Book #33: Love and Other Impossible Pursuits

Title: Love and Other Impossible Pursuits
Author: Ayelet Waldman

I got this book at the library on Friday morning, and by Friday at dinnertime, I was done reading it (it's more than 300 pages). Usually, I reserve that kind of uninterrupted reading for things like Sophie Kinsella's Shopaholic series or the Harry Potter books; books, in other words, where action takes precedence over style and character development.

I still can't figure out of Love and Other Impossible Pursuits is chick-lit or not. On the one hand, it's sort of a chick-lit subject: a woman needs to learn to love her stepson while dealing with the death of her newborn daughter. And it read like an US Weekly. On the other hand, it's obvious that, as a writer, Waldman knows her stuff-- the book reads like someone with an MFA wrote it-- someone who knows how to tell a story, who's well-versed in telling just enough that the reader wants to know more. The backstory on Baby Isabel's death felt, well, artful. And for the most part, the characters were interesting and well-drawn. I wanted to have sympathy for Emilia, who had, after all, just lost a baby, but she kept doing such ridiculously mean things, especially to her mother. I wanted to be understanding with her husband Jack, who was also grieving, but who reserved judgment for everyone except Emilia, even when she was trying her best. All in all, it's an interesting read, especially the step-parent/step-child angle, but I can't decide if it was a "good" read or not.