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The Smart One
From the bestselling author of Girls in White Dresses , this funny and tender novel is “an engaging exploration of a thoroughly modern family dynamic” ( People ) and the ways in which we never really grow up, and the people we turn to when things go drastically wrong.
The Coffey siblings are having a rough year. Martha is thirty and working at J. Crew after a spectacular career flameout; Claire has broken up with her fiancé and locked herself in her New York apartment until her bank account looks as grim as her mood; and the baby of the family, Max, is dating a knockout classmate named Cleo and keeping a very big, very life-altering secret. The only solution—for all of them—is to move back home.
But things aren’t so easy the second time around, for them or for their mother, Weezy. Martha and Claire have regressed to fighting over the shared bathroom, Weezy can’t quite bring herself to stop planning Claire’s thwarted wedding, and Max and Cleo are exchanging secretive whispers in the basement.
The Coffey siblings are having a rough year. Martha is thirty and working at J. Crew after a spectacular career flameout; Claire has broken up with her fiancé and locked herself in her New York apartment until her bank account looks as grim as her mood; and the baby of the family, Max, is dating a knockout classmate named Cleo and keeping a very big, very life-altering secret. The only solution—for all of them—is to move back home.
But things aren’t so easy the second time around, for them or for their mother, Weezy. Martha and Claire have regressed to fighting over the shared bathroom, Weezy can’t quite bring herself to stop planning Claire’s thwarted wedding, and Max and Cleo are exchanging secretive whispers in the basement.
432 pages, Paperback
First published April 2, 2013
243 people are currently reading
6715 people want to read
About the author
Jennifer Close
4 books1,020 followersJennifer Close is the best-selling author of Girls in White Dresses and The Smart One. Her new novel, The Hopefuls, will be out in July 2016. Born and raised on the North Shore of Chicago, she is a graduate of Boston College and received her MFA in Fiction Writing from the New School in 2005. She worked in New York in magazines for many years. She now lives in Washington, DC, and teaches creative writing at George Washington University.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 788 reviews
July 3, 2013
This novel depressed the hell out of me. Instead of feeling smart, or even enlightened, or possibly encouraged, I just feel clinically depressed, like I need to see a shrink right now for a Tuesday afternoon appointment, once a week for the rest of my life. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy this novel, because I did, but now I feel as though I need to adjust my prescription medication.
Comparing and contrasting motherhood unabashedly from two distinct perspectives, THE SMART ONE gives us Weezy and Elizabeth. Weezy dotes on her three children to the point that she practically smothers them with pillows, and Martha experiences the extent of this doting most of all. Martha has this self-indulgent, self-absorbed view of the world, with a control freak temperament added for good measure and was my least favorite character. Claire, the most independent character, pretty much gave up her independence when she gave up on love, stuck her head in the toilet bowl, and flushed multiple times. Max found love, but it’s not without its own complications.
On the other hand, we have Elizabeth who climbs the corporate ladder with steel balls, an iron fist, and a willingness to leave a path of destruction in her wake. And she rules her household with the same iron fist and military-like discipline she shows in the corporate world. To the point that Cleo has no real basis for making friends. But she does have an excellent body that she flaunts 24/7 in a yellow bikini while a part of the Coffey family vacation.
Dealing with depression, anxiety, anorexia, self-importance, self-indulgence, and unexpected pregnancy, this novel tackles a multitude of melancholy subjects, and I couldn’t adjust my meds quick enough to contain the ensuing onslaught of despair. Even though I liked this novel, I wouldn’t necessarily say I enjoyed it. Like Californication and Weeds before it, I could bask in the sheer bliss that my life hadn’t resorted to this level of madness.
Comparing and contrasting motherhood unabashedly from two distinct perspectives, THE SMART ONE gives us Weezy and Elizabeth. Weezy dotes on her three children to the point that she practically smothers them with pillows, and Martha experiences the extent of this doting most of all. Martha has this self-indulgent, self-absorbed view of the world, with a control freak temperament added for good measure and was my least favorite character. Claire, the most independent character, pretty much gave up her independence when she gave up on love, stuck her head in the toilet bowl, and flushed multiple times. Max found love, but it’s not without its own complications.
On the other hand, we have Elizabeth who climbs the corporate ladder with steel balls, an iron fist, and a willingness to leave a path of destruction in her wake. And she rules her household with the same iron fist and military-like discipline she shows in the corporate world. To the point that Cleo has no real basis for making friends. But she does have an excellent body that she flaunts 24/7 in a yellow bikini while a part of the Coffey family vacation.
Dealing with depression, anxiety, anorexia, self-importance, self-indulgence, and unexpected pregnancy, this novel tackles a multitude of melancholy subjects, and I couldn’t adjust my meds quick enough to contain the ensuing onslaught of despair. Even though I liked this novel, I wouldn’t necessarily say I enjoyed it. Like Californication and Weeds before it, I could bask in the sheer bliss that my life hadn’t resorted to this level of madness.
April 22, 2016
It always comes as a shock when I’m reading a book about a twentysomething careening towards her thirties and the author makes a cultural reference to the character’s childhood — in this case, the Babysitter’s Club — and I realize that I’m essentially the same age as the character.
I’m not just growing up — I am a grown-up. Full-fledged adulthood, with all its bill-paying, career-building, and marriage-considering, responsible glory. And yet every time I have that realization, I am struck by the same two questions: how the hell did that happen, and why doesn’t it feel the way I thought it would?
So there’s a pick-me-up quote that circulates around the internet so much that I can’t recall to whom it should be attributed, but it goes something like, “The reason we are insecure is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel.”
That’s one of the underlying themes of this book: perceptions of ourselves versus how others perceive us versus how we perceive them. The plot centers on the adult Coffey children who, in their twenties and at various stages of their respective quarterlife crises, return to live with their parents. Martha went to nursing school, though she should have known all along that she was really too anxious to be an ER nurse. She got a job at J. Crew instead, insisting that it would just be a transition, only to find that she’s still there six years later. Claire was engaged to a statistician named Doug, though she should have known all along that they were a bad fit. When the relationship ends, she finds herself alone in a Manhattan apartment she can’t afford and skyrocketing credit card debt. With no savings left and few options on the table, she quits her job and moves back home with her parents in the Philly suburbs. Max is a college senior with an obscenely beautiful girlfriend, Cleo, whom he secretly shares a campus apartment with in a move that makes the two twenty-one year-olds feel more grown-up than they really are.
And overseeing it all is Weezy, the enabling mother who keeps telling her husband things like, “Well, we are their parents…”
The title is a play on the idea that among our siblings, we each have a role to play — the smart one, the pretty one, the funny one — and we are often limited by the expectations of those roles despite the fact that they may not be entirely accurate. Martha’s often been considered the smart one — she excelled at science, did well in nursing school — but Claire cherishes her Scrabble record so much that she’s quietly incensed when Cleo outshines her during a family vacation. Weezy herself was always labelled the smart one; everyone expected that her sister Maureen’s success in life would come from marrying well, so it was a shock that Weezy was the one with the successful marriage and boring career while Maureen struggled as a single mother.
