It's About Your Husband
by Lauren Lipton
Published by 5 Spot Warner Books (October 19, 2006 Release)
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Reviewed by Michele E. Davis
New York City journalist Lauren Lipton seems to have taken a page from her own first marriage and subsequent divorce to create a farcical coming-of-age-after-marital-separation novel. Iris, our protagonist, laughs at herself and the absurdities of her life, is insecure and honest to a fault, even if it means hurting others.
Having moved to New York to take a job, which she is promptly dispatched from, Iris is thrown into stalking other women's husbands for money to augment her meager unemployment checks.
Part novel, part self-help in regards to the things married couples find irritating with each other's personalities, Lipton has created a fast-paced read that ends with an ironic twist.
"Husbands and wives have problems. They all do. In the end each has to take responsibility for his or her contribution to those problems and to decide together, like adults, whether to keep trying or to move on." Many a marriage counselor in real-life utters these very same words. These words smatter the pages as shiny gold nuggets for all of us in relationships, married or not, to remember.
Iris Hedge seems an unlikely heroine with her consistently self-deprecating humor, martyr-like behavior and passionate dislike of New York. During the hot and muggy days of August when everyone in Manhattan flees the island, Iris hits rock bottom while watching her neighbor's dog, Rocky.
Fortunately for Iris there is nowhere to go but up. She commits to return to the land of palm trees and spends her days visiting museums and the New York City Library. When her hair stylist neighbor, Simon, comes back from Fire Island, he gives her a stunning new haircut and she realizes that she's survived New York and she's going to be all right.
Armchair Interviews says: Light-hearted and full of laughs, Lipton is an exciting new fictional voice. Non-New Yorkers will especially like her tips and tricks for staying in the Big Apple.