Like We Used to Be - Softcover

The interlinked lives of two sisters are realistically revealed in this novel set in England during the '50s and '60s from the author of An Imperfect Joy . Two very dissimilar women, Zoe and Leila, experience personal upheavals that leave them battered but unbowed. Zoe, the more conformist sibling, endures a lackluster marriage, bears two children and undergoes a divorce that forces her to become her own person. Leila, whose untrammeled bohemianism is compensation for her perception of herself as second-best, also faces the pain of a failed relationship and the challenges of single motherhood. Their parents' deaths provide an opportunity to consider that marriage, a moving aspect of this resonant novel, as the sisters cope with this separation in a way that clarifies their own attachments. 60,000 first printing; $60,000 ad/promo.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This is the story of Leila and Zoe Gideon, sisters who are in every way different, yet who love each other and their marvelous British family unreservedly. The story begins with Zoe's wedding and Leila's first love affair in the summer of 1953, and spans the next 15 years. Zoe struggles to create a loving home with her difficult husband, Matthew. Leila, the rebellious sister, makes an independent life for herself as an artist in London. Told alternately by Leila and Zoe, the book has a leisurely pace filled with emotional detail. The focus is on family relationships. Cass, the sisters' irrepressible father, and Helen, their exemplary, loving mother, are major characters who add depth and humor. A well-written story, this will appeal to lovers of old-fashioned family novels.
-Donna L. Schulman, Cornell Univ. Lib.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.