What Comes after Crazy

From Publishers Weekly
After a childhood spent in thrall to her sex-crazed, manic depressive fortune-teller mother, Maz Lombard is, understandably, a proponent of normalcy. But her carefully constructed family life in New Haven, Conn., collapses when her husband has an affair with the teacher at their daughter's babysitting co-op and then decamps to Santa Fe. Equal parts energetic comedy and earnest domestic saga, this brisk novel by the author of three parenting books hovers somewhat uneasily at a crossroads between poetry and punch line: very funny scenes, such as when Maz's precocious 10-year-old daughter, Hope, makes Maz's potential boyfriend deeply uncomfortable ("Look, just so you know, I do not want a new daddy"), butt up against gritty but mythologized memories of Maz's carnival circuit rounds with her mother, Madame Lucille. The plot thickens when Maz's husband, Lenny, unexpectedly returns to find Maz entwined with a new young lover and Madame Lucille shows up with husband number six for a long-term visit. But when Lenny and Madame Lucille kidnap Hope and whisk her away to Santa Fe, Maz realizes she must once and for all find the courage to defy her past in order to protect her future. Though lovely descriptions often grace the pages, and there are plenty of laughs, readers might feel that Maz is a bit curmudgeonly for a heroine. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Maz Lombard isn't crazy, but her life sure is. Her husband, Lenny, had an affair with a nursery-school teacher named Jolie, and then up and left for Santa Fe. A year later, Maz finally goes out on a date with Dan, a handsome doctor, but it gets sabotaged by her wacky family: her mother, Lucille, calls to tell Maz she's getting married for the sixth time, and Maz's eldest daughter, Hope, interrupts the date to inform Maz and Dan that Lenny is coming back home. Maz breaks things off with Dan, even though he accepts Maz's eccentric family. But Maz soon finds herself drawn into a different relationship: a passionate affair with an attractive younger man who just happens to be Jolie's boyfriend. When both Lenny and Lucille descend upon Maz's household, she realizes that if she wants to keep her family together, she's going to have to get her life in order. Shelton's lively novel is perfect for readers who enjoy the antics of quirky characters. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
“Funny, funny, funny, from page one. You can’t help but root for the lovable Maz Lombard, who’s surrounded by an eccentric mother, headstrong daughter, deadbeat husband, and way too much whole wheat flour. Sandi Kahn Shelton’s writing sparkles with humor and insight.” —Lolly Winston, author of Good Grief

“I loved What Comes After Crazy. Smart, warm, and hilarious!” —Jennifer Crusie, author of Bet Me and Faking It

“A book about slaying dragons (the ultimate toxic mother and lame estranged husband), What Comes After Crazy shows that a woman can be the hero of her own life. A comedy with all the avenging and day-saving you can handle, but without any messy bloodshed.” —Valerie Frankel, author of The Girlfriend and The Accidental Virgin

“[A] promising debut novel . . . [Shelton] has a good touch with mother/daughter conflicts and a strong sense of the ambiguities of friendships. Her Maz is a sympathetic character not in spite of but because of her self-acknowledged flaws. . . . Appealing and often very funny.” —Kirkus Reviews


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An easy read, and promising debut novel, about a woman whose "free spirit" of a mother has left her ill-prepared for the practicalities of life as a single parent. Maz Lombard is a mid-30s mom whose life revolves around her two preteen daughters, the local day-care center, and her job as a baker in a health-food store. Then she gets caught in the crossfire when her wacky mother (Madame Lucille, a self-dubbed "Fortune Teller to the Stars," who burned through quite a few husbands and carnivals during Maz's childhood) teams up with Maz's disloyal husband, Lenny (gone for a year to New Mexico, and expected not to return). Lucille and Lenny not only endlessly complicate Maz's life but also put a wedge between her and her older daughter, ten-year-old Hope. Meanwhile, Maz's best friend Hannah counsels her as she tries to get back into the dating swim. (On her one attempt, she muses, "theoretically, I would love to sleep with him, but I can't remember how to get started.") Rounding out the ensemble cast are Joliet, a day-care teacher with a bad habit of seducing husbands, including Maz's, and a couple of interested beaus-a hunky graduate student and a low-key naturopathic physician. Maz's job seems increasingly tedious as she confronts challenges to all the relationships in her life and figures out what she wants for herself. When her mother and husband spirit Hope away to New Mexico, Maz learns to trust her gut and fight for what she loves. Shelton, author of three parenting books, has a good touch with mother/daughter conflicts and a strong sense of the ambiguities of friendships. Her Maz is a sympathetic character not in spite of but because of her self-acknowledged flaws. Appealing and oftenvery funny-both important pluses in a crowded field of domestic "drama dies."


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