The writer poses the question “Are sometimes things better when they are worse” and yes, that is true - and this book itself proves it. The “better” are the characters; they are wonderful. Drawn before, during and after a catalystic event, they resonate - I felt I could “see” them and relate to them. (I might even argue I am them in some ways.) The “worse” is the actual event, which I thought came a little late in the story and in fact had less impact than I would have expected, on the characters and on me as a reader. I am not even sure it was necessary to the story. But I am glad she had the idea for the event, because if not, we would likely never meet the characters, and I would be less for that. First book I read in a day and a night in a long time.

I read this because I’ve loved other books she has written. This was the worst book I’ve read in as long as I can remember. It was just boring and droned on and on and nothing happened.

This book is well written but extremely boring. Nothing really happens , and I like slow books but c’mon.

As someone who lives on New York’s upper west side I’m so tired of inaccurate and silly depictions of the way people live here. The people here who are actually as privileged as Charlie and Nora are a small minority. Most people I meet live here because it is relatively safe and has great public schools, and most pay upwards of 70% of their income in rent in order to live here. The author’s cavalier attitude towards the subjects’ obvious privilege as opposed to the cliche manner in which she portrays the “help” is ridiculous and appalling. I can’t even believe someone decided to publish this. The author could have explored these class differences in more nuanced and interesting ways and instead glossed over and used vague stereotypes to describe what are very complex relationships. Also, nothing happens in this book!

I thought it was much longer than it needed to be. She weaves a good story and is an excellent story teller but this story didn’t really resonate as much as her others.

While offering a basically good storyline, the author seems to stand apart from her characters in a way that keeps the reader from fully investing. Huge segments of the story are interjected at random points in the narrative, which makes it all seem disjointed. Still there is a certain beauty to the way the author puts sentences together that kept me turning pages.

I’ve read a lot of this author”s books, but found this one a little disappointing. The characters were all so similar and not very complex and the plot was not well developed until the end. I was glad to be done with it, though it did leave me with plenty to think about retrospectively.

Have read all of this authors books. I have enjoyed all of her other novels. This book was very disappointing and pointless. Not worth reading

No dumb subplots, just a realistic, interesting story. Lots of true life type vignettes and New York style philosophy. Good solid read.

Based on the author’s previous works, I gave this a try. Now I’m wondering why. I am a third of the way through it, and have just discovered what the “terrible incident” is. Without spoiling it for those of you who might pick up the book, suffice it to say that it is so meaningless/inconsequential that I am going to stop reading. I have only done that with 1 other book in my 50 years of avid reading. This is a total waste of time! As patts552 stated, BORING.