The Crossley Baby

by Jacqueline Carey

Book Overview

Bridget, Jean, and Sunny Crossley grow up in modest circumstances on Long Island, and all end up in the New York City of the 1980s. Free spirit Bridget, the oldest, is a well-traveled, sometime... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345459911
• ISBN13: 9780345459916
• Release Date: June 2004
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

dry, wry, fun

From the reviews, I expected "The Crossley Baby'" to be yet another attack on "career women," another hymn to stayathome mothers. In fact, it's neither. Jean, the hard-driving businesswoman sister, is a wonderful comic invention -- watching her always get what she wants is fascinating, and , like the serpent in the bible, she gets all the best lines, too. Sunny, the "nice" suburban-mom sister, gets what she wants too -- but in the process she has to toughen up a bit and shed some of her illusions about what you can get with a smile. I loved Carey's dry wit--very sharply observed.

Three sisters in an amazing and touching comedy of manners

At the heart of this wonderful book are three sisters, Bridget, Jean and Sunny, all of them very different from one another. Jean is an executive on the fast track, with a biting wit and hardened, calculating side. Sunny is a mother, wife and wonderful friend to those who know her. And Bridget...is the ethereal spirit who doesn't quite seem grounded in reality. Although the book's title makes it seem as though it would focus on a baby, this isn't the case. I was absolutely riveted by this novel, which isn't so much about a baby (The Crossley Baby in the book's title) but about the various ways in which family members relate to one another and how an unexpected turn of events affect their connections, for better or worse. Beautifully well-written, with the humor, detail and depth of a classic, this is a book to be savored. While updated for today's readers, it reminded me of Jane Austin novels, creating a whole world for the reader to inhabit, complete with people that seem to jump from the pages, eccentricities and all.