Suburbanistas

By Pamela Redmond Satran and Pamela Redmond Redmond

Book Overview

From the acclaimed author of Younger and Babes in Captivity, a funny and moving novel about friendship, fame, and the fight for one suburb's future

Greetings from New Jersey

Stella Powers is an A-list movie star who has just landed an Oscar-worthy role and a hot new rock-star husband when her mother's death brings her world tumbling down. Floundering as her life becomes one tabloid horror after another, Stella finds herself stuck in the New Jersey suburb she fled twenty years ago. But Homewood is no longer the sleepy town she remembers: housing prices are skyrocketing and glitzy new stores -- and people -- are moving in. To Stella and her young daughter, this is good news.

Wish you weren't here.

The bad news: Stella's childhood best friend, Mary Jean, who married Stella's old boyfriend and raised four kids in Homewood, can no longer afford to live there. Mary Jean is determined to wrest back the town but needs Stella on her side. The stakes for both women are high, but how can these old friends reconnect after so much time has passed? Or more importantly, how can they not?

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416505598
• ISBN13: 9781416505594
• Release Date: March 2006
• Publisher: Gallery Books
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.74 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Enjoyable!

Very enjoyable book about two childhood friends. I liked how each chapter was laid out by a different character. Can't wait to read more by this author!!

Predictably Fun Chick-Lit...

This is a hard book to rate. Part of me says 4 stars, but the other part says 3 stars. In the end I'm going with 4 because, while it may not be the greatest book out there, it sure was hard to put down. Now, I've always made it clear that I'm not a fan of chick-lit, most of it's just shallow women in the big city going from one superficial crises to the next...but 'Suburbanistas' actually has some meat to it. I liked the dynamic between the two friends...they both grow up in a small Jersey town, and one (Mary Jean) becomes a cop's wife and raises four kids, while the other (Stella) runs off to Hollywood and becomes a super famous actress. The two have lost touch ever since Stella left abruptly for California, but when she returns home to visit her mother, who dies shortly after, they get back together and slowly regain the close bond they once shared. Now...as for the political end of the story, this is why I was wanting to give it 3 stars. It was just silly, and predictable. I could see from a mile away who was going to end up becoming the mayor of Homewood...and are we really supposed to believe that Pete (Mary Jeans husband) would campaign against her and continue to help Henry Sladowsky just for the sake of becoming Chief of Police? Isn't it obvious that if Mary Jean were to win that she would appoint her husband to that position? Because of this I really didn't care too much for Pete, or Mary Jean's daughter Fanny, who was just a little to over-the-top in my opinion. But, those few things aside, and as mad as I would get during some parts of the book, I just couldn't put the darn thing down. And something should be said for that. Ms. Satran may not have a classic here, but she certainly knows who to keep the readers attention, and that's big. Upon reading the interview section at the end, I learned that her other two novels take place in Homewood, New Jersey as well, and I'm thinking I just might pick them up. So...if your a fan of chick-lit, I absolutely think you'll enjoy this, and even if your not, it's still not a bad way to pass a couple of rainy afternoons.

Sassy Suburbanistas

I devoured this book--it's a fun, fast-paced read with clever characters drawn closely from life. In fact, I think I know some of these people! If you live in the suburbs, you will enjoy Satran's take on the whole thing. Her books are smart and sassy. Don't miss this one!

Remarkable writing and a fantastic read!

There's rich, really rich and filthy stinking rich. Pamela Redmond Satran writing just keeps getting better and her stories are an absolute delight to read. This is a wonderful book, filthy stinking rich in characters, description and plot. I just adored it!

The best bad sex you'll ever read!

Pam Satran plays with a lot of themes in her latest Homewood novel -- the renewal of old-friendships, small-town politics, the downside of suburban development -- but you'll want to buy her novel for the funniest sex scene in all literature. I think book groups will love discussing this one.