A Change of Luck - Hardcover

Markus, Julia

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670814148 ISBN 13: 9780670814145

Publisher: Viking Adult, 1991

Synopsis

Instead of deciding whether to risk a confrontation with her ex-husband by lending her stepdaughter money, Elaine Netherlands impetuously buys a townhouse and becomes involved with contractor Mario Picard

About this title

About the Author:

Julia Markus, an English professor at Hofstra University, received the Houghton Mifflin Literary Award for her first novel, Uncle, which was followed by three well-received novels, American Rose, Friends Along the Way and A Change of Luck, as well as her critically acclaimed biographies, Dared and Done: The Marriage of Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning and Across An Untried Sea: Discovering Lives Hidden in the Shadow of Convention and Time. She has won a National Endowment for the Arts grant and two National Endowment for the Humanities grants.

Review:

"Elaine Netherlands, novelist and former wife of a famous New York fashion photographer, is learning a few lessons about life. Having established a post-divorce independence, she finds her orderly existence thrown topsy-turvy when she takes a wrong turn en route to visit friends in Connecticut and impulsively buys an option on a townhouse. She meets a handsome contractor on site and falls in love. Concurrently, her stepdaughter comes back into her life with a request for money and her ex-husband becomes ill and seeks emotional support. Although Elaine had sought to get away from a traditional role in which females "find their lives in others," she finds herself with many needy individuals in her life. She becomes involved with Anonymous Rooms (a self-help group modeled on AA) in an attempt to take care of her own needs while coping with the growing burdens placed on her by others. The story and issues are contemporary, and the protagonist triumphs in the end."
—Kimberly G. Allen, National Assn. of Home Builders Lib., Washington, D.C. Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

”A Change of Luck is uncanny in its perception of depiction of the dislocation that can occur in life, where moral change, desire, and love come into play. This is very much a contemporary novel, touching upon many of today’s pressing issues, written in the unique voice of a fine and always entertaining novelist.”
—Oscar Hijuelos, author of The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love

“From Andy Warhol’s funeral to Connecticut Coop futures, from speedballs to co-dependency groups, this book defines a time and place: America on the cusp of the century. It’s funny and sad, full of hope and despair, and I couldn’t put it down—not least because of its deadpan satire of the publishing industry.”
—Meredith Tax, author of Rivington Street and Union Square

About this edition

• Publisher: Viking Adult
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0670814148
• ISBN 13: 9780670814145
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 305