Close does a great job presenting empathetic, dimensional characters. I liked each of them even when they were behaving in unlikable ways because they felt very real (except for the men — Close doesn’t seem able to or interested in fleshing out her male characters, I’m not sure which, and so baby brother Max and father Will stay relatively flat on the page, as do the myriad husbands and boyfriends and fiancees that float through these pages). The rotating point of view reinforces the harm we do to ourselves by constantly comparing our situation to others’. There’s a lot comparing going on among these characters, such as when Martha tells her therapist that "Claire wanted a job and so she got one" or when Claire is miffed at Cleo’s vocab during a family Scrabble game (“Of course she read the dictionary for fun. If life was going to be unfair, it was going to go all the way.”). It didn’t come across to me as whining, though. It felt very real, because it truly is much easier to see the positives in someone else’s life and it much easier to make excuses for the negatives in one's own. I could relate, as that's something I've often found myself struggling with.
This is a very of-the-moment novel and you're probably only going to enjoy it if you can find something to relate to in the story. It’s a fact that many Millenials (and many who just get in under the wire as Gen-Xers) face more economic hurdles than older generations did when it comes to making it on their own. The job market is terrible, student loan debt is climbing, and no one seems able to offer any real solutions. This is also a very natural follow-up to Close’s debut, Girls in White Dresses, which examined similar issues from a less-family-centric view. Dresses was about what it’s like when it seems like all your friends are embarking on dream careers and marrying their Prince Charmings while you’re still getting paid to fetch muffins for people and bringing men home from the bar. The Smart One looks at how those dynamics mingle with our familial ones while rising above the usual conventions of chick lit. It’s smart, honest, and compulsively readable.
I’m not just growing up — I am a grown-up. Full-fledged adulthood, with all its bill-paying, career-building, and marriage-considering, responsible glory. And yet every time I have that realization, I am struck by the same two questions: how the hell did that happen, and why doesn’t it feel the way I thought it would?
So there’s a pick-me-up quote that circulates around the internet so much that I can’t recall to whom it should be attributed, but it goes something like, “The reason we are insecure is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel.”
That’s one of the underlying themes of this book: perceptions of ourselves versus how others perceive us versus how we perceive them. The plot centers on the adult Coffey children who, in their twenties and at various stages of their respective quarterlife crises, return to live with their parents. Martha went to nursing school, though she should have known all along that she was really too anxious to be an ER nurse. She got a job at J. Crew instead, insisting that it would just be a transition, only to find that she’s still there six years later. Claire was engaged to a statistician named Doug, though she should have known all along that they were a bad fit. When the relationship ends, she finds herself alone in a Manhattan apartment she can’t afford and skyrocketing credit card debt. With no savings left and few options on the table, she quits her job and moves back home with her parents in the Philly suburbs. Max is a college senior with an obscenely beautiful girlfriend, Cleo, whom he secretly shares a campus apartment with in a move that makes the two twenty-one year-olds feel more grown-up than they really are.
And overseeing it all is Weezy, the enabling mother who keeps telling her husband things like, “Well, we are their parents…”
The title is a play on the idea that among our siblings, we each have a role to play — the smart one, the pretty one, the funny one — and we are often limited by the expectations of those roles despite the fact that they may not be entirely accurate. Martha’s often been considered the smart one — she excelled at science, did well in nursing school — but Claire cherishes her Scrabble record so much that she’s quietly incensed when Cleo outshines her during a family vacation. Weezy herself was always labelled the smart one; everyone expected that her sister Maureen’s success in life would come from marrying well, so it was a shock that Weezy was the one with the successful marriage and boring career while Maureen struggled as a single mother.
Close does a great job presenting empathetic, dimensional characters. I liked each of them even when they were behaving in unlikable ways because they felt very real (except for the men — Close doesn’t seem able to or interested in fleshing out her male characters, I’m not sure which, and so baby brother Max and father Will stay relatively flat on the page, as do the myriad husbands and boyfriends and fiancees that float through these pages). The rotating point of view reinforces the harm we do to ourselves by constantly comparing our situation to others’. There’s a lot comparing going on among these characters, such as when Martha tells her therapist that "Claire wanted a job and so she got one" or when Claire is miffed at Cleo’s vocab during a family Scrabble game (“Of course she read the dictionary for fun. If life was going to be unfair, it was going to go all the way.”). It didn’t come across to me as whining, though. It felt very real, because it truly is much easier to see the positives in someone else’s life and it much easier to make excuses for the negatives in one's own. I could relate, as that's something I've often found myself struggling with.
This is a very of-the-moment novel and you're probably only going to enjoy it if you can find something to relate to in the story. It’s a fact that many Millenials (and many who just get in under the wire as Gen-Xers) face more economic hurdles than older generations did when it comes to making it on their own. The job market is terrible, student loan debt is climbing, and no one seems able to offer any real solutions. This is also a very natural follow-up to Close’s debut, Girls in White Dresses, which examined similar issues from a less-family-centric view. Dresses was about what it’s like when it seems like all your friends are embarking on dream careers and marrying their Prince Charmings while you’re still getting paid to fetch muffins for people and bringing men home from the bar. The Smart One looks at how those dynamics mingle with our familial ones while rising above the usual conventions of chick lit. It’s smart, honest, and compulsively readable.
June 9, 2013
Eh. I wanted this book to get better. It didn't. It wasn't terrible, but it was nowhere near great. If I could draw this book, it would be a flat line.
Some of the characters are so unlikeable they are grating. I kept waiting for someone to commit Martha, who was clearly insane. I felt pity for Weezy, because apparently you have to be doing something wrong as a mother if none of your kids are prepared to deal with reality as adults. Claire was tolerable, if only because she was the ONLY character to face up to her mistakes and move forward. Cleo might be the only sane person in the entire book — probably because she wasn't related to the Coffeys.
The things that bothered me the most were the unanswered questions/problems. Why did Martha fall apart and why was everyone tripping over themselves to make her happy? Why did Cleo and Max have to move home at all? He got a good job after school, and surely they could still afford their apartment on his salary if they could "afford" it while they were in school. Why didn't Weezy ever confront her children instead of enabling them at every turn? Why were all the men so one-dimensional? The peripheral lesbian cousins were drawn out with more enthusiasm than any of the men. Ugh.
At the end, I felt like I spent way too much time hanging out with people I didn't even like, and I was stupider for having done so.
Some of the characters are so unlikeable they are grating. I kept waiting for someone to commit Martha, who was clearly insane. I felt pity for Weezy, because apparently you have to be doing something wrong as a mother if none of your kids are prepared to deal with reality as adults. Claire was tolerable, if only because she was the ONLY character to face up to her mistakes and move forward. Cleo might be the only sane person in the entire book — probably because she wasn't related to the Coffeys.
