The Big Love: A Novel FROM THE PUBLISHER
A fresh and hilarious debut novel about commitment, competition, and the occasional joys of unencumbered sex, for readers of Pride and Prejudice to The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing.
Sometimes being left in the lurch is the best thing that can happen to you. Alison Hopkins's live-in boyfriend, Tom, goes out in the middle of a dinner party to buy a jar of mustard, then calls her from a pay phone to tell her he won't be coming home. He's left her for his beautiful ex-girlfriend Kate Pearce, the kind of woman about whom men say rhapsodically, "She's like a drug." Alison had always feared that Tom's looks would land her in trouble--having a handsome boyfriend is like having a white couch, an invitation to disaster.
But if Tom isn't her Big Love, who is? Alison embraces her freedom, buys "hiking boots and lacy underwear," and sets out on a stroll down the midway of love. From an eye-opening fling with her new boss to an unexpected proposal from an old friend, Alison samples love's many varieties--all the while talking obsessively with her girlfriends, comparing stories, and working through a lifetime of conflicting beliefs about trust, faith, and commitment. In spite of (or perhaps because of) her neuroses, Alison finds a surprising kind of triumph--and an irrational faith that the Big Love may be nearer than it appears.
FROM THE CRITICS
Janet Maslin - The New York Times
The cover of The Big Love features a bed and the title in pink neon letters. It is an indication of the kind of opportunity that awaits any heroine in a flirty, effervescent novel of this genre. But the image also evokes, however back-handedly, the book's sense of a higher power. Alison already has one kind of big love in her life when she strikes out in search of something more earthly.
It's a testament to this book's sparkle that Ms. Dunn is able to express all this in warm, good-natured fashion without raising hackles.
Donna Freydkin
Before you roll your eyes at yet another hackneyed hunk of chick-lit featuring the requisite eccentrically spunky heroine who gets ditched but ultimately finds true love in the unlikeliest place, give The Big Love, Sarah Dunn's debut novel, a chance. The writing is fresh, the characters are just quirky enough without ever verging on cloying, and the ending ﾽ not to give it away ﾽ is hardly the happily-ever-after, misty-eyed Cinderella fable we've come to expect from those disposable Bridget Jones knockoffs.— USA Today
Publishers Weekly
When Alison Hopkins's live-in boyfriend, Tom, leaves mid-dinner party to buy mustard and then calls to say he's never coming back, she doesn't know who to blame: Tom, for falling back in love with his old girlfriend Kate Pearce; Kate, for clouding his mind with her seductive charms; or herself, for being a lapsed Evangelist Christian living, as her mother would say, "in sin." So Alison decides to distribute the blame, reserving a large portion for herself. It's hard not to sympathize with Alison as she struggles to salvage her life and her column-writing career, but Foss's exaggerated narration doesn't do this funny, insightful and mildly neurotic protagonist justice. Foss's robust voice cycles from nearly inaudible to ear-ringingly loud. Although she sometimes uses different inflections to convey Alison's emotions, she more often uses volume, which will frustrate listeners who don't want to keep their fingers trained on the volume control. Foss also struggles with her male impersonations; curiously, all her male characters come off sounding like they have head colds. Although Dunn's tale possesses both wit and charm, this audio adaptation would have benefited from a subtler treatment. Simultaneous release with the Little, Brown hardcover (Forecasts, May 10). (July) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
When Alison Hopkin's boyfriend, Tom, whom she thought was "the one," decides to leave her right in the middle of a dinner party, Alison is understandably upset. She is also shocked, in denial, hurt, and ultimately furious. To make matters worse, things aren't going so well on the professional front either. Alison's editor at a Philadelphia alternative newspaper has bypassed her for promotion and instead hires Henry. Alison soon finds herself pretty darn attracted to Henry, but after all, isn't she supposed to be in love with Tom? We sympathize and agonize along with Alison as she struggles to identify the man of her dreams, find professional happiness and success, and finally become an adult. Written with charm and warmth, this entertaining first novel by a TV writer will attract fans of Helen Fielding, Jane Green, or Jennifer Weiner. Recommended for any public library with young and hip romantic fiction readers. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 3/15/04.]-Margaret Hanes, Sterling Heights P.L., MI Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
AudioFile
Allison Hopkins is a 21st-century urban neurotic, a former evangelical Christian whose live-in boyfriend has left her for another woman. Her anger, her religious confusion, and her maudlin desperation for a happy ending are the troublesome trivia she tries to sort through. Narrator Eliza Foss has a pleasant reading style and an impressive vocal range for characterizations. She attempts to keep things upbeat, although the lack of subtleties in the text forces Foss to work a little too hard. The result is a performance that is frequently over the top. Some genuinely funny writing laces this cross between "Friends" and "Sex in the City," but if it's true that there's nothing more important to 30-something women than procreation, then the Women's Movement was a big bust. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine
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