The Ivy Chronicles

by Karen Quinn

Book Overview

When turbocharged Park Avenue mom Ivy Ames finds that she's been downsized from her platinum-card corporate job and her marriage, she swiftly realizes that she's going to need a whole new way to support herself and her two private-school daughters. So she dreams up a new business, helping upscale New Yorkers get their little darlings into the most exclusive kindergartens in the city. What begins as one woman's bid to earn a living becomes an everywoman's...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0452287227
• ISBN13: 9780452287228
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: Plume Books
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 2.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.4" x 8.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Hysterical! Good soul food for Moms who worry about worrying!

I picked this book up because it was in the clearance rack - and absolutely ADORED it! I read the entire book in a bit more than a day - which is no small feat for a full-time working-out-of-the-home mother. Parts of this book had me laughing out loud, while others had me cheering Ivy on through her struggle with life, money, principles and motherhood. A thoroughly enjoyable book!

So much fun even if you don't live in NYC.

As a Kindergarten teacher and new Mom, I found this book great. I don't live in NYC but still enjoyed reading this. It is funny and imaginative.

I might be biased...

Maybe it's because I work in an admission office at a secondary school, but I completely adored this book. I laughed out loud and couldn't turn the pages quickly enough. Karen Quinn has a real gem here. Her characters were hilarious, especially Ivy Ames herself. Some of the things in this book aren't as far off as those foreign to the world of prep school parents might imagine. As I got further in the novel, I came into work brimming over with the stories, to which many of my colleagues and I could relate. Overall, I thought The Ivy Chronicles was funny and well written.

Hilarious social satire, especially with this narrator

I listen to samples of new audiobooks even when not interested, just to see what is being listened to; the description of this book had not interested me but the short snippet completely hooked me and I bought it instantly - it is so funny and smart. I don't usually listen to fiction, but this was outstanding. Set in the upper echelons of NY society (or a fictional one, anyway, how would I know?) the social lampooning is so much fun. Also as an American living abroad it makes me feel closer to various things that are happening in US society. Fun!

A hilarious page-turner!

The IVY CHRONICLES is an absolutely delightful, hilarious page-turner that I finished in one cross country flight. Despite my intense need for sleep, I could not put this book down because I had to know what would happen next. This gem of a book is right up there with THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, NANNY DIARIES and THE RIGHT ADDRESS. It gives readers a peek into the outrageously juicy lives of the ultra-rich, ultra competitive Park Avenue crowd. To say Ivy is having a bad day would be a gross understatement. In one day, she loses her job and her husband in the worst of ways. She gives up her cushy lifestyle, moves downtown and starts a consulting business for parents who are trying to get their kids into Manhattan's most elite private kindergartens. The wacky cast of parents is what makes this book laugh-out-loud hilarious. Ivy's personal transformation and growth are what keep it a compelling story. The combination of the two results in a knock-out of a book for Karen Quinn.