First Year

by Barbara Schnell

"It is hard to choose what I liked best about your book--it's all wonderful...You've captured the first year of marriage beautifully. A good, good read...a book I would recommend to a friend." Writers' Digest Stevie O'Neill, a young LA actress, recklessly marries her new love, Robert Anderson, and follows him home to South Dakota. There, she discovers that her Hispanic/Irish ancestry doesn't bother her blue-eyed blond in-laws, but her lack of domestic skill does--a situation Mom Anderson is determined to correct.This orphaned, metropolitan smart-aleck becomes an unwilling Martha Stewart in a student trailer park--but her life is not all drudgery. In Los Angeles she's a grunt in an army of wannabe celebrities; in South Dakota she's a star because of a beer commercial. Her brief fame even gets her a teaching job at the University.Stevie's new existence is filled with adventures most city girls never experience--or want to. She goes pheasant hunting; she survives blizzards, she drives the Hereford Queen in the Homecoming parade. She's thrown into an extended family circle and learns to deal with family life.In the first year of an impulsive, hormone-driven marriage punctuated by misunderstandings and reconciliations, Stevie discovers that her Prince Charming has skid marks in his tights. Should she stick with him? At least for one more year? "...engaging and believable. Stevie is an appealing heroine." Kirkus Discoveries ****1/2 Fantastic--keeper "...sidesplitting comedy. Schnell's writing is guaranteed to generate smiles." Romantic Times"The 'epic' of the ordinary...very American, very universal, and very entertaining." James Koenig, Director/Founder of Scandinavia/LA Film Festival

329 pages, Paperback

First published October 6, 2003

Reviews

[Ioanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Witty, entertaining, surprisingly deep, this novel was not only fun to read, but made me uncomfortable more than once. That's what good literature should do, right? The characters are real and complex, and although I disliked pretty much all of them at the beginning, they all grew and learned, so that I closed the book rooting for them – even the most annoying of them!

One point I didn't like was the tendency of the thin and beautiful main character to disparage other women because of their size. But I think that as the book progressess she learns the lesson that there's more to people than looks. I'd have liked this to be a little more clear.

I laughed out loud more than once while reading this book. Schnell's wit always cracks me up!

[Gabe Lamster · Rating 5 out of 5]

First Year was great!

First Year was entertaining and delightful to read! The book flowed from beginning to end and I couldn't put it down. It made me laugh and even brought a tear to the eye. Absolutely loved it. Hope she writes more.