The things that bothered me the most were the unanswered questions/problems. Why did Martha fall apart and why was everyone tripping over themselves to make her happy? Why did Cleo and Max have to move home at all? He got a good job after school, and surely they could still afford their apartment on his salary if they could "afford" it while they were in school. Why didn't Weezy ever confront her children instead of enabling them at every turn? Why were all the men so one-dimensional? The peripheral lesbian cousins were drawn out with more enthusiasm than any of the men. Ugh.
At the end, I felt like I spent way too much time hanging out with people I didn't even like, and I was stupider for having done so.
March 17, 2014
I have no idea what this book was trying to say. It gets one star because it was at least well written. It was just load of random events happening to a family (none of them very interesting) no one moved forward or did anything it was like one of those films where there is loads of dialogue but no story. Not worth the time I spent reading it.
January 10, 2013
I don't know how I came to pick up this book, I usually go with the date (those publishing earlier, I read first). When I started reading it, I was hooked! Three siblings go back to their childhood home after failing on their own. It follows the lives of the Coffey kids: Martha, the supposed "smart one" who couldn't handle her career as a nurse; Claire, the street smart but super broke and broken hearted; and Max, the baby brother who got his girlfriend knocked up. Usually, a novel like this doesn't hold my interest enough because it's too close to home and who would want to read about domestic problems? What I found interesting was the writing. Close is familiar to me via her first book, Girls in White Dresses, which I ordered for our library but haven't read. She writes so well, seamlessly shifting perspectives without jostling the reader. It's weird that I don't have a favorite character--I like them all equally! Each character thinks someone else is the "smart one" but in fact, they all seem to be the "smart one" in their own way. The writing is just so funny and wry; plus it's relatable--the reader should find at least one thing in the book that is familiar. One reviewer I follow has told me that there are no bad books, just books that you can't relate to. I'm willing to give that reasoning a try. So obviously, this book has many elements that I can relate to, but I want to stress that it is also well written. Each sentence flows to the next and it's no wonder since the author also teaches creative writing.
April 14, 2018
3.5 rounded down.
The cover is misleading here because most of the book is about Louise (Weezy) who is facing an empty nest. She was the "smart one" growing up and her sister was the "pretty one." Of course now you can't even say "what a pretty girl" or "what a smart boy" without feeling you're labeling the child and ruining their chances for a life at either or all options.
For full disclosure I was the smart one in my family and my sister was also the pretty one. Heck, she was Miss Plum Borough in 1974! I never felt insulted. I wonder how the labels went in bigger families.
Back to the book--it's a fine story, good characters (I liked Martha because of the way she couldn't understand why no one would take her good advice), fast paced. To be honest I felt jealous of all the kids having a safe landing pad when we (just like Weezy) were considered adults when we left for college.
Close should do a sequel about just Weezy and her husband Will and how they really handle being in an empty house.
The cover is misleading here because most of the book is about Louise (Weezy) who is facing an empty nest. She was the "smart one" growing up and her sister was the "pretty one." Of course now you can't even say "what a pretty girl" or "what a smart boy" without feeling you're labeling the child and ruining their chances for a life at either or all options.
For full disclosure I was the smart one in my family and my sister was also the pretty one. Heck, she was Miss Plum Borough in 1974! I never felt insulted. I wonder how the labels went in bigger families.
Back to the book--it's a fine story, good characters (I liked Martha because of the way she couldn't understand why no one would take her good advice), fast paced. To be honest I felt jealous of all the kids having a safe landing pad when we (just like Weezy) were considered adults when we left for college.
Close should do a sequel about just Weezy and her husband Will and how they really handle being in an empty house.
June 12, 2021
Aren’t we all just doing the best we can? The Smart One is a book about regrets, second guessing yourself, and hoping you did the right thing. I think everyone can relate to those thoughts.
This was my first Jennifer Close book. I found her characters to be interesting and her story held my attention. It didn’t wow me but it didn’t disappoint me either. I enjoyed this book and I would read other work by Jennifer Close in the future. I would recommend this to readers looking for a family drama.
This was my first Jennifer Close book. I found her characters to be interesting and her story held my attention. It didn’t wow me but it didn’t disappoint me either. I enjoyed this book and I would read other work by Jennifer Close in the future. I would recommend this to readers looking for a family drama.
April 24, 2013
The Smart One revolves around a year in the life of a family, one where much happens: things fall apart, are pieced back together, or completely replaced. It's a slice of life book - there is no goal, no driving force, and no hope. I found myself involved in their lives, looking forward to a blow up about the various issues they were all hiding. But there was no blow up and no resolution. Life continued on, as it always does.
What did I think of this book? I'm not entirely sure.This isn't normally a book I'd pick up, and I found myself needing to put it down at times rather than becoming engrossed in it. That said, I felt the reality of it, the feeling that this was a family that had a history behind it. The petty feuds, the sibling rivalry, it all rang true. Jennifer Close does a great job of bringing out the relationships and quirks between the characters. They know each other, but don't really know each other.
But it was so... dull. I mean that both in terms of not always that interesting and not all that sharp. With all the misfortune happening throughout the book it became monotonous at times to slug my way through the gloominess. Then there's the fact that, despite the title, none of the characters are particularly smart. They never seem to think outside their little boxes to look at the wider world or try to see each others' point of views.
So I generally enjoyed reading this book, but it isn't going to be one I return to.
What did I think of this book? I'm not entirely sure.This isn't normally a book I'd pick up, and I found myself needing to put it down at times rather than becoming engrossed in it. That said, I felt the reality of it, the feeling that this was a family that had a history behind it. The petty feuds, the sibling rivalry, it all rang true. Jennifer Close does a great job of bringing out the relationships and quirks between the characters. They know each other, but don't really know each other.
But it was so... dull. I mean that both in terms of not always that interesting and not all that sharp. With all the misfortune happening throughout the book it became monotonous at times to slug my way through the gloominess. Then there's the fact that, despite the title, none of the characters are particularly smart. They never seem to think outside their little boxes to look at the wider world or try to see each others' point of views.
So I generally enjoyed reading this book, but it isn't going to be one I return to.
December 21, 2012
Jennifer Close has perfectly depicted the stress and chaos of returning to live at home as an adult. Written from the perspective of four different women, The Smart One removes readers from the comfort of rooting for a single protagonist and instead shifts constantly between college-going Cleo, the slightly neurotic Martha, over-worrying Weezy, and debt-ridden Claire.
The Smart One attempts to refuse stereotypes of mindless Chick Lit and focuses on more realistic issues than shopping and man-troubles. Their challenges still fall firmly in the ‘First World Problems’ category, but the shift from shopaholics and broken-hearted damsels is a welcome one. The characters, however, seem to lack the ability to think optimistically about anything and I found myself nearly burnt out from their constant complaints through the second part of the novel.
