Ladies with Options

by Cynthia Hartwick

Book Overview

The members of the Mostly Methodist Club were used to swapping recipes, not stock tips. Until a pink-haired young rebel found her way into the group and tipped them off to how fun--and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0425178234
• ISBN13: 9780425178232
• Release Date: February 2001
• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.1" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

A Cheer-Up, Feel-Good Money Comedy!

In early-'80s Minnesota, some small-town women decide they're tired of living life on the margins, so they start BUYING on margin?stocks, that is. Thanks to their pink-haired tech guru, Skye Terrell, they latch onto winners like Dell and Microsoft?and boy, do they get rich.Getting rich means the chance to turn the tables on all the bosses, neighbors and family who?ve dissed them over the years. But it also means the chance to rise above the way they've been treated, and much of the fun comes in the inventive ways the Larksdale Ladies deal with treacherous boyfriends, crooked accountants, envious husbands and, finally, the rust belt threat to their whole way of life. One of the cable networks, naming LADIES to its summer's-best reading list, called it "Bridget Jones meets the Beardstown Ladies" and that sounds pretty fair. The plot's a comic romp like an old-time screwball comedy; but the narrator, a newly-minted lawyer named Sophia Peters, has a hip, modern way of laughing at the whole world, herself included. The result is admittedly pretty light stuff (with heart), but also a very upbeat, jolly read. Perfect for chasing the summer?or winter?blues.I loved it!

Watch Out for the Larksdale Ladies

In 1983, it came to the attention of the Mostly Methodist Club, a group of eight mostly middle-aged, married Larksdale, Minnesota women that it was time to take charge of their lives. Between pensions, social security and meager savings, these ladies were looking at a pretty miserable retirement and old age. So with a little research and self teaching, they organized themselves into the Larksdale Ladies Independence Club (LLIC), put up $1500 each and carefully and cautiously began investing. But, when their youngest member, Skye, befriends a computer geek who tells her all about this amazing Seattle software company that is going to revolutionize the whole industry, they decide to buy Microsoft on opening day and the rest, as they say, is history. By 1986, the LLIC had over 1 million in their account and things were really beginning to take off for everyone..... Cynthia Hartwick has written a delightful and entertaining novel that pulls you into the story from page one and doesn't let you go until the very satisfying end of the novel. Her fast paced plot is full of great, witty writing and vivid scenes. But it's her strong, endearing and unique characters that make this novel stand out and you'll find yourself rooting for these mid-western ladies to the end as they take control of not just their financial lives, but their entire lives and make all their dreams come true. Told with insight, wisdom and laugh-out-loud humor, Ladies With Options is a winner.

The Ladies deliver!

Ladies with options is a hoot. Hartwick has created a delightful group of women, each with her own particular foibles, but who, together, make a team that accomplishes miracles. Set in a fictional small town in Minnesota,life in the Upper Midwest is described by the narrator who provides a wry, urban perspective while revealing that she, too, has her needs and dreams. Rest assured, everything works out in the end in a most satisfying fashion, but on the way we are treated to ups and downs ranging from the merely comic to the hilarious. Hartwick also peppers the narrative with a menagerie of witticisms, including a few puns that are real groaners. Suffice it to say that the book carries you from page to page, from chapter to chapter and delivers the goods all the way to the end. We want more from Cynthia!

Very much a fun book...

Imagine yourself a middle-aged housewife of a nondescript town in Minnesota. Imagine yourself being 14.5 million dollars richer."Ladies with Options" is a humerous and well-written story of a group of 4 houswifes, 2 librarians, and one grad student turning $ into a fortune enough to rival Bill Gates' on the stock market. Told from the perspective of their lawyer, and daughter of one of the housewifes, the story is both unbelievable and funny. What would you do if all of the sudden you had a couple extra million to spend at leisure? That's what the book's about, of course. The book is just so very fun to read, with a touch of romance and characters that seem real. The escapades of these ladies are hillarious. You'll be amazed at what a bunch of old ladies can do when they put their minds to it.I recommend this book to everyone. It's positively delightful, and you won't regret reading it.

Ladies Rule!

What if a group of women friends in a little mid-western town pooled their cookie-jar money and invested it in the mid-1980's stock market and secretly became millionaires? All the fun of rags to riches Cinderella transformations. And blowing husbands', families' and friends' minds. This is a hilarious, heart-warming read. A complete hoot and a joy ride. If you missed your chance to get rich then, live it now. Pick up an option on the ladies. It'll pay off big time. You'll be glad you made this investment.