Living Single

by Holly Chamberlin

From Holly Chamberlin, author of Tuscan Holiday and Summer Friends, comes a witty, insightful novel chronicling a year in one woman's quest to find love, joy--and herself. . .

At twenty, singlehood is a lifestyle choice. At thirty-two, it starts to feel like an affliction. Erin Weston has a rewarding PR career, loyal friends, and a wonderful Boston condo. But in between weekend brunches, farmers' market forays, and dinners in Cambridge and the South End, Erin can't shake the sense that something's missing. The traditional ideal--husband, house, clothing-coordinated children--once seemed too obvious, and pride in her accomplishments doesn't keep the loneliness at bay. Now, ready to venture into uncharted territory, Erin is going to claim the life she thinks she wants. And in the process, she might just figure out exactly what--and who--she really needs. . .

Praise for the novels of Holly Chamberlin

"Nostalgia over real-life friendships lost and regained pulls readers into the story." – USA Today on Summer Friends

"An honest, forceful novel about love, family, and sacrifice." -- Booklist on One Week in December

"It does the trick as a beach book and provides a touristy taste of Maine's seasonal attractions." -- Publishers Weekly on The Family Beach House

Genres: Chick Lit, Romance, Fiction, Beach Reads

384 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2002

About the author

Holly Chamberlin is a native New Yorker, but she now lives in Portland, Maine - the aftermath of stumbling across Mr. Right at the one moment she wasn't watching the terrain. She's been writing and editing - poetry, children's fantasies, a romance novel or two, among many other genres and projects - her entire life. She has two cats, Betty and Cyrus, and when she's not writing her hobbies include reading, shopping, and cocktails at six.

Reviews

[Chrissy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh, I hated this book. I forced myself to read it because my mom insisted, but it was predictable and unimaginative, with shallow characters falling into every cliche possible. Don't waste your time.

[Megan Fowler · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm only putting this in here because someone left it in my mailbox, with a note for me to read it. I THINK they meant well, but I was horrifically offended by the implication.

Regardless, this book is terrible. Save yourselves from the pain of this read and pour acid in your eyes instead.

[Mel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Total hack job rip off of Sex and the City. The characters were almost the exact same right down to the slutty Samantha and a cancer scare. Why did I finish it? Because I started it.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why is it a female writer make the main female character so spineless? Such a cliche.

[Ema · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was full of bumbles and love. Although it wasn't exactly what I was expecting, I enjoyed it.

When I read the premise, I wasn't expecting Erin to end up spending a lot of the book with a married man. This was hard for me to really get into since it made me feel uncomfortable, and I couldn't buy into the love between them as to really buy into it, I'd have needed his involvement in this book.

Other than that, however, this was a really strong book.

I loved the characterization in particular. From her four best friends to her parents, I really felt like I knew everyone and seeing how her friends especially changed throughout the year was fun. Some of them were homosexual, some of them tried online dating, some had crazy adventures across the world, and all were a lot of fun.

Additionally, the Boston setting was great, though it felt like every month in Boston had some detriment to it. I enjoyed the use of real places and names as these really brought life to the book.

Despite all its merits, however, her dating a married man really just made me very uncomfortable, and though I'd definitely read more by this author and I thought this was well written, I didn't enjoy it as much I might have had the premise been a little different.

[Jackie Mceachern · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes, for me, a book meets me exactly where I am. That was the case for this book. It's light, easy reading, "chick lit" fare but it was exactly what I needed to read this past weekend. I have a lot of angst in my life right now and I needed a book that was entertaining and insightful but in a easy way. The story focuses on Erin and her three best friends in their quest for finding true love. They are all reaching their mid-thirties, single and starting to feel a little panic about whether they will ever find the one. The best part of the book for me was the friendship between the four - I am envious of having such a tight circle of friends to lean on and meet on such a regular basis. My own best friend lives on the other side of the coutry and, although we text everyday, it's not the same. So, this story was exactly what I needed and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Angela · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh, my friend gave me this book, but I didn't realize she was simply 'getting rid of it'. This book is AWFUL. The dialogue sounds like a first draft. There's no subtext or subtlety and half the book is clothing and food descriptions.

Annoyingly, I can't stop reading it. What is WITH that? Ugh.

Fluff fiction. Avoid at all costs, lest you get sucked into the suckage that is this terrible book.

At least I did learn how not to write a novel!

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gah. just lost my review. so....a summary. It was not like Sex in the City other then the formula of four women friends. The archetypes are completely different. Erin is no Carrie Bradshaw. She actually pissed me off when she turned down Barnes and Noble guy.
The ending attempted to wrap up everything neatly but was too abrupt and failed. I don't believe I will read this author again.

[Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

This was an interesting book that took a look at a year in the lives of four friends and their love lives. It reminded me a bit of the tv series Sex and the City but with more depth in the relationships. All the friends were entirely different but compatible. The only real criticism that I would have would be the ending which felt a bit rushed and inconclusive.

[Chris · Rating 1 out of 5]

Could not finish. Characters were so incredibly shallow and plot was just boring. Couldn't connect with main character at all. Pretty awful.

[Meghan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh.

This is not a book about being single in your early 30s! Ok, maybe bits and pieces of the book are. However, the main focus is the main character's affair with a married man. For a year.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

That's about a 2.5 stars. I really spent most of the book disgusted with the main character. Most of the time I felt like smacking her in the back of the head and telling her to wake up and take charge. But I kept reading. Enjoyed what little story we got on the rest of the characters, and really feel like I wouldn't mind a couple more developed stories about them! The writing style was fast and easy, and I would be willing to read something else by this author if the main character didn't make me want to strangle her for the majority of the book.

[thecoylelife · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel follows a year in the life of a 30 something single woman who wants to be in a relationship and is struggling to be happy as a successful single. The story itself is not bad, and I enjoyed the women's friendship parts of the book. The romantic relationship the main character gets herself into though is irritating and annoying and the choices the character makes herself are infuriating. She is naive and a little neurotic and for a supposedly smart woman, not so smart. It gets better toward the end though and that's why I rated it 3 stars instead of 2.

[Kimberly Westrope · Rating 2 out of 5]

Depressing story of four thirty-something women who, while successful in their careers, seem to not really do anything but get together to eat and talk about men. As a more mature reader, I find it sad and quite perturbing that these young women seem to be concerned only with the awful men they are dating, men they can't have, or giving up on men altogether.

I liked the characters otherwise, and the way they supported each other. The writing is also good, just didn't care much for the story.

[Joyce Erickson]

I think that this will be the last Holly Chamberlin that I will read. I was not enthused with the first one and this one was yuck. SPOILER ALERT!!!! The main character spent all her life not wanting a husband, then at 30 she decides she wants a husband the problem is he is not hers. She spends the first 40% trying to have an affair with him and the next 40% having the affair. Then 20% deciding what to do. Not my idea of a great book.

[Beverly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled with this book. The relationship Erin embarked on, it wasn't going to go anywhere. I felt almost angry at her. The guy dangled carrots, including a job, to keep her around but always at a distance. He wasn't going to change his life to make anything more permanent (well, maybe permanently at a distance). Her friends saw it for what it was.

The friends' journeys were more interesting to follow.

[Shirley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some reviewers commented this book was like the show Sex and the City,and I tend to agree. I could hear Carrie Bradshaw waxing philosophical on life and love. A fairly light read that got more interesting in the last third of the book.the main character, Erin, made me mad. She had trouble making decisions, wanted the fairy tale version of life and love. The characters were pretty well developed and I could picture each one. But just an ok read.

[Rebecca · Rating 1 out of 5]

Picked this up from my library as a free "Blind Date a Book" Valentine promotion. Chamberlin is not a bad writer but this took FOREVER to get to the point: don't go after married men. And I even skimmed to get to that point. Trite and flat.

[Weeziee Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The friendships were good, but the story lines was not something Im crazy about. Friendships are important and they were good for each other. It just wasn’t women supporting women that don’t know each other. Loved the ending

[Ashley Gonzalez · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a tough one to get through. Was more about the nontraditional relationships of women in their early to mid 30s and anything else the whole premise was flood want to be sex in the city and truthfully the whole having an affair with a married man got really old

[Kerri Mann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took forever to get through, but I was committing to finishing it. I read this book years ago and couldn’t remember it so I decided to read it again. Too similar to Sex and the City. Also not a fan of the main character going back and forth, talking to herself between reason and romance.

[Melissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the worst books I have ever read. Poorly written and the main character has an affair. I detested this book.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't hate it, but it really wasn't great. I hated the main character but I was curious to see what happened. That turned out to be not much. Two and a half stars for being mildly entertaining.

[Patty Paraschak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dark comedy about a thirty-something who has an affair with a married guy.

[Britt · Rating 4 out of 5]

good beach read.

[Becky Wheeler · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't finish. After 2 chapters I knew I could not read.

[Romaine Heart · Rating 2 out of 5]

Comedy. Chick dating married dude. Nope.

[Nancy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Skipped thru .. why did I not check the ratings ?!

[Gary Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I picked up this book, I thought it was an auto-bio, not realizing it was fiction, which I really never read these days. But, the story drew me in and it never seemed like fiction at any point.

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was okay but nothing great. I found it a bit boring at times.