The solid writing and multiple characters with well-developed personalities does make the book an easy read – just don’t expect a fairy-tale or 300 pages of diamond rings and shiny things.
The Smart One attempts to refuse stereotypes of mindless Chick Lit and focuses on more realistic issues than shopping and man-troubles. Their challenges still fall firmly in the ‘First World Problems’ category, but the shift from shopaholics and broken-hearted damsels is a welcome one. The characters, however, seem to lack the ability to think optimistically about anything and I found myself nearly burnt out from their constant complaints through the second part of the novel.
The solid writing and multiple characters with well-developed personalities does make the book an easy read – just don’t expect a fairy-tale or 300 pages of diamond rings and shiny things.
January 24, 2015
It's not often that I want to hug a book as much as I want to hug this one. Jennifer Close's writing is at times acerbic, at times so vulnerable, always full of the tang of originality and intelligence that isn't sparked so often by typical chick lit storylines -- of which there are a few here. No character's strife doesn't feel real, even if the characters themselves are ones we've seen before.
A humbling confession: the parts about Cleo and the Coffey family's ancient dog made me cry.
A humbling confession: the parts about Cleo and the Coffey family's ancient dog made me cry.
did-not-finish
January 3, 2017DNF on page 93
April 25, 2013
I wasn't sure about The Smart One when I started reading it. Claire and Martha, Weezy's daughters, weren't characters I really liked or could really relate too. Both of them were clearly depressed (not clinically, just in a "life is hard" way) and there wasn't much joy in their life - which ironically, made them a bit judgmental.
But then we get to Cleo - and that's when I got really hooked into the novel. I guess it shows my current passion for YA fiction, since Cleo is the youngest of the girls. Still in college, she is the girlfriend of the youngest child in the family, Max. She wasn't perfect, either, keeping people at a distance and being slightly impulsive; but she also seemed to have a big heart and a head on her shoulders, so I was immediately drawn to her character.
I found it interesting that the author chose to write from the point of view of Cleo rather than Max. She's not part of the family, exactly; Weezy finds her too beautiful for her son (she will obviously break his heart!) and the sisters are sort of intimidated by her and a little bit distant. She's only the college girlfriend, after all! But having the narration telling her side of the story was very interesting. First, because it offered a different appreciation of the family, and second, because it made The Smart One less about family, and more about the different relationships between sisters, women, mothers and daughters. The men in the story are, in fact, very secondary to them all.
I think that, from the cover and the summary, I expected something a little lighter. It's a pleasant surprise though that Jennifer Close gave complexity to her characters. I do wish all of their anxieties would have been balanced by a few more happier or funnier moments. The book was surprisingly... cynical, I guess? For instance, I was expecting Claire to heal and get into a huge romance, but instead, she spends most of her time with a divorced guy who lives in his parents' basement. So the book was definitely more realistic, and less "romantic fantasy".
In the end, The Smart One was a pleasant read, even though its characters weren't always so pleasant (but that's life, too!) I think many women and young women could relate to the book, whether they are mothers, sisters, daughters - or a little of each.
But then we get to Cleo - and that's when I got really hooked into the novel. I guess it shows my current passion for YA fiction, since Cleo is the youngest of the girls. Still in college, she is the girlfriend of the youngest child in the family, Max. She wasn't perfect, either, keeping people at a distance and being slightly impulsive; but she also seemed to have a big heart and a head on her shoulders, so I was immediately drawn to her character.
I found it interesting that the author chose to write from the point of view of Cleo rather than Max. She's not part of the family, exactly; Weezy finds her too beautiful for her son (she will obviously break his heart!) and the sisters are sort of intimidated by her and a little bit distant. She's only the college girlfriend, after all! But having the narration telling her side of the story was very interesting. First, because it offered a different appreciation of the family, and second, because it made The Smart One less about family, and more about the different relationships between sisters, women, mothers and daughters. The men in the story are, in fact, very secondary to them all.
I think that, from the cover and the summary, I expected something a little lighter. It's a pleasant surprise though that Jennifer Close gave complexity to her characters. I do wish all of their anxieties would have been balanced by a few more happier or funnier moments. The book was surprisingly... cynical, I guess? For instance, I was expecting Claire to heal and get into a huge romance, but instead, she spends most of her time with a divorced guy who lives in his parents' basement. So the book was definitely more realistic, and less "romantic fantasy".
In the end, The Smart One was a pleasant read, even though its characters weren't always so pleasant (but that's life, too!) I think many women and young women could relate to the book, whether they are mothers, sisters, daughters - or a little of each.
July 22, 2013
While vacationing at the beach, I read the perfect beach book- Jennifer Close’s The Smart One. I read her previous novel, Girls in White Dresses, and liked it, but found it hard to relate the 20-something single girls, as I have passed that mark awhile ago.
But The Smart One refers to Weezy Coffey, the fifty-something wife and mother of three adult children, so I was all about this book. Weezy is knee-deep in preparations for her daughter Claire’s wedding. Then the wedding gets called off and Claire goes into a tailspin, quitting her job too.
So she must move back home to Pennsylvania, where oldest daughter Martha also lives. Martha was a nurse for a short time, but that didn’t work out, so she has been working as a manager at J. Crew. Martha has social issues; she really has no friends and never had a boyfriend. Coping with the world is not her best skill.
Son Max is eighteen and away at college. Then he gets his girlfriend Cleo pregnant and they move into the basement.
So now Weezy and her husband Will, who had been looking forward to an empty nest, find themselves with all three adult children back home. How did this happen?
Weezy so enjoyed all of the wedding planning that she just never told the florist or the caterer that the wedding was off. She continued to meet with them, tasting menus and looking at gorgeous floral arrangements. What was the harm in that?
I identified with Weezy, and winced when I saw characteristics in her that I do not like in myself. “Weezy had a high horse. And she could get on it whenever she wanted. Maureen used to always tease her when she’d go off on other people’s behavior. “Uh-oh”, she’d say. “Giddyup! Here comes the horse.” Ugh.
Weezy not only had to deal with her children, but her elderly mother Bets and sister Maureen. The descriptions of family Thanksgiving celebrations and all of the maneuvering and trying to keep peace and not blow a gasket, well if you can’t relate to that, you’ve never had a family Thanksgiving.
The story is told from alternating view points- Weezy, Martha, Claire and Cleo. Their voices are all distinct and strong , something I found a bit lacking in Girls in White Dresses.
The details in this novel are so perfect. I loved the list of THINGS WE NEED that is taped to the refrigerator. When things got purchased, they were crossed off, and a new list was started.
Max played hockey, and the descriptions and feelings that Weezy had about being a hockey mom brought me back to my days as a baseball mom. I don’t know how someone as young as Close was able to tap into that, but she sure did.
