Tender Offer

by Nora Johnson

After a marriage "out of her class" subjects WASP princess Jamie Ricklehouse to a painful education in the realities of life, she is galvanized into action by the passage of her father's business into the hands of his second wife

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Nora Johnson was the daughter of film writer, director and producer Nunnally Johnson, pivotal in such acclaimed films as 'The Grapes of Wrath'. She attended the Brearley School in New York City and in 1954 graduated from Smith College.

Her first and most well-known novel, The World of Henry Orient (1956), was based on her experiences at the Brearley School. In 1964 it was made into a movie produced and co-scripted by her father, Nunnally Johnson, and starring Peter Sellers. In 1957 The Atlantic Monthly published her influential article "Sex and the College Girl", which culled her experiences at Smith to discuss then-current attitudes towards sex on American campuses.

Reviews

[Daisy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's raucous and slapstick and tragic and meaningful all at once. Absurd and, yes, tender.

I was just starting to grasp an important principle. It mattered less what you did than the way you did it. Style was everything.

For all Bianca's reliance on image, she didn't really understand the meaning of appearance -- nor the difference between.

But I mustn't sound bitter. Aunt Pamela told me it was unattractive and unfit for a Ricklehouse, and she's right. We might have experienced Bare Minimum, Aunt Pam and I, but we'd never be tasteless.

[Lawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

i loved this one!