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Isabel’s Bed Audiobook
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(3.02) - 1,263 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
When Harriet Mahoney first saw it, Isabel Krug’s bed was covered in sheared sheep and littered with celebrity biographies. The unpublished, fortyish, and recently jilted Harriet had fled wintry Manhattan in response to a mysterious ad in the New York Review of Books: “Book in progress? Why not share my Cape Cod retreat? Roomy and peaceful—your life will be your own.”
In a room with a view atop a Truro dune, Harriet starts on a different path to fulfillment by ghostwriting The Isabel Krug Story, based on the sexy blonde’s tabloid past—specifically, a nasty night in Greenwich, Connecticut, when Guy Van Vleet died and Isabel lived to tell about it. Unusually talented in the man department, Isabel revamps and inspires Harriet as they gear up to tell all. Life according to Isabel is a soap-opera extravaganza, an experience to be swallowed whole—and the attitude is catching.
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"A fun read about a 40 something woman, recently dumped by her jerk of a boyfriend, who is hired to ghostwrite the story of an infamous love-triangle murder by the mistress of the murdered man, and becomes drawn into a world very different (and a lot more interesting) than her own. Sometimes predictable (will she get together with the hunky handyman?), sometimes twisty (the murdering wife gets released from the mental hospital and comes for a visit), but always enjoyable. Lipman does a good job creating realistic and likeable characters."
— Elizabeth (4 out of 5 stars)
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“Ms. Lipman takes on the question of how women and men, in and out of love and jail, should treat each other. In the end, her comic soap opera outsings her dramatic love story…Surely this would be criminal, were we not enjoying ourselves so thoroughly along the way…Isabel’s Bed is serious entertainment.”
— New York Times Book Review -
“By about page ten of this novel, the reader gets a…grin on his face, and that grin doesn’t really stop for about a week.”
— Washington Post Book World -
“A marvelous, quirky novel that makes you want to read it straight through without looking up.”
— Boston Globe -
“If Jane Austen had been born about two centuries later…chances are she’d have written like Elinor Lipman…One of the last of the urbane romantics.”
— Chicago Tribune -
“Delightful…Engaging…The perfect companion…After a short while, these characters become more vivid than one’s own friends.”
— San Francisco Chronicle -
“A warm, affecting tale about one smart woman letting go of her dumb choices and fumbling toward love.”
— People -
“Conlin’s silky voice captures Harriet’s shy hesitancy, her persistently low self-esteem as well as Isabel’s brash, busty blond self-confidence…Outstanding reading.”
— Kliatt -
“Isabel’s Bed gives us the intricate and deft plot, crisp dialogue and unexpected twists and turns we have come to expect in the comic novels of Elinor Lipman.”
— Amazon.com, editorial review -
“With her trademark, light comic touch, Lipman unfolds her narrative…The unexpected ending offers a just-right finish to this wry, warm story of about love and those who practice it.”
— Publishers Weekly -
“Lipman has written another winner…full of zany twists.”
— Library Journal -
“A delightful, gentle, knowing satire of writers, the publishing and entertainment industries, the art world, and the vagaries of love.”
— Booklist -
“So well paced that you could devour it in one sitting, but so much fun that you'll regret finishing so quickly if you do.”
— Kirkus Reviews
Isabel’s Bed Listener Reviews
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" Entertaining, light reading. "
— Nicol, 2/17/2014 -
" I wasn't sure how I felt about the protagonist initially but she grew on me, and overall I really enjoyed the book. Lippman created very authentic characters and was particularly successful at delving into the heart and mind of a recently scorned lover. "
— Georgina, 2/13/2014 -
" A lighthearted, funny, easy read. "
— Laura, 2/3/2014 -
" I'm on an Elinor Lipman kick and am really enjoying her books! I like her characters they are funny, quirky and complicated. This is a good read. It won't change your life, but it is enjoyable. "
— Laura, 1/30/2014 -
" A woman gets dumped by her deadbeat live-in boyfriend of 12 years and takes a job as a ghostwriter on Cape Cod. Isabel is her boss, a bombshell who eye-witnessed the murder of her lover at the hands of his wife and wants to tell all. "
— Anne, 1/28/2014 -
" Perhaps Elinor Lipman's best novel to date, although all her books are laugh out loud funny romantic comedies mostly set in New England. They're good when you need a light novel that is wry in tone. I would recommend any of her books. "
— Susan, 1/28/2014 -
" Well, I still love Elinor Lipman. Enjoyable characters, satisfying plot, witty throughout.... "
— Martha, 1/21/2014 -
" I usually really love Elinor Lipman's books. This one just seemed a bit silly, and not in a good way. The problem, for me, was that I didn't really like any of the main characters very much. "
— Tonja, 1/18/2014 -
" i am enjoying this book "
— Joan, 1/16/2014 -
" The best sort of screwball comedy. Loved it. "
— Felicity, 1/1/2014 -
" Is Elinor Lipman my favorite author? Yes, maybe so. Her characters are always witty, poignanet, exasperating, compelling. Just love all her books. I want to be her when I grow up. "
— Nancy, 11/28/2013
About Elinor Lipman
Elinor Lipman is the award-winning author of sixteen books of fiction and nonfiction. Her first novel, Then She Found Me, became a 2008 feature film, directed by and starring Helen Hunt, with Bette Midler, Colin Firth, and Matthew Broderick. She was the 2011–12 Elizabeth Drew Professor of Creative Writing at Smith College.
About Grace Conlin
Grace Conlin (1962–1997) was the recording name of Grainne Cassidy, an award-winning actress and acclaimed narrator. She was a member of the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, DC, and won a Helen Hayes Award in 1988 for her role in Woolly Mammoth’s production of Savage in Limbo.