She also nails the new parent feelings that Max and Cleo have when their baby is born. Those feeling you have of love mixed with sleeplessness mixed with exhaustion mixed with joy; it’s all right there.
And I loved the idea of naming tables at your wedding after favorite books! Oh I wish I had thought of that 26 years ago.
One of the characters, Jaz, a wise woman, tells Martha “It’s funny, you know. Not what I had planned for my life, but that’s how it works sometimes.” That pretty much sums up the theme of The Smart One. Life isn’t always what you dreamed; you play the cards you are dealt.
The Smart One bridges the gap between young women starting out and older women, watching their children make mistakes and not knowing what to do. I think that women of all ages should read this, it will help them empathize and understand each other.
But The Smart One refers to Weezy Coffey, the fifty-something wife and mother of three adult children, so I was all about this book. Weezy is knee-deep in preparations for her daughter Claire’s wedding. Then the wedding gets called off and Claire goes into a tailspin, quitting her job too.
So she must move back home to Pennsylvania, where oldest daughter Martha also lives. Martha was a nurse for a short time, but that didn’t work out, so she has been working as a manager at J. Crew. Martha has social issues; she really has no friends and never had a boyfriend. Coping with the world is not her best skill.
Son Max is eighteen and away at college. Then he gets his girlfriend Cleo pregnant and they move into the basement.
So now Weezy and her husband Will, who had been looking forward to an empty nest, find themselves with all three adult children back home. How did this happen?
Weezy so enjoyed all of the wedding planning that she just never told the florist or the caterer that the wedding was off. She continued to meet with them, tasting menus and looking at gorgeous floral arrangements. What was the harm in that?
I identified with Weezy, and winced when I saw characteristics in her that I do not like in myself. “Weezy had a high horse. And she could get on it whenever she wanted. Maureen used to always tease her when she’d go off on other people’s behavior. “Uh-oh”, she’d say. “Giddyup! Here comes the horse.” Ugh.
Weezy not only had to deal with her children, but her elderly mother Bets and sister Maureen. The descriptions of family Thanksgiving celebrations and all of the maneuvering and trying to keep peace and not blow a gasket, well if you can’t relate to that, you’ve never had a family Thanksgiving.
The story is told from alternating view points- Weezy, Martha, Claire and Cleo. Their voices are all distinct and strong , something I found a bit lacking in Girls in White Dresses.
The details in this novel are so perfect. I loved the list of THINGS WE NEED that is taped to the refrigerator. When things got purchased, they were crossed off, and a new list was started.
Max played hockey, and the descriptions and feelings that Weezy had about being a hockey mom brought me back to my days as a baseball mom. I don’t know how someone as young as Close was able to tap into that, but she sure did.
She also nails the new parent feelings that Max and Cleo have when their baby is born. Those feeling you have of love mixed with sleeplessness mixed with exhaustion mixed with joy; it’s all right there.
And I loved the idea of naming tables at your wedding after favorite books! Oh I wish I had thought of that 26 years ago.
One of the characters, Jaz, a wise woman, tells Martha “It’s funny, you know. Not what I had planned for my life, but that’s how it works sometimes.” That pretty much sums up the theme of The Smart One. Life isn’t always what you dreamed; you play the cards you are dealt.
The Smart One bridges the gap between young women starting out and older women, watching their children make mistakes and not knowing what to do. I think that women of all ages should read this, it will help them empathize and understand each other.
August 5, 2013
I hated this book...I kept hoping it would develop into something more. The characters and their lives and situations were all depressing. They were petty and mean and although some families relate to each other that way I prefer to read something that has some redeeming quality for someone in the novel. I guess for this novel it is the baby.
May 23, 2013
Solid chick literary fiction. As my pal Melissa points out, I didn't particularly like any of these characters. I did appreciate that almost nothing turned out as I thought it might - nothing is more boring than predictability.
May 29, 2013
I was definitely the Dumb One for finishing this book. It had absolutely no plot and I kept waiting for something to happen.
March 8, 2020
I had a hard time getting into this book. I started it, stalled, and then picked it up again. a few months later.
It's a compelling tale, but I don't think I'm from the right generation. A bit too young to relate to Weezy and far too old to relate to her kids.
It's a compelling tale, but I don't think I'm from the right generation. A bit too young to relate to Weezy and far too old to relate to her kids.
September 15, 2018
This was kind of fun. Family dynamics, grown kids coming back home to live for one reason or another, etc. Mostly satisfying. But nothing different or new here.
May 21, 2019
Just cute - nothing spectacular. It felt like a long book for what it was.
May 18, 2022
Light read that felt like reality these days. Quick read.
August 20, 2022
This was one of those domestic novels that are character-driven, rather than plot-driven. I like well-developed characters even if I don’t like the characters themselves (I’m looking at you, Martha). However, without an interesting plot, the characters are asked to carry too much of the book and, at the end, I found it just okay.
August 3, 2016
This is another title that I don't think accurately conveyed the story, at least as tied to the book blurb. I suppose it could fit if it referred to each POV person thinking they were the smart one but still able to make obviously not smart decisions wrt to their lives - but that would require the blurb writer to read the damn book! (A riff on "cover artist - read the damn book!" which occurs from time to time.)
This isn't comparable to Anne Tyler unless you consider inner POVs to be "Anne Tyler". Anne Tyler tends to see her characters through a point of growth that changes some aspect of the character. The characters in this book had external changes but did not seem to have much in the way of internal changes (except as a change in situation gives you something else to think about, or changes a conflict). That in itself is not negative, but giving readers the impression the book is like Anne Tyler can create reader expectations or avoidance that the comparison does not really warrant. However! If by "Anne Tyler" you consider that to be defined by the lack of both large drama and a neatly tied up ending.... then...... maaaaaybeee. Not to me, but, you know...
So what does this book do? It portrays a fairly average family with a standard degree of disfunction (the usual disfunction that comes from living and growing up together, assumptions and experiences that don't get let go or up-dated, some enabling, a large degree of lack of awareness, the inability to apologize, the ability to annoy with very little effort or even intention, etc.).
It has the interior voices of people (women) who grapple with their situations, the compromises they make in life (by choice or by circumstances thrust upon them) and who all, to some degree (to my mind), have some depression issues and a bit of avoidance in challenging change from within. The changes here are ultimately circumstantial and, while they do reframe the conflicts and stresses (like changing a job and moving), and may even be contribute to resolution for many of us in the real world, there are a few issues in this book that require a bit more internal effort.
So, I guess I liked this book for what it was. I thought some of the interior POVs were very authentic. I think that Weezy showed a mom with kids coming home and the torn feelings about that, the love, the worry and the irritation. Chloe had a lot of angst and trying to find her place and a serious challenge to face. Martha was a serious annoyance and probably needed a new therapist or something more. Claire probably needed some support or meds for depression, although she managed to get out of her rut by the end, but whether she would be better able to face future challenges, I don't know.
