Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Aug 2015
384 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
In A Window Opens, Elisabeth Egan brings us Alice Pearse, a compulsively honest, longing-to-have-it-all, sandwich generation heroine for our social-media-obsessed, lean in (or opt out) age. Like her fictional forebears Kate Reddy and Bridget Jones, Alice plays many roles (which she never refers to as "wearing many hats" and wishes you wouldn't, either). She is a mostly-happily married mother of three, an attentive daughter, an ambivalent dog-owner, a part-time editor, a loyal neighbor, and a Zen commuter. She is not: a cook, a craftswoman, a decorator, an active PTA member, a natural caretaker, or the breadwinner. But when her husband makes a radical career change, Alice is ready to lean in - and she knows exactly how lucky she is to land a job at Scroll, a hip young start-up which promises to be the future of reading, with its chain of chic literary lounges and dedication to beloved classics. The Holy Grail of working mothers - an intellectually satisfying job and a happy personal life - seems suddenly within reach.
Despite the disapproval of her best friend, who owns the local bookstore, Alice is proud of her new "balancing act" (which is more like a three-ring circus) until her dad gets sick, her marriage flounders, her babysitter gets fed up, her kids start to grow up, and her work takes an unexpected turn. Fans of I Don't Know How She Does It, Where'd You Go Bernadette, and The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry will cheer as Alice realizes the question is not whether it's possible to have it all, but what does she - Alice Pearse - really want?
"Starred Review. Women may not be able to have it all, but this novel can." - Kirkus
"Starred Review. For its insider's view of the publishing industry and some not-so-thinly-veiled jabs at Amazon, fans of I Don't Know How She Does It (2002) and Where'd You Go, Bernadette (2012) will adore A Window Opens." - Booklist
"Though the author successfully skewers start-ups and corporate culture, Alice's disillusionment with her trendy employer is slow to play out, filling much of the space with repetitive plot developments." - Publishers Weekly
"A winning, heartfelt debut." - Good Housekeeping
"Elisabeth Egan's wry, up-to-the-minute social comedy perfectly captures the harried life of a working mother who is, by necessity, on call 24/7 in every sphere. Filled with humor and heartbreak, this acutely observed debut is compulsively readable." - Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Orphan Train
"A buoyant, engaging novel that manages the rather remarkable feat of taking no sides even as it takes no prisoners. A delightful and impressive debut." - Meghan Daum, author of The Unspeakable: And Other Subjects of Discussion
"An instant classic. Egan manages to be wise, honest, poignant and laugh out loud funny about marriage, motherhood, daughterhood, and that ever elusive concept: having it all." - J. Courtney Sullivan, New York Times Bestselling Author of Maine
This information about A Window Opens was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Elisabeth Egan is the books editor at Glamour. Her essays and book reviews have appeared in Self; Glamour; O, The Oprah Magazine; People; Publishers Weekly; Kirkus Reviews; Huffington Post; The New York Times Book Review; the Los Angeles Times Book Review; The Washington Post; the Chicago Sun-Times; and the Newark Star-Ledger. She lives in New Jersey with her family.
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