Ephron, Nora. Heartburn. Pocketbooks, 1983.
Reason read: a Christmas gift to myself.
What do you do when you are seven months pregnant and you discover your second husband is having an affair? To make matters worse, you already have a handful in the form of a two year old named Sam. It’s complicated to say the least. Heartburn is fiction but it could be all true. Ephron based this fictional falling apart of a marriage on her own experiences with love gone awry. Told from the perspective of Rachel, a cookbook author who has discovered her husband is having an affair with someone in their social circle. Like all good gossips, everyone knows Thelma is having a fling with someone’s husband. They all take turns guessing until Rachel discovers it’s her Mark Thelma has been seeing. Heartburn is at once heartbreaking and hilarious. Rachel’s revenge is sweet and swift.
Lines I liked, He said it with the animation of a tree sloth” (p 87) and “Second of all, it means even a simple flat inquiry like “How’s Helen?” is taken amiss, since your friend always thinks that what you hope he’s going to say is “Dead.” ” (p 138).
Author fact: Ephron was better known for her romantic comedies, but she was also a journalist and novelist.
Book trivia: Heartburn contains fifteen recipes.
Playlist: Irving Berlin’s “Always”.
Nancy said: Pearl said Nora is best known for Heartburn.
BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “All in the Family: Writer Dynasties” (p 5).
~*LunaSea*~ 