The writing was light, the tone balanced, there were no villains, no large-scale drama, the male characters were minor players and not very well defined, a couple of episodes didn't reveal the story or grow the characters. If the author wants to become more like Anne Tyler, she could, but I would like a bit more humour and wit. I think there was enough here (and in the author in future) to make readable, amusing books that lift the cutain on women's inner voices but doesn't make the reader work too hard or be depressed. The author's style has already shown it is doable . A bit more levity (not slapstick), a bit more sense of humour in the some of the characters would keep me reading in the future.
This isn't comparable to Anne Tyler unless you consider inner POVs to be "Anne Tyler". Anne Tyler tends to see her characters through a point of growth that changes some aspect of the character. The characters in this book had external changes but did not seem to have much in the way of internal changes (except as a change in situation gives you something else to think about, or changes a conflict). That in itself is not negative, but giving readers the impression the book is like Anne Tyler can create reader expectations or avoidance that the comparison does not really warrant. However! If by "Anne Tyler" you consider that to be defined by the lack of both large drama and a neatly tied up ending.... then...... maaaaaybeee. Not to me, but, you know...
So what does this book do? It portrays a fairly average family with a standard degree of disfunction (the usual disfunction that comes from living and growing up together, assumptions and experiences that don't get let go or up-dated, some enabling, a large degree of lack of awareness, the inability to apologize, the ability to annoy with very little effort or even intention, etc.).
It has the interior voices of people (women) who grapple with their situations, the compromises they make in life (by choice or by circumstances thrust upon them) and who all, to some degree (to my mind), have some depression issues and a bit of avoidance in challenging change from within. The changes here are ultimately circumstantial and, while they do reframe the conflicts and stresses (like changing a job and moving), and may even be contribute to resolution for many of us in the real world, there are a few issues in this book that require a bit more internal effort.
So, I guess I liked this book for what it was. I thought some of the interior POVs were very authentic. I think that Weezy showed a mom with kids coming home and the torn feelings about that, the love, the worry and the irritation. Chloe had a lot of angst and trying to find her place and a serious challenge to face. Martha was a serious annoyance and probably needed a new therapist or something more. Claire probably needed some support or meds for depression, although she managed to get out of her rut by the end, but whether she would be better able to face future challenges, I don't know.
The writing was light, the tone balanced, there were no villains, no large-scale drama, the male characters were minor players and not very well defined, a couple of episodes didn't reveal the story or grow the characters. If the author wants to become more like Anne Tyler, she could, but I would like a bit more humour and wit. I think there was enough here (and in the author in future) to make readable, amusing books that lift the cutain on women's inner voices but doesn't make the reader work too hard or be depressed. The author's style has already shown it is doable . A bit more levity (not slapstick), a bit more sense of humour in the some of the characters would keep me reading in the future.
July 11, 2013
When I received an email asking me if I would like to review Jennifer Close’s second novel, I said yes immediately. I know her debut novel was immensely popular, and I have it on my shelf somewhere to be read, and so I knew Jennifer Close came with some backing behind her, especially after I read that her novels are witty, and the novel version of Girls (not that I base what I read on Girls since I’ve never seen it, but I know the gist of what it’s about and so, a book like Girls is going to interest me even if Girls itself does not). I was interested to read about a dysfunctional family because dysfunctional families usually make for the best characters in novels.
While I found Things We Need to be interesting, I sadly didn’t find it to be witty. It was definitely smart, and Jennifer Close can definitely get into the middle of a crazy family and make it interesting to read about them, I didn’t feel like the book really blew me away. I very much enjoyed reading the novel, and some of the characters really impressed me but mostly it was just your average family drama and there was nothing that really separated it from the pack, something that made it stand out and be really memorable. I liked the idea of the novel, but it wasn’t executed as well as I’d have liked.
One thing I really enjoyed was the variety of characters. Each of the narrators in the novel are varied and enjoyable. My favourite character was Cleo, although I wasn’t 100% sold on where her plot went. I felt she went from being an incredibly strong character to someone who sort of fell by the wayside and had everyone judge the life out of her. I wanted the sparky Cleo back, the one who fearlessly wore bikinis down at the shore, much to the digust of the entire Coffey family who found that horrific (because what else do you wear to the beach?). I also found Martha strangely compelling. I felt she perhaps had a touch of autism or aspergers, but it seemed as though she just suffered with being the kid that everyone bigs up constantly and needs to be the center of attention. I could never decide how I felt about Claire; I liked her but on the other hand she was quite mean to her sister and quite ungrateful to her despite the fact her parents took her in when she had nowhere else to go. Weezy, too, was an enigma. I liked her, but, again, I felt she was very judgemental.
Overall, I’m pleased I read Things We Need, and I wished that the whole idea of the “Things We Need” list had been explored a bit more. Mostly, though, this was a novel that explored family life as it is on a general day-to-day basis and it was very believable; I find myself getting irritated with my sister/mother/dad all of the time, and in that sense the novel was really, really honest. But honesty doesn’t always breed a fantastic read and this one was a little bit slow for my liking. It could have done with a bit more humour. Close is a really good writer, and I did find the narratives to be compelling but as a whole the novel was just a tad too slow for me. For those who like their novels a bit slower, who like to get to the nitty-gritty of family life, this one is for them.
While I found Things We Need to be interesting, I sadly didn’t find it to be witty. It was definitely smart, and Jennifer Close can definitely get into the middle of a crazy family and make it interesting to read about them, I didn’t feel like the book really blew me away. I very much enjoyed reading the novel, and some of the characters really impressed me but mostly it was just your average family drama and there was nothing that really separated it from the pack, something that made it stand out and be really memorable. I liked the idea of the novel, but it wasn’t executed as well as I’d have liked.
One thing I really enjoyed was the variety of characters. Each of the narrators in the novel are varied and enjoyable. My favourite character was Cleo, although I wasn’t 100% sold on where her plot went. I felt she went from being an incredibly strong character to someone who sort of fell by the wayside and had everyone judge the life out of her. I wanted the sparky Cleo back, the one who fearlessly wore bikinis down at the shore, much to the digust of the entire Coffey family who found that horrific (because what else do you wear to the beach?). I also found Martha strangely compelling. I felt she perhaps had a touch of autism or aspergers, but it seemed as though she just suffered with being the kid that everyone bigs up constantly and needs to be the center of attention. I could never decide how I felt about Claire; I liked her but on the other hand she was quite mean to her sister and quite ungrateful to her despite the fact her parents took her in when she had nowhere else to go. Weezy, too, was an enigma. I liked her, but, again, I felt she was very judgemental.
Overall, I’m pleased I read Things We Need, and I wished that the whole idea of the “Things We Need” list had been explored a bit more. Mostly, though, this was a novel that explored family life as it is on a general day-to-day basis and it was very believable; I find myself getting irritated with my sister/mother/dad all of the time, and in that sense the novel was really, really honest. But honesty doesn’t always breed a fantastic read and this one was a little bit slow for my liking. It could have done with a bit more humour. Close is a really good writer, and I did find the narratives to be compelling but as a whole the novel was just a tad too slow for me. For those who like their novels a bit slower, who like to get to the nitty-gritty of family life, this one is for them.
October 28, 2013
I didn't know what to expect when I began reading The Smart One, by Jennifer Close. This was my first time reading a book by her and I was pleasantly surprised to find myself immediately hooked.
This story follows the perspectives of four women in the Coffee family over the course of a year, and although each character is drastically different from the next, I found a little bit of myself in each of them.
Weezy is the mother figure, and although her life has turned out better than she ever hoped it would, she suddenly finds her home filled with her now adult children as different situations bring them back to the family nest. Endearing, likeable, and bit of a worry wart, Weezy's perspective is a great reminder that although children may grow up and leave the nest, they will never stop needing their parents.
Claire is the middle daughter, and she has recently been dumped by her fiance. The pain and feelings of failure are all too familiar to most people, and her story hits close to home. Numb, slightly heartbroken, and incredibly lost, her financial struggles bring her back from New York to Pennsylvania to try and collect herself and find the inspiration to start again.
Cleo is the youngest son's fiancé, and she is probably my favorite character. Gorgeous but oblivious to her beauty, she is not technically part of the family until the end of the book, but her viewpoint gives us an outsider's perspective of the Coffee family and shows us why they are all so rare and special.
Martha is the oldest child, but is probably the most delicate and the most reliant on her family home for support. She is intelligent but incredibly sensitive to anxiety, and she finds herself in a state of constant worry. Her transformation is probably the most subtle, but she does end up changing quite a lot by the end of this book. Her ending isn't laid out in black and white, but rather hinted at (which I love) as we see subtle changes and an ending that's left up to the reader.
The book begins with a summer at the family beach house, and it ends there a year later. Although the characters all end up in the same place at the end, a beautiful transformation takes place in each and every one of them - it's not obvious, but the subtle stories that intertwine make for a wonderful and charming read. There's no huge climax and no dramatic scene that the book leads up to, but rather small stories that show how each character thinks and feels, and how they get through their struggles with the help of their family.
And that's what this book is really about. Above all else, it is about family - embracing the challenges that we all must face, finding a way to start again when things fall apart, and relying on those that we love to get through hard times.
A quick note about the cover: I hated it. It was not creative and did not feel even remotely relevant to the book. If I had not been drawn in by the description of the book, I never would have looked twice at it. That being said, I'm glad that I gave it a chance.
I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.
This story follows the perspectives of four women in the Coffee family over the course of a year, and although each character is drastically different from the next, I found a little bit of myself in each of them.
Weezy is the mother figure, and although her life has turned out better than she ever hoped it would, she suddenly finds her home filled with her now adult children as different situations bring them back to the family nest. Endearing, likeable, and bit of a worry wart, Weezy's perspective is a great reminder that although children may grow up and leave the nest, they will never stop needing their parents.
Claire is the middle daughter, and she has recently been dumped by her fiance. The pain and feelings of failure are all too familiar to most people, and her story hits close to home. Numb, slightly heartbroken, and incredibly lost, her financial struggles bring her back from New York to Pennsylvania to try and collect herself and find the inspiration to start again.
Cleo is the youngest son's fiancé, and she is probably my favorite character. Gorgeous but oblivious to her beauty, she is not technically part of the family until the end of the book, but her viewpoint gives us an outsider's perspective of the Coffee family and shows us why they are all so rare and special.
Martha is the oldest child, but is probably the most delicate and the most reliant on her family home for support. She is intelligent but incredibly sensitive to anxiety, and she finds herself in a state of constant worry. Her transformation is probably the most subtle, but she does end up changing quite a lot by the end of this book. Her ending isn't laid out in black and white, but rather hinted at (which I love) as we see subtle changes and an ending that's left up to the reader.
The book begins with a summer at the family beach house, and it ends there a year later. Although the characters all end up in the same place at the end, a beautiful transformation takes place in each and every one of them - it's not obvious, but the subtle stories that intertwine make for a wonderful and charming read. There's no huge climax and no dramatic scene that the book leads up to, but rather small stories that show how each character thinks and feels, and how they get through their struggles with the help of their family.
And that's what this book is really about. Above all else, it is about family - embracing the challenges that we all must face, finding a way to start again when things fall apart, and relying on those that we love to get through hard times.
A quick note about the cover: I hated it. It was not creative and did not feel even remotely relevant to the book. If I had not been drawn in by the description of the book, I never would have looked twice at it. That being said, I'm glad that I gave it a chance.
I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.
September 14, 2014
Weeezy's number one priority is to see her children grow up stable and happy. However her expectations are shattered when they are not living beneath the life she had planned for them. Martha her oldest child is single working at a job that she secretly detests but does to make ends meet. Although she wants to practice her nursing, she is torn between staying at a job for the sake of her co workers or taking the alternative route. Weezy is not only overprotective over Martha, she also tries to live in the shadow of her daughter Claire. Unlike Martha, Claire is engaged but not happy in her relationship. Soon she considers moving back home putting a tremendous toil on her independence and freedom. Then there is Max, Weezy's son who is dating a woman that she instantly disapproves of. However Max is living his life without bothering to consult his relatives. While Weezy is trying to make her presence known in her children's life,her nonchalant husband wants her to mind her own business.
Martha, Claire and Max live totally opposites life from each other. Yet they all manage to get along in different ways, pleasing their mother who wants them all to be one big happy family. Things in their life spring out of control when one family member moves back home, an unexpected pregnancy rocks their family and spontaneous decisions leave their family in a tight ditch. Nevertheless, Weezy is determined to make their life bearable even if it means that she has to lose her sanity and morals in the process.
I really enjoyed this novel, the characters were very easy to relate too and authentic. I felt like I actually knew these characters in person, traveling along with them as they make crazy decisions for the sake of their family bonding together. The story sorta dragged towards the end, but ultimately the plot was clearly defined and it was a decent conclusion.
Martha, Claire and Max live totally opposites life from each other. Yet they all manage to get along in different ways, pleasing their mother who wants them all to be one big happy family. Things in their life spring out of control when one family member moves back home, an unexpected pregnancy rocks their family and spontaneous decisions leave their family in a tight ditch. Nevertheless, Weezy is determined to make their life bearable even if it means that she has to lose her sanity and morals in the process.
I really enjoyed this novel, the characters were very easy to relate too and authentic. I felt like I actually knew these characters in person, traveling along with them as they make crazy decisions for the sake of their family bonding together. The story sorta dragged towards the end, but ultimately the plot was clearly defined and it was a decent conclusion.
