Enter Sandman

by Stephanie Williams

Trisha Portman almost has it all. With her good looks, a job at a hot SoHo art gallery, devoted friends, and a handsome lawyer boyfriend, she's one step away from making it big. When a mysterious painting shows up at her gallery, Trisha's ticket to the top may have just arrived. Far from leading her there, however, the painting takes her back to her college days and to James Morales, a man whose artistic brilliance is exceeded only by the lengths he'll go to alienate people. As Trisha steps into James's tormented life, she discovers an unlikely soul mate but soon falls prey to a horrible misfortune. Called "Sex and the City with a heart" by Oprah author Jacquelyn Mitchard, Enter Sandman explores the tyranny of the superficial, the power of friendship, and the mystery of what people choose to leave behind.

Genres: Fiction

329 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2004

Reviews

[Ozma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I had learned of it years ago when I read an article about the author. Ms. Williams was diagnosed with a particularly brutal and fatal cancer (breast, I believe). In battling it, she decided she wanted to fulfill her goal of writing a novel, and this novel was the result. A portion of the proceeds was to go towards cancer research. This was over 10 years ago, when doing that sort of thing was still unique. The article was published shortly after her death. The publisher and others made a huge effort to get the book printed up so she could see the physical book before she passed. I was really touched and bought the book out of solidarity with the cause and the belief in fulfilling one's life goals, come hell or cancer. Then, for some reason, I never read it. I think every time I tried to, I would get depressed thinking about the author, her death, and the storyline/plot, which is also about a young woman who ends up getting cancer. Finally, the other day, I decided to read it. I am so glad I finally read it. It was very enjoyable, well-written, engaging, original story about a two "When Harry Met Sally" characters in NYC but in a sad, more realistic way. The main character, a young woman in the art world, while talented has had challenges accomplishing her goals of wanting to make her mark in the art world, finding a real true love, and reconciling some old college friendships, including one major one with a young man named James. It felt realistic and original. It was sad but not awful. No trite Hollywood ending, but a great, real-life feeling ending. I am so sorry the author died. I think she could have gone on to write some great books. Getting inside the feeling of having cancer through a novel was an enlightening sort of experience. I also loved reading about the inside of the NYC art world. I may come back to this and give it 5 stars later on, but, for now, the 4 stars feels right. I am a slow reader, and this book took me about a week or so. I had to stop reading it at night before bed because I started caring so much about the characters and what would happen that the novel kept me awake! Definitely not a snooze read!

[Larina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. A story that touched my heart about a woman who lost a battle, yet I always picture triumphing in the end.

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was kind of depressing....

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book very much. Sad, but very realistic.

[Courtney Kistler · Rating 1 out of 5]

A little too crass and dark for me. Thought about not finishing it but did because I was still curious about what would happen.