Madame Mirabou's School of Love

by Barbara Samuel, Barbara O'Neal, Bernadette Dunne

Book Overview

Sometimes real passion means living the life you've always wanted. Nicole Bridges still can't believe she's taken up residence in a Colorado apartment complex nicknamed "Splitsville." She's still... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345469143
• ISBN13: 9780345469144
• Release Date: March 2006
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 307 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Excellent

I just finished reading this work and thoroughly enjoyed it. I can't think of any detail of the novel that wasn't satisfying or that I found lacking in any way. Well thought and executed. I would certainly reread it.

One more reason to love Barbara Samuel's writing!

I absolutely drooled all over Barbara Samuel's MADAME MIRABOU'S SCHOOL OF LOVE. I've been a Barbara Samuel (Who's also known as Ruth Wind when she writes for Harlequin.)fan for a long, long time. There's something about the rich flow of her language and her close-to-the-bone insight into her characters that fascinates me. I love that her books are about life, not necessarily as neat and pretty as we wish it was, but as it is. She writes about the struggles regular people face with eloquence and compassion. MADAME MIRABOU'S SCHOOL OF LOVE tells another one of these wonderful, rich, fabulous stories. Nikki Carrington is recently divorced and unwilling or unable to let go of her former life until her house blows up. Left with nothing, she is homeless, jobless, and out of sync with who she used to be. To try to recover from the loss and rediscover the woman within, Nikki gets an apartment that happens to be in a building with another divorced woman and a soldier's wife, left behind when her husband is deployed. It is these women, and the women in the restaurant where Nikki gets a waitressing job, who encourage her and help her develop the courage to pursue dreams long set aside. As Nikki moves toward a life beyond her divorce and into a the tender beginnings of a new relationship, her neighbor Wanda, who helped Nikki regain her perspective, reveals the devastation that can occur when a woman refuses to grow and change. Samuel recently won the Romance Writers of America® coveted Rita Award for her last book LADY LUCK'S MAP OF LAS VEGAS; I look for MADAME MIRABOUS SCHOOL OF LOVE to be a hot contender for next year's Rita.

Really lovely story

This novel tells a really lovely story about a recently-divorced woman reluctantly being forced to start her life over and find happiness and fulfillment. All the characters are very well-written and well thought-out. Each one has a meaning and is not there for filler. I found all the emotions of the main character to be authentic, and her growing in fits and starts true to her situation - someone who did not want a divorce and grappled with so many emotions for her ex-husband (continuing love, anger, confusion), her daughter, her new friends, and eventually her promising new love. The title of this novel suggests that it's some kind of quirky chick-lit story, but I think that is misleading. It is a novel of humor, yes, but not without lots of layers of other emotions. It even touches on depression and anorexia in the context of a secondary character in a thoughtful way. I really enjoyed reading this book and was dreading the last page. It was a very satisfying reading experience.

Another tale of beauty and redemption

I always know when it comes time for a new Barbara Samuel book that I'll be entering a magical world of beauty and poignancy, populated with characters who allow themselves to hope and love, despite what life has brought them. This latest release holds true to that tradition. Barbara Samuel's been an automatic buy for me since 1995, when I read Lucien's Fall, and I've enjoyed the ride since. Her sensual writing style serves her extremely well in this story of Nikki, who dreams about opening her own perfumerie while coping with a divorce she didn't see coming, and the subsequent out-of-state move of her daughter. Not to mention the little matter of a blown-up house resulting in Nikki's arrival at an apartment complex that would not be her first choice of residency, if she only had a choice. The people she meets there will change her life, as will those she meets at her new job, including the deliciously self-contained Niraj. As with many of Ms. Samuel's books, the characters in Madame Mirabou are from all walks of life, all ethnic backgrounds. All are treated with the warmth and compassion that makes this author's works stand out for me, and her insights into how life is, or how it can be if we only allow it, often bring me to tears. Add to that a gorgeous cover in a matte finish that makes just holding the book a lush experience, and this is my favorite release of 2006. Fabulous.

great character study

It came as a complete shock to Nikki Carrington when her husband of almost two decades left her for a younger woman of his own race. Their daughter Giselle moves to California with her dad and his new wife because the schools are better there for someone wanting to become a doctor than in Manitou, Colorado. Nikki lets her ex Daniel convince her that it would be better for her to be part of an African-American family. Nikki's house, which she received as part of the divorce settlement, caught fire when the furnace blew up so she takes an apartment in a complex with many residents divorced or separated. Roxanne stalks her ex-husband who she still loves and his second wife while also having indiscriminate one night stands. Wanda anxiously waits for her spouse to come home from his tour of duty in Iraq. Nikki obtains work as a waitress while hoping to open up a perfume shop selling her own creations. There is a man who wants to forge a future with Nikki, but she cannot commit as she still needs to make peace with her past especially in light of observing her neighbors. Hearts will go out to bewildered heroine lost in a world she no longer understands as all the rules of relationships have changed. She struggles to adapt to being single which is made more difficult by the insurance company taking its time on her claim. She knows her prime priority is to discover just who she is since she can no longer hide behind the comfort cloaks of wife and mother. This is a great character study with a sizzling romantic subplot augmenting the deep look at a stunned woman trying to find herself. Harriet Klausner