Dermansky, Marcy

In her latest, Dermansky (Hurricane Girl) distills a potent brew from the sad consequences of power disparities among people. No arena of domestic human emotions is safe from her biting wit and analysis. Mother-daughter, employer-worker, husband-wife, rich-poor conflicts: all get their moment in the spotlight. It’s a laugh-till-you cry experience that will send readers to Dermansky’s backlist for more.

Dermansky surrounds Allison with disappointing men, making her trust issues understandable, and she effectively captures Allison’s brain fog and inability to make reasonable decisions, particularly following a traumatic brain injury. The ending is satisfying, if unconventional. For readers of general fiction.

Powerful themes of mother love and daughter fidelity give this frothy novel a depth that lingers after the rush of enjoyment. [See Prepub Alert, 1/7/19.]

Dermansky, whose previous novels Twins and Bad Marie focused on young women who make poor choices in the course of maturing, has done it again. Her latest explores the many unwise decisions of her heroine, offering no solutions but encouraging us to hope that things will get better. Readers won't be able to put this one down. [See Prepub Alert, 7/18/16; an ALA Buzz Book.]