Review
From the book jacket: It's an otherwise ordinary Monday when Meghan Fitzmaurice's perfect life hits
a wall. A household name as the host of
Rise and Shine, the country's
highest-rated morning talk show, Meghan cuts to a commercial break – but not
before she mutters two forbidden words into her open mike.
In an instant, it's the end of an era, not only for Meghan, who is
unaccustomed to dealing with adversity, but also for her younger sister,
Bridget, a social worker in the Bronx who has always lived in Meghan's long
shadow. The effect of Meghan's on-air truth telling reverberates through both
their lives, affecting Meghan's son, husband, friends, and fans, as well as
Bridget's perception of her sister, their complex childhood, and herself. What
follows is a story about how, in very different ways, the Fitzmaurice women
adapt, survive,...
Beyond the Book
Q: In dreaming up this
novel, what came to you first: the sisters, the setting,
or Megan's on-air slip? And how did your storyline
evolve from there?
Anna Quindlen: I always begin a novel with a
theme.
Black and Blue, for instance, began with
the theme of identity,
Blessings with the theme
of redemption.
Rise and Shine grew out of
constant thoughts about the disconnect in modern
American life between appearance and reality. The more
I thought about that disconnect, about how we've all
come to believe that what looks good is good, the more I
thought I should write about someone famous. That's
where the dissonance is greatest, it...
