Book #12: Heartburn

Title: Heartburn


Author: Nora Ephron


I just barely finished this book, and I loved it so much that I had to do book reviews of all of the other books I've read in the last month just so I could tell you all to go and read this book! I vaguely remember when the movie version of this novel came out (starring Meryl Streep as Rachel Samstat, a cookbook author, and Jack Nicholson as her rascally husband Mark Feldman-- which seems like typecasting to me), but I was a little kid at the time, so I obviously didn't see the movie.


Heartburn begins when a seven-months-pregnant Rachel discovers that Mark is having an affair with one of her friends. When confronted, he admits that he's in love with Thelma, and Rachel flees their DC home to New York. Over the next couple of months she has to decide whether to stay with Mark, despite his infidelity, or leave him for good. Rachel is hilarious (her description of what happens to your body when you become pregnant had me in full-on tears as I read it) and I could sympathize with the decision she had to make. Even if you don't suspect that your husband might be cheating on you with a giantess, Heartburn is a fantastic book for every woman who has ever been pregnant, or in love. Rachel's recipes are also delightfully chatty. Once I get off this damn diet I might try to make her Potatoes Anna and Key Lime Pie.


--originally published 4/9/07