremely witty. It's the story of the three Dobbin sisters, Adele, Lois, and Kathleen. Suddenly, out-of-the-blue, Harvey Nash appears on the Dobbin sisters' doorstep in the wee hours--thirty years after he jilted Adele. Harvey Nash's story is that he has come to apologize, but what does he REALLY want?

For 260 glorious pages, I giggled at Harvey's selfishness, and I couldn't wait for him to finally get the comeuppance he so deserved. All the characters were well-developed, and this was an utterly delightful book. I sent several copies to friends as presents. If you want a good read--one that involves you with the characters--I highly recommend this book!