Keep Your Mouth Shut and Wear Beige

by Kathleen Gilles Seidel

Book Overview

Darcy Van Aiken is doing fine, thank you. She's an ICU nurse with an "amicable" divorce from her husband Mike, two great kids, a cute little house of her own, and a prescription for Ritalin. When her older son Jeremy gets engaged, Darcy has to figure out if Rose, the bride's mother, is going to be her new best friend or the mother-in-law who insists that all future holidays be celebrated in her home.

Meanwhile Claudia, Darcy's ex-husband's...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312367759
• ISBN13: 9780312367756
• Release Date: April 2009
• Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PL
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.6" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Really interesting real life!

Like another reviewer, I have always enjoyed Kathleen Gilles Seidel's books. Unlike that reviewer, I don't miss the romance. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good romance, but when KGS writes a story, it is complete and stands on its own merits with or without romance. Such is the case with this book. The characters are real, some endearing, some not so much. Like real life, even the villain isn't totally a villain, just too self-involved to think of anyone else, and too focused on the ultimate goal to let anything get in her way. But, I digress. If you want a book about people who are interesting, whose lives you become involved with, a book that makes you want to see the best things happen for most of the characters, where the situations are totally engrossing without involving murder or mayhem, then read this book. It is great to know that good stories are still being written.

Witty insight hits the marks

The story builds gradually, with lots of intricate layers. Just when you think you've got a character figured out, there's a small (or large) surprise. Some things you see coming, but others... well, it took a great deal of effort to put the book down sometimes. I just HAD to know what was coming! The author nails her characters and is scrupulous in the details, making them very believable. Can't wait for her next one!

Realistic characters in real-life situations

Although this book started off slowly, and seemed to sit on my nightstand forever before I picked it up, once I did, I couldn't put it down. The characters are vivid and real, and the modern-day dilemmas and situtations are astonishingly real. Betsey Shpiro, Author "Queen's Hostess"

A terrifically smart and funny read

WONDERFUL book! I'm tempted to reread it immediately because I like Seidel's voice so much. The narrator, Darcy, is an ICU nurse with two sons and a fairly recent, fairly amiable divorce. Then her older son, who is graduating from college and going on to med school and his similarly directed girlfriend decide to get married--and life changes. The future daughter-in-law, Cami Zander-Brown, is really nice even though her parents have this 12 bedroom beach house in the Hamptons and tons of money. But the Zander-Browns are good people, and the family includes a medically fragile youngest child and some complicated relationships. Darcy, as mother of the groom, finds that her ex's new girlfriend, a Martha Stewartish blogging queen, wants to take over the wedding and edit out anything that isn't in Perfect Taste, and that includes Darcy. But that's just the basic set-up. Seidel is an absolute master of insightful relationships, and all the many characters are beautifully delineated. This is women's fiction at its best--as entertaining as it is thoughtful. Highly recommended.