Spin Doctor: A Novel of Women, Secrets, and Laundry Room Friendship on the Upper West Side

by Leslie Carroll

Question:
What do Amy, the new mom;
Meriel, the West-Indian housekeeper;
Claude and Naomi, the alternative couple;
Faith, the elegant widow;
and Talia, the super-skinny ballerina
have in common? Answer:
Abso-freakin'-lutely-nothing! Except that they all live lives of not-so-quiet desperation on the Upper West Side of New York City. What gets them through? Their unusual therapy sessions with supershrink Susan Lederer, held in the depths of the laundry room. Susan knows that all of life's problems eventually come out in the wash, but while the washers keep breaking down, she helps her female friends take control. But Susan's life has become an agitated mess. Her teenage daughter seems destined for a fast-food future; her son's adolescence hasn't quite hit yet . . . and her perfect husband is hiding something. Susan could use a really good shrink. Instead, her dirty linen exposed, she finds that it's her friends who rally 'round her, and by the final spin, she realizes that while it might not take a whole village, it does sometimes take a laundry room to get rid of the nastier wrinkles in life. Now if only she could find the formula for getting rid of that ring around the collar.

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Psychology, Friendship, Unfinished

312 pages, Paperback

First published January 24, 2006

About the author

I used to tell people that I was born in Manhattan and raised in the Bronx; but the truth is that apart from the stellar education I received at the Fieldston School in Riverdale, much of who I am was shaped by my two grandmothers, who encouraged me to follow my bliss long before it became the sort of catchphrase you find on tee-shirts and new-age tchotchkes. My East Side grandmother took me to FAO Schwarz, the New York City Ballet, and afternoon tea at the Plaza Hotel, where I dreamed of becoming another Eloise. My West Side grandmother took me to the Central Park carousel and the zoo and treated me to colorful paper parasols and gummy, lukewarm pretzels from the vendors whose wares my East Side grandmother deemed too "dirty" for human consumption.

There are writers on both sides of my family, and although I always loved to write, I never anticipated that it would become my profession. I had wanted to be a ballerina; and though my club feet were corrected at birth (from the stilettos I adore now, you'd never know) and my short Achilles tendons made my toes turn in (corrected at the age of 9), I was never going to end up en pointe.

About a year later, I decided to become an actress when (if?) I grew up, and I never looked back. I majored in Theatre at Cornell University, worked in summer stock, and took classes with a couple of acknowledged masters. I performed a lot of Shakespeare and other classics in New York parks, basements, church choir lofts, and the occasional Off-Broadway theatre; then founded and ran my own nonprofit theatre company for several years. And when things got slow, and I found myself working three survival jobs simultaneously (one of them as a journalist and editor), I decided it was time to pursue an additional creative avenue.

Fast forward a decade. I'm now a multi-published author in three genres, as well as a freelance journalist. And I've also adapted a number of classic texts (Ivanhoe; The Prisoner of Zenda; The Scarlet Pimpernel; Mark Twain's The Diaries of Adam and Eve) for the stage. I began writing women's fiction and historical fiction simultaneously, but my first published novel was the urban romantic comedy Miss Match in 2002. In 2005, as I continued to write about feisty female New Yorkers, my first historical novel was published under the pen name Amanda Elyot. While keeping those literary plates spinning I made my historical nonfiction debut in the spring of 2008.

In what I laughingly refer to as my spare time, I'm still a professional actress, working when the scripts and the roles excite me.

I'm such a native New Yorker that I still don't have a driver's license, "Big Sky Country" means Central Park, and the farthest I've ever been from the Upper West Side for any great length of time was my four-year stint upstate in Ithaca, at Cornell, known for its rigorous academics and its equally harsh permafrost.

My birthday falls on the same day as two of my heroes—F. Scott Fitzgerald and Jim Henson. So I reread The Great Gatsby every year and number Miss Piggy among the great actresses of her generation. My favorite color is deep hydrangea blue, and it just kills me that it doesn't look good with red hair.

I live in Manhattan with my husband Scott—who is my hero and everything I ever dreamed of. For the past couple of years we've been considering an addition to the family in the form of a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

Reviews

[AP · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not expect it to be literature (checked it out of the library randomly to take it with me on vacation). But wow it was bad! I skipped ahead a lot to "finish" it. The book failed primarily due to poor writing. Though the events were far-fetched, the basic premise and plot could have worked in the hands of a good writer. The main character was neither believable, nor likable. Sadly, the other women were not interesting either. They were supposed to be, but none of the voices felt genuine. Especially the teenage daughter and the gypsy fortune teller! The story attempted to cover a lot of important issues in the women's lives (grief, motherhood, adoption, gay marriage, teenage ennui, betrayal, anorexia, interracial relations, illness, you name it) but everything was so poorly executed, it all ended up in a mess. There were also numerous spelling mistakes, and factual errors that could've been averted with a quick wikipedia search. I would not recommend this book.

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay, when I ordered this from the Barnes & Nobles $2 I didn't expect much and I am not getting much. Ha Ha! It would be a great brainless read for a train ride or something. A book you can finish on the trip and leave on the train for the next person.

It is about a shrink who analyzes her neighbors in the apartment building in the laundry room for free. She also analyzes herself and her relationship with her family. Really fluffy. It even has a gypsy giving fortunes to the same tenants and she has to deal with that.

[Erin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Skip this one! The main character was so bitchy and annoying that I was GLAD when her husband left her for the super's gypsy wife(whom she had SO much contempt for!). Any person with a personality and viewpoints so annoying would have a hard time keeping any guy, even her slacker husband.

[Elisa Schiorlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

In un palazzo di Manhattan, a turno, sei condomine si ritrovano prima delle otto del mattino, nella lavanderia per una sessione di terapia gratuita fornita da Susan, psicoterapeuta che abita proprio in quel palazzo.

Carino, che a tratti fa riflettere

[Paula · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oddly, I read most of this while doing laundry.

[Denise Benoit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author’s pen name# Amanda Eliot
Writes historical fiction

Seder is described on p. 290

Author also wrote

PlaybDates. And temporary insanity

[Marnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the storyline to this book about Susan the shrink listening to all the tenants' problems. It was fun to read about their problems & how Susan helped them solve them. I'd give it 3 1/2 stars if I could.

[Upstatemamma · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay. The characters were compelling and it was interesting getting to know them. A lot of the things that happened during the course of the story was very sad. In the end it was just too much sad for me.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was far too boring for me. It took over a month to actually get through the whole thing. The story line was a new one - I thought it was sort of neat, but it took half the book to get all the characters and their stories straight. Plus, some things were far too easy to predict.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure why everyone rated it quite so low I mean, it's meant to be a light read and some chick lit. I needed something that wasn't going to require too much thought and I have to confess I was intrigued to find out what happened to the characters.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good pace and easy to follow plot.Shallow characters

[Maria (Ri) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute story. Not to heavy or light. Some of the characters felt a bit over the top, but it was all in fun, I suppose.

[Caffenero · Rating 1 out of 5]

Quite boring... The cover was what impressed me mostly ;P

[Margherita Dolcevita · Rating 1 out of 5]

Quando un romanzo ha troppi personaggi talmente poco delineati da rimanere per nulla impressi non gli si può che dare il voto più basso.

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy, fun, emotional read. AN enjoyable book

[Alissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun chick lit novel with a clever premise

[Catherine Rose]

Loved the characters and the story...