Modern Lovers

An engaging story of shifting relationships, Straub's third novel (The Vacationers; Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures) focuses on Elizabeth, Andrew, and Zoe, who have been friends since their college days. They now live close to one another in a gentrified Brooklyn neighborhood. But it's been years since college, and they are all facing midlife reassessments. Elizabeth throws herself into her work, Andrew finds his way to a local commune, and Zoe considers divorce. Meanwhile, their children start sleeping together. All the secrets from those long-ago college days begin to surface when a movie company shows up asking about the fourth member of their briefly successful college band—Lydia, who went on to fame without them, and died young. Sprinkled with humor and insight, this is a Brooklyn novel with heart. Straub's characters are well rounded and realistic; even the teenagers are sympathetic. Zoe's wife, Jane, is a chef, and her love of food adds to the sensory appeal of the book.