A Little Help from Above

by Saralee Rosenberg

Saralee Rosenberg's compelling debut novel, told in a warm, wise and endearing voice, is about sisters, mothers and daughters, and loss, sacrifice and love.When Shelby Lazarus returns home to Long Island in the midst of a family crisis, she is forced to face all the issues from which she originally ran away—her mother's untimely death, her father's second marriage, her sister's neuroticism, and her own life's path. When her Jewish mother cannot help but meddle in her daughters' lives from the afterlife, it seems all that Shelby needed was a little help from above. This poignant novel, peppered with some wonderful humour, is sure to hit the heart of the women's fiction market.

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Romance

352 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2002

Reviews

[Amy Joyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would not have read this book except my sister left it at our house and said it was good. It was not. In the beginning, I felt like I was reading a book I would have written in middle school. It did improve over time but was very predictable -- both the story line and the characters. I would have rated it a two star, except I did get caught up towards the middle and wanted to know what happened. Overall an ok, but not great book.

[Ren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining though it is incredibly predictable. Still good for some chuckles though and great airplane reading. Just wish it had been longer - I finished it waiting for my plane back to Fairbanks from Nome and had nothing to read on the 2-hour flight back...

[Bea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clever approach to telling the story but I wanted to quickly be finished with the book. There were several laugh out loud moments and quite a number that weren’t. Just not a book that floated my boat.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok. I liked the idea of a deceased relative looking over us. The subplot of the sisters surrogacy disturbed me as the one sister wanted the babies so badly and then she didn't?

[Barb Wisniewski · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was more for a young adult

[Kaila Gallacher · Rating 1 out of 5]

A little help from above is told in the perspective of Shelby and Lauren's mother, but follows their lives closely.

I have mixed feelings about this book, it is not something I usually read and I also found the cover to be very deceptive, I thought it would be a heart warming Christmas story, not so much. Had nothing to do with Christmas.

Shelby is a top reporter for a big newspaper in Chicago, but when her sister calls her unexpectedly, in a frenzy, telling her her dad and her dad's wife, otherwise known as her Aunt are stuck in the hospital with life threatening injuries. She eventually decides to go home.

When she gets home she is faced with her demons, so to speak, the fact that her life was a big lie. She is eventually forced to deal with many of the problems she hadn't done before.

The character's were strong, Lauren was an interesting, and yet annoying little sister, and Shelby was an ego-maniac, crazed about her weight.

I didn't like Shelby or Lauren much, not my kind of characters...interesting ending...I found it weird.

I honestly didn't care too much for this book, though I am very happy that I finished it.

The writing was good; I didn't really find it dragged on too long and I thought that Saralee's descriptive style was quite enjoyable.

I found that though I didn't like this book I did want to finish it, just to see how everything was going to turn out. The way that it played out was interesting, though I found myself detesting Shelby and Lauren's father for the physical abuse--anyone who hits their kids is not okay by me.

[Sue Seligman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very quick read, not as good as Dear Neighbor Drop Dead, but apparently it was this author's first novel. This is about the dysfunctional family of Shelby Lazarus, who has spent most of her life mourning for her mother who died when she was ten, and resenting her father for marrying her mother's sister not long after. There are subplots involving parent/child relationships, the relationships between sisters, and the issue of DES and its effects on mothers who took the drugs to alleviate pregnancy symptoms as well as on the adult daughters. This book was funny and poignant, and did not resolve issues as one expected. The most unusual part of the book is how the dead mother is weighing in on the events of the story and attempting to manipulate the progress of the plot; she provides comical relief when things get intense. Overall, a pleasant read.

[Liz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Maybe the movie version would be better than the book. While the plot is somewhat entertainingly complicated (if also farcically unbelievable), the writing is distractingly bad. Plus, if you're going to blatantly steal a plot device from "13 Going on 30" (search for and find childhood true love, overcome obstacles to be reunited), do you seriously have to give the guy the same name (Matty)? There was even an obvious "please option my book" plug about 2/3 of the way through. For all my snarkiness, you could tell the author was trying hard, and there was some nice character development as the protagonist went fairly believably from hell-on-wheels to a not-so-bad person over the course of a year. I'd give it an extra 1/2 star if I could.

[Athena · Rating 2 out of 5]

Warning! Warning! Warning! This is NOT a light, fluffy rom-com! This book is cleverly disguised. It has a bright, cartoony, chic-ish cover. The back is pithy and light hearted. It's all a scam! This book deals with deep, deep issues. Not a chuckle in sight. (Ok, I think a few parts were supposed to be funny- but the main character is such a horrible person, and her sister isn't much better, so you feel no connection to the characters!)

[Tisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here is a book with a lot of characters and trying to find one that I like. This is a funny novel about a woman who reconnects with her family very reluctantly. Her father and his wife were hit by a car. Shelby comes back to Long Island. Her mother in the afterlife interferes with certain events to try to get Shelby back with her sister, father, and aunt. She is also trying to find a lost love she last seen when she was a child.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun book to read. It brought out how a family that was apart and a daughter who was so angry at her parents for so long can forgive and come together in the end.
The book is funny and upbeat. It also made me think that family is the most important and to try and forgive those who hurt you.
Good book!!!

[Allyce Louisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. i loved that her mum was still looking over her and that she found it within her self to help her sister Lauren...even though it didn't work out. I also loved that Shelby was able to be happy with the new things in her life even though she thought that she could live without them

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fun fluff novel to read while sitting by the pool or relaxing on vacation. The ending is a bit unrealistic and predictable, but there ae some surprises along the way. Not stellar writing, but not bad either.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't get into it.

[Mary Lea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cute book (I know.. I say that about everything) Everything ends all nice and neat tied up and everyone is happy. It was entertaining and I read it in about 4 hours on the beach today.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shelby really is a hard character to like in the begining, but you grow to love her. The sister relationship is great......who wouldn't do the same for their sister!!!

[Ellenjsmellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read this before. I wished it sounded familiar before I got 20 pages into it, but I really enjoy this author. More more please Rosenberg?

[Briana · Rating 1 out of 5]

I kept hoping this book would get better...it never did. The storyline wasn't well developed, the characters were flat, not worth my time.

[Lori]

Same author same comments.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book took a long time to finally get interesting and the main character was kind of depressing. A lot of drama.
Plus, the author had to thrown in a sex sceen which wasn't necessary.

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book got such mixed reviews, I wasn't sure if I would like it or not. I loved it.

[Lymor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Out of this world chick lit book. I hope that when we leave this world we can see what our loved ones are doing!

[Farina · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book was flawed. Twisted story. Way too many unnecessary characters.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cover makes it look cute but it is not some light & fluffy fun read. Dysfunctional family story with a disappointing ending.

[Notserp2002 · Rating 5 out of 5]

enjoyable book!

[Debbie Ann]

This was a fast read and very sweet story-