Product Description

Claire Newbold is not your typical heroine. Smart and sexy, yes, but she's also been known to sneak into a hotel room or two without paying, seduce a teenager in wet bathing trunks, and just check out of things altogether--like her job. And her marriage. No wonder, though. Claire's been careening off heartbreak. Her only child has died, she may be infertile, and her husband has had an affair.

No longer a mother, not sure she wants to be a wife, Claire moves from hotel to hotel, basking in the anonymity of travel and forbidden sex. She even comes to believe she is clairvoyant, able to "read" into the souls of others. Eventually she begins to see into her own soul as she ponders whether or not to return home. As she struggles to repair her marriage and her life, Claire surprises herself -- and us -- by emerging with a new sense of redemption.

Customer Reviews (69)

This book blew me away
I loved this book.It is an intense essay of a woman's struggle to come to terms with the grief of losing her child.Very powerful. Could easily sit down and read it through a second time.I would love to see more from Lisa Zeidner.

Don't let the sexy cover fool you.
A friend recommended this, and when I saw the sexy cover, I thought, excellent -- I'm in for a wild ride.But this is high-brow chick-lit, without many surprises, and left me unsatisfied.It's a tale of self-discovery, sure, but at the end I felt it was a weak discovery.I wish I could get away from my life of material comfort, job prosperity, and surgeon spouse, only to realize that, hey, maybe my life ain't so bad afterall.Still, it's well written and moves quickly.I finished it in a couple of nights.But I wish it had gone deeper into the darkside of grief.I wouldn't call this self-destructive behavior.I mean, how bad can things get when you're staying at the Four Seasons (as this character does for most of the book)?

it takes precious little
it seems, to get a book published these days. My guess is that 50% of the people who purchased this book did so because of the partly exposed boob on the cover.I know that there are books that are meant to be taken to the beach or the mountains for summer vacation and then left at the rental housebecause to bring it home would mean more weight in the car and lower gas mileage. But if the reader struggles to get through the first 30 pages of truly uninspired writing more than once, something is seriously wrong. At least if Ms. Zeidner could write, it might redeem the ridiculous "plot" line. Even the sex, which presumably enticed a number of people to buy the book is unexciting.The dust jacket says that the author is a professor of English at a respected university;one can only hope that she is a much better teacher than she is a writer.

Good
I picked up this book pretty much at random at the bookstore recently and I was not disappointed. This is the story of Claire, who after losing her son to a freak accident can't seem to be able to cope with her grief. She is a travelling saleswoman who goes from hotel to hotel hoping to connect with people but just seems to slowly disconnect from her own world. After her husband admits to having had a fling at a conference, Claire sort of decides to just stay in hotels where she can sneak in for free and not go back to her old life. What follows is the interesting story of someone desperately trying to get to grips with her grief and her emotions. That goes from hooking up with near strangers to desperate phone calls to her therapist. It is a really good story, well written, with a daring and touching heroine. Not for everyone but recommended nonetheless.

Want good or great "chick lit"?Stick with Jane Austen.
This was my first look into the increasingly popular "chick lit" fiction arena.It's also become my last, because this was one terrible book.Words fail to describe, and I can't bring myself to recall the dull, lifeless, insipid text.

Should I allow one bad reading experience to keep me from the genre?Perhaps, if you consider the praise heaped on this clunker!Instead, if you're into semi-fictional accounts of women, adolescent or otherwise, stick with Jane Austen and Louisa May Alcott.They are referred to as "classics" for all the best reasons. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

question to the author
I have a roommate bearing the same name as your title. I believe in fate and karma. That names belong to one but share similarities with others. I am interested in learning more about your story of alexandra but this site is very,very vague. I have a feeling that this book could resemble her life in someone elses life. Please mail me a description of your book and where i can acquire a copy.

jtaylor420@shaw.ca ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Dynamic and interesting but not always appetizing.
You have to give Zeidner credit for how very different this book is from her close to bestseller Layover. Although there is one similar focus- how to con the system, either purposefully or "accidentally" (in Layover, it's hotel rooms, in Limited Partnerships it's banks...) the style is VERY different. More detailed, less first-person narration, more intertwined weaved in subplots. I have to wonder if the clunky name of this book isn't what kept people from buying more copies. In any case, it reminded me a bit stylistically of the author of "Virgin Suicides" and "Middlesex."

My complaints?
1) Overall, it needed a more romantic tone. The dry humor doesn't work so well in this book- it makes the characters lives seem unimportant.
2) The characters themselves came across as tacky. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Extraordinarily Well Done!
As a displaced native of the Brandywine Valley and a frequent visitor, I found this book to be a delicious portrayal of a unique area. The photography is generous, rich and superb. The reader feels as if he istruly a part of the spectacular rolling hills and historic homes that makethe Brandywine a treasure. The text is informative and accurate. Afterreading this book, one will indeed have an "insider's" view ofthe region and its special composition of residents, history and naturalbeauty. Through many years, I have collected several volumes related to theBrandywine Valley. This one is by far my favorite. I have purchased severalcopies as gifts for friends who cherish the area as much as I, many of whomare long-time residents of the region. They all have related their pleasureand joy with the content of the book. In summation, an excellent effortwhich I highly recommend. Well done! William Sydnor ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document, covering the life and work of Lisa Zeidner, is an entry from Contemporary Authors, a reference volume published by Thompson Gale. The length of the entry is 798 words. The page length listed above is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include the following information:

• Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
• Family members
• Education
• Professional associations and honors
• Employment
• Writings, including books and periodicals
• A description of the author's work
• References to further readings about the author

Product Description
The psychic death and rebirth of a saleswoman.Zeidner writes with the precision and the ear of the poet she is. ... Read more