bookchickdi: Lift And Separate by Marilyn Simon Rothstein

Monday, July 24, 2017

Lift And Separate by Marilyn Simon Rothstein

Lift And Separate by Marilyn Simon Rothstein
Published by Lake Union Publishing ISBN 9781503940307
Trade paperback, $14.95, 304 pages

Marilyn Simon Rothstein's funny and poignant novel Lift And Separate opens with middle-aged Marcy Hammer in her bedroom with her best friend Dana three days after her husband Harvey has left her.

Harvey is the owner of a major brassiere company, Bountiful Bosom, (whose archrival is Victoria's Secret), and he has left his wife of over thirty years, the mother of his three adult children, for a young brassiere model. It's bad enough to be left, but to be left for a cliche, well that's too much for Marcy.

Rothstein writes some great scenes, like the one where Marcy goes dress shopping to find the perfect dress to win back Harvey.

In the middle of all this, Marcy has to deal with her mother, who ends up in the hospital. There Marcy meets Candy, a woman who is dealing with a sick father and a mother in a nursing home with dementia. Candy and Marcy become good friends, supporting each other in this time of crisis.

Soon Marcy learns something about Candy that will probably end their relationship, and this upsets Marcy. She is also dealing with her daughter Liz, a doctor who is involved in a relationship with a married man, her daughter Amanda who works for Bloomingdales and is supposed to take over the family business from dear old dad, and son Ben and how they are handling their parents' dissolving marriage, as well as her mom's illness.

Through it all Marcy keeps her sense of humor and manages to dig down deep to discover what she really wants out of life. Does she want Harvey back or is she ready to be on her own?

Rothstein has some funny lines that will make you chuckle, like "Mom had contributed so much 'gently used clothing' to the Salvation Army I was surprised she wasn't a general", and "I had received his name from a haggard woman in the cemetery office, who most likely was wearing the same cardigan she had thrown around her shoulders on her way to vote for Nixon."

Lift And Separate will appeal to woman of a certain age, as they say, and fans of Dorothea Benton Frank will also enjoy it and root for Marcy to get the happiness she deserves.

Marilyn Simon Rothstein is hilarious on Facebook, and I recommend that you like her here.