May 13, 2013
Jennifer Close is very good at capturing the early adulthood experience of a certain demographic (her books kind of remind of the TV show Girls). As someone who falls into that demographic, I can relate to her characters, particularly those in The Smart One. I expected this book to be written entirely from the mother's point of view and am glad that it wasn't, as I related most to the two daughters, who are both 30/almost 30, yet living at home and kind of stuck. One quote that I liked (of course said by an African American nanny-type character. which seemed a bit trite, especially given the fact that she is the only African American character in the book) was: "You're on a journey. You didn't like the way life was going, so you're rewriting your own story. That's what you have to do. You don't see it now, but this is the most important part of your life. If you don't like the story that's being told about your own life, you've got to change it." I also appreciated the way that even though some of the characters overthink things for a while ("what if" this, "what if" that), ultimately they end up just going for certain things. Weezy's exchange with her sister sums this up: " 'We don't even know if it will be worth it,'" [Weezy says]. " 'No one ever does,'" Maureen said." As someone who often finds it difficult to take a metaphorical leap in life, this felt real for me. Ultimately, nothing major happens in the book and I can see some readers thinking that the characters are complaining about "first world problems." I found myself thinking this as well at times -- I just happened to pick this up at the right time for me, and that's what I love about reading -- even a book that is not the most original work of literature ever can strike a chord.
May 20, 2013
The Smart One is an introspective look at the lives of all the female Coffey family members. The book is very character driven. Every chapter alternates perspective, while many events overlap. Having multiple characters reference the same events, revelations, or family fights, was really interesting and very well done. Each character has a very specific voice, that represents how easily people view or perceive the same situations differently. But, even though their is a focus on these events, the novel is much more on the characters reactions, than the situations they find themselves within. You are not necessarily reading to the building of a major event or resolution as much as waiting to see how the one year in which the novel covers alters and changes all of the women involved. I thought this book was really well done, and created the feelings of anger, annoyance, misunderstanding, support and love that everyone feels at some point or another towards the members of their family. I would definitely recommend it to people who enjoy character-driven novels with inner-monlogue, and who can handle a novel ending without every storyline being finished, or without necessarily knowing how every character ends up.
I really like Jennifer Close's Girls in White Dresses, and I would say that this novel has even more of a wide-spread appeal because of the various ages of the characters and the contrasting situations that each find themselves within.
I really like Jennifer Close's Girls in White Dresses, and I would say that this novel has even more of a wide-spread appeal because of the various ages of the characters and the contrasting situations that each find themselves within.
May 4, 2013
I enjoyed reading this book, but it won't win any awards for great literature (not that it pretends to be!) The story was interesting enough and there were some astute insights into that lifetime sentence otherwise known as parenthood. The writing is solid and I had no problem with the pace.
I found the characters annoying and I was often especially frustrated by the matriarch, Weezy (did NOT like that name - it infantilizes the character and is an ongoing and unpleasant reminder of breathing difficulties) who allowed the rest of her family, including her sister and mother, to run roughshod over her. Yes, she was the glue that held the family together, but it would have been inspiring to see a little backbone in the woman. The patriarch, Will, may as well not exist for all of his impact, but perhaps that is realistic in some families where the father is just a shadowy figure.
Overall, an entertaining read that feels more like a movie treatment than a novel. It will make a wonderful vehicle for Diane Keaton as Weezy, and any number of handsome young Hollywood actors to play the roles of spoiled and entitled adult children who never really seem to learn any lessons. An attempt at a feel-good story, but with too many irritating components to make it a totally satisfying read.
I found the characters annoying and I was often especially frustrated by the matriarch, Weezy (did NOT like that name - it infantilizes the character and is an ongoing and unpleasant reminder of breathing difficulties) who allowed the rest of her family, including her sister and mother, to run roughshod over her. Yes, she was the glue that held the family together, but it would have been inspiring to see a little backbone in the woman. The patriarch, Will, may as well not exist for all of his impact, but perhaps that is realistic in some families where the father is just a shadowy figure.
Overall, an entertaining read that feels more like a movie treatment than a novel. It will make a wonderful vehicle for Diane Keaton as Weezy, and any number of handsome young Hollywood actors to play the roles of spoiled and entitled adult children who never really seem to learn any lessons. An attempt at a feel-good story, but with too many irritating components to make it a totally satisfying read.
May 17, 2013
I really loved Girls in White Dresses as a light read that still managed to make funny and astute observations about my generation as we grow up post-college... so I was excited to see another book from Jennifer Close so soon. However, this family story told from the perspectives of two sisters, their mother and their brother's girlfriend didn't have any of the irreverence or sad humor of her first book. Instead, the neurotic characters came across as miserable-- each lived in some suspended state of denial, helplessness or insecurity, paralyzing them from making healthy decisions and having strong interpersonal relationships.
The characters did evolve somewhat with the plot of the story, but not due to any agency or acceptance on their parts. The family all lives under one roof through the middle of the book, so I suppose the moral should be that family, whether we like it or not, is always there for us to help us through our darkest times. Instead it just seemed like each character was propelled to move on from that living situation because it was making them more miserable than they ever had been before.
There were some witty parts, but overall these characters drove me crazy. I am anxious to see if Close's next foray is more like her first.
The characters did evolve somewhat with the plot of the story, but not due to any agency or acceptance on their parts. The family all lives under one roof through the middle of the book, so I suppose the moral should be that family, whether we like it or not, is always there for us to help us through our darkest times. Instead it just seemed like each character was propelled to move on from that living situation because it was making them more miserable than they ever had been before.
There were some witty parts, but overall these characters drove me crazy. I am anxious to see if Close's next foray is more like her first.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 4, 2016
The Smart One is a wonderful story about the Coffeys' (and, by extension, those connected to them: relatives, girlfriends, best friends, friends from high school, colleagues) and the ups and downs in their lives. Each chapter by each POV is absolutely wonderful, drawing the readers into the lives of this family and the perspective of each character in focus. The author does a fantastic job is really bring their perspectives to life, understand what it means to be a mother worrying for her children long after her children had left home, what it's like to be an absolute low psychologically. The book's also a gem because of its take on life.
The Smart One is a lyrical and poignant novel about life, family and growing up. It's amusing, it's frustrating (like family can be at times), it's ultimately endearing; I was sad when I reached the last page of the novel because I wanted to continue hanging out with the Coffeys. I highly recommend this novel to anyone looking for something new to read.
My complete review of the novel was originally posted at eclectictales.com: http://www.eclectictales.com/blog/201...
The Smart One is a lyrical and poignant novel about life, family and growing up. It's amusing, it's frustrating (like family can be at times), it's ultimately endearing; I was sad when I reached the last page of the novel because I wanted to continue hanging out with the Coffeys. I highly recommend this novel to anyone looking for something new to read.
My complete review of the novel was originally posted at eclectictales.com: http://www.eclectictales.com/blog/201...
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