Holiday Sale! Get an annual membership for 20% off!

Read advance reader review of And When She Was Good by Laura Lippman

Summary | Reviews | More Information | More Books

And When She Was Good by Laura Lippman

And When She Was Good

A Novel

by Laura Lippman

  • Critics' Consensus:
  • Published:
  • Aug 2012, 384 pages
  • Rate this book

About this book

Reviews


Page 1 of 5
There are currently 33 member reviews
for And When She Was Good
Order Reviews by:
  • Darcy C. (San Diego, CA)
    Got To Look Out For Yourself
    This was a really good read! I was able to get wrapped up in the protagonist: Heloise. She was believable and a real fighter. This book is no "Pretty Woman" -- similar only in the fact that she's a prostitute. She realizes at a young age that she shouldn’t rely on others for help because they usually disappoint. (This part I could relate to!) Now she has a young son who she must also look after. She gets into real-life situations, where some of the people she encounters are truly awful. We have all been around people like that. I could understand her and found myself "pulling for her" to get out of some of her more precarious situations. I admired her business acumen and wonder if I could have been as ingenious as she was. She knows what people think of her and she’s got more common sense than any of the others who judge her. She’s a fighter - and even better - she has moxie! I like Heloise an awful lot and I think other readers will too. If Hollywood didn't ruin most of the good stories out there - I would love to see this turned into a movie. I will settle for this book, and hope(!) that I will get the chance to read more about Heloise and how the rest of her life turns out.
  • Julia E. (Atlanta, GA)
    Laura Lippman: And When She Was Good
    Award-winning mystery novelist, Laura Lippman, has delivered another winner. Deftly, Lippman lures the reader into the morally murky world of a suburban Madam known variously as Helen-Heloise-Hel. Just like any suburban Mom, Helen is out to protect and provide for her son, only here the dangers are far more deadly than over-baking cookies for the PTA meeting--Helen is possibly being stalked by a revengeful killer. The reader is ever on the side of this resourceful, ambitious woman who, having been dealt a lousy hand in the game of life, plays her cards with skill and courage: one concurs that when Helen was good, she was very, very good,but when she was bad she understandably could be horrid. And therein lies the fascination of this masterfully written mystery novel.
  • Cheryl K. (East Aurora, NY)
    Great Read!
    Laura Lippman has given me so many pleasurable reading experiences, and this one was certainly as enjoyable. Although the main character, Heloise, at first glance appears weak and easily manipulated, she transcends all the negatives that have shaped her life and emerges intact. I love Ms. Lippman's characters....the good, the bad and the horrible. There would be many discussion points for a book club and I would definitely recommend this book to mine.
  • Aleksandra E. (Alpharetta, GA)
    An absolutely riveting read!
    I thoroughly enjoyed every single minute of this book. It grips you from the very beginning & is a bonafide page-turner that I could not manage to put down. A thrilling and compelling read that'll hook you until the final pages. A definitely must read for anyone who enjoys a well done thriller.
  • Cathy W. (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA)
    Great Summer Read
    Laura Lippman’s intricately plotted crime stories delve into the psychological motivations of the characters. My favorite is What the Dead Know, but And When She Was Good is right up there with a menacing storyline that presents such flawed characters that you sometimes want to shake them to make them understand how foolishly they are behaving. This is another page-turner that will keep you up way past your bedtime.
  • Wendy H.
    And When She Was Good
    A thought-provoking stand alone from Laura Lippman. Helen/Heloise is a Starbucks swilling, Maryland suburban “Madam” who wants nothing more than for her young son to wake up every day knowing he is loved and safe, something she never had. The storyline jumps back and forth in time which builds the suspense of the novel, and Lippman does a good job of keeping the transitions smooth. The character of Helen/Heloise is very well drawn and quite complex.

    This is a perfect book mystery club selection, especially with the very polarizing topics of should we decriminalize prostitution and is prostitution a victimless crime?
  • Carol G. (Little Egg Harbor, NJ)
    And When She Was Good
    I love Laura L's books and this does not disapoint!

    The book is well written and explores a subject that is often avoided.

    I immediately bonded with the character which is important to me when reading a book; I was unable to put the book down and read it in 2 sittings.

    I have read most of Laura's books and I highly recommend them to my book club and friends.

    I look forward to her next book and am very grateful that I was chosen to read this book for review.

    I hope the author comes to southern NJ in the near future as I would love to meet her.

Read-Alikes

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: The Demon of Unrest
    The Demon of Unrest
    by Erik Larson
    In the aftermath of the 1860 presidential election, the divided United States began to collapse as ...
  • Book Jacket: Daughters of Shandong
    Daughters of Shandong
    by Eve J. Chung
    Daughters of Shandong is the debut novel of Eve J. Chung, a human rights lawyer living in New York. ...
  • Book Jacket
    The Avian Hourglass
    by Lindsey Drager
    It would be easy to describe The Avian Hourglass as "haunting" or even "dystopian," but neither of ...
  • Book Jacket: Roman Year
    Roman Year
    by Andre Aciman
    In this memoir, author André Aciman recounts his family's resettlement for a year in Rome due ...

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
The Berry Pickers
by Amanda Peters
A four-year-old Mi'kmaq girl disappears, leaving a mystery unsolved for fifty years.
Who Said...

A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

F the M

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.