How Elizabeth Barrett Browning Saved My Life

by Mameve Medwed

Book Overview

What do a chamber pot, a famous poet, a family feud, and a long-ago suitor all have in common?

Elizabeth Barrett Browning might have written about the length and breadth of love, but Abby Randolph has given up on all that, preferring to spend her time between her cluttered needs work apartment and an overcrowded antiques mart optimistically named Objects of Desire. Yet Abby can't help but wonder what happened to her earlier passionate self...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060831200
• ISBN13: 9780060831202
• Release Date: February 2007
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.4" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

I Loved it!

I enjoyed this book so much for so many reasons. First of all, I really enjoyed the way the author had the character telling the story, as if we were in a room together and she was confiding in me. A little different than a normal first person voice. I enjoyed it because years ago my husband's mother introduced me to the joys of visiting antique and collectible shops. And in so many ways, I understood the character's feelings in the situation of a father finding a new family and becoming a person you are not sure you know, a child having to let go of all the material items that meant so much when they are taken by someone else after a death. But without all that, this is just a good story, one that I could not put down until I reached the end. A great read!

fun and smart

What does great literature and Antiques Roadshow have in common? More than you'd think, and definitely more than protagonist Abby Randolph bargains for. Mameve Medwed's latest Harvard-set novel is a fun and witty read that combines antique hunting, family feuds, and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. The author includes bits of literary trivia and the nuances of the antiques world in order to create a lively plot that will keep you reading well into the night. All the while, you will be rooting for Abby and her not-so-charmed life. If you are a fan of Elinor Lipman, Marian Keyes, or Jennifer Weiner, you will appreciate Medwed's humor and style.

Sheer delight!

This novel sparkles with charm and wit. It's a funny/poignant tale with an endearing main character you won't want to let go. I absolutely loved it, beginning to end.

As tasty as a coffee ice cream parfait

This novel is brilliantly funny, its characters as charming as the antiques they barter and covet. Every sentence sparkles; witness: "I look at the sign-A & C Eclectibles. I should have painted over the C when Clyde ran off with that woman whose goods he appraised a month ago. But A Eclectibles offends my grammarian's soul". At once, Medwed corrals us into Abigail Randolph's corner and there we stay to root for the protagonist throughout. We might know how it will end, but the journey is, just as Abby would order, as tasty as a coffee ice cream parfait.

Medwed's best yet!

This is most certainly her best novel yet. While the other books have all been wonderful reads, they haven't been this good. "How Elizabeth Barrett Browning Saved My Life" is easily her most ambitious book yet. The characters are realistic, engaging and never predictable. Her dialog is fantastic as always. Pick it up now!