What do you think?
Rate this book
Alexandra Chronicles #1
Riverside Drive
Van Wormer's "realistic characters and situations, combined with occasional blasts of sensationalized sex, will keep her readers turning the pages." Publishers Weekly
"Hot enough to melt the type off the printed page!" Los Angeles Times
On New York's Upper West Side, where Manhattan overlooks the Hudson, there's a very special place called Riverside Drive. With palatial homes along one side and the promenades of Riverside Park on the other, with its posh townhouses and pre-war apartments, the Drive is a boulevard of grace and beauty, giving no hint as to the secrets of the residents who live--and love there. The time is Reagan's America
There are five households on the Drive that share a common bond, a wisecracking but fiercely loyal cleaning woman, Rosanne DiSantos, who is forever stumbling onto the kinds of dirt her employers dearly wish would remain under the rug. There the Cochrans--beautiful Cassy, handsome Michael, and perfect son Henry. For people in television, as the Cochrans are, appearances are everything, and the Cochrans' marriage is no exception as Cassy wonders whether it's going to be Alexandra Waring (the stunning young anchorwoman who has taken New York by a storm), alcohol, or her own identity crisis that is going to tear her family apart for the last time.
Then there are the Stewarts--Howard and Melissa, book editor and banker. They are the perfect yuppie couple--so long as love and sex aren't part of the definition.
Third, there is the very lovely, very wealthy writer Amanda Miller, whose disastrous first marriage has made her perhaps the youngest recluse around. But Amanda's body has never agreed with her weary heart, and so when Rosanne arranges for Howard Stewart to call...
Fourth, there are the Wyatts--Sam, Harriet and daughters Althea and Samantha. The Wyatts are one of the most prominent black professional couples in New York, but everything they've worked for is at risk when Sam is dragged into a corporate scandal reaching from Wall Street to South Africa.
And, finally, there is Mrs. Emma Goldblum, the warm and wonderful grande dame of the Drive, whose only terrible secret is the poverty which her son has reduced her to.
And now it's time to simply step aside and wave you on to the world of Riverside Drive .
(Riverside Drive was the Main Selection of the Literary Guild in May of 1988, featured Alternate of the Doubleday Book Club, optioned for television and has been published in 26 countries.)
"Hot enough to melt the type off the printed page!" Los Angeles Times
On New York's Upper West Side, where Manhattan overlooks the Hudson, there's a very special place called Riverside Drive. With palatial homes along one side and the promenades of Riverside Park on the other, with its posh townhouses and pre-war apartments, the Drive is a boulevard of grace and beauty, giving no hint as to the secrets of the residents who live--and love there. The time is Reagan's America
There are five households on the Drive that share a common bond, a wisecracking but fiercely loyal cleaning woman, Rosanne DiSantos, who is forever stumbling onto the kinds of dirt her employers dearly wish would remain under the rug. There the Cochrans--beautiful Cassy, handsome Michael, and perfect son Henry. For people in television, as the Cochrans are, appearances are everything, and the Cochrans' marriage is no exception as Cassy wonders whether it's going to be Alexandra Waring (the stunning young anchorwoman who has taken New York by a storm), alcohol, or her own identity crisis that is going to tear her family apart for the last time.
Then there are the Stewarts--Howard and Melissa, book editor and banker. They are the perfect yuppie couple--so long as love and sex aren't part of the definition.
Third, there is the very lovely, very wealthy writer Amanda Miller, whose disastrous first marriage has made her perhaps the youngest recluse around. But Amanda's body has never agreed with her weary heart, and so when Rosanne arranges for Howard Stewart to call...
Fourth, there are the Wyatts--Sam, Harriet and daughters Althea and Samantha. The Wyatts are one of the most prominent black professional couples in New York, but everything they've worked for is at risk when Sam is dragged into a corporate scandal reaching from Wall Street to South Africa.
And, finally, there is Mrs. Emma Goldblum, the warm and wonderful grande dame of the Drive, whose only terrible secret is the poverty which her son has reduced her to.
And now it's time to simply step aside and wave you on to the world of Riverside Drive .
(Riverside Drive was the Main Selection of the Literary Guild in May of 1988, featured Alternate of the Doubleday Book Club, optioned for television and has been published in 26 countries.)
Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
8 people are currently reading
72 people want to read
About the author
Laura Van Wormer
38 books22 followersLaura Van Wormer grew up in Darien, Connecticut, graduated from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, and has spent most of her adult life working in publishing. She is the author of eleven previous novels. The Kill Fee is the fifth in the Sally Harrington series, although some of the characters - most notably the group at DBS News - are in her earlier novels Riverside Drive, West End, Any Given Moment and Talk.
Laura divides her time between Manhattan and Meriden, Connecticut.
Laura divides her time between Manhattan and Meriden, Connecticut.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 5, 2020
Interesting story of 5 families and the woman who cleans for them. All the twists and turns.
October 2, 2023
Couldn’t finish; for me that is very rare. And I usually love older books set in the 70s, 80s,…but the characters in this book weren’t very likable nor memorable- I found them rather two-dimensional and bland. Almost like caricatures. Also, the dialogue was that haphazard slapdash offhand style that I guess is meant to seem “real,” but just fails somehow. The whole thing felt contrived and didn’t resonate with me at all. I see that a lot of people enjoyed it- good for them. It just wasn’t meant for me.
*Editing to add that it USED to be a rare thing if I couldn’t finish a book. Since then, I’ve stumbled across several that I either couldn’t finish at all or that I had to put down for a bit. I think I’m losing patience as I get older.
*Editing to add that it USED to be a rare thing if I couldn’t finish a book. Since then, I’ve stumbled across several that I either couldn’t finish at all or that I had to put down for a bit. I think I’m losing patience as I get older.
November 27, 2012
It took a minute for me to get into this story because there were so many characters to keep up with; once I figured out who everyone was, I actually liked the novel up to a point. Towards the end, it just got a little trite and ridiculous for me.
March 11, 2011
Loved the characters and their lives, a good read. Couldn't wait to read West End
September 26, 2011
A fun read! Enjoying looking into the lives(and apartments) of the characters.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews