What do You think about A Certain Age (2000)?
I don't often dislike a book to the extent that I disliked this book. My wife and I often read books together, to each other, and we both hated this one. The female protagonist is appropriately depicted on the cover, because it seems as though every single situation in which she encounters a male in the book, she ends up on her back! Who wants to read about a woman like that? She lets every person in her life take advantage of her, and seems singularly clueless about all of it … and it's not at all funny! I can possibly -- remotely possibly -- imagine drawing up a situation like this, with a character like this, where the plot unfolds as funny … but on reflection I think it would still just be sad and pathetic, like this novel was. I can understand why so many readers were unable to finish it. What I can't understand is how anyone actually enjoyed it! (And in retrospect it's hard to believe we actually finished it ourselves…!)
—JerryB
This book is an eerie walk through a certain social milieu in NYC. A modern day Victorian woman's fall from grace. It's a disconcerting book overall. The protagonist is not likeable - the book makes you walk through the disaster of her life and shallow choices. I found myself grasping & hoping to be able to change tracks and hang out more with the other, more likeable, characters who enter and exit throughout the plot. Not to be. This is a pretty grueling book. You will not feel particularly good after finishing it. If you don't feel so hot about things, the book's probably done it's job.
—Madeleine Fix-hansen
Scary book. If you ever lived in NYC, you will recognize Florence, the main protagonist in this novel - the aging party girl living on the fringes of high society, hoping to bag a wealthy husband who will bankroll her aspirations to become one of the indolent upper classes. The downward spiral of this character as she embarks upon this wrongheaded pursuit will haunt you. Not profound in the traditional sense - it's certainly very easy to read, but it raises interesting questions about status, success, wealth and how women are valued, and value themselves after a certain age.
—Nia Forrester
