Rating: 
Summary: delightful and charming
Review: Author Paula Cohen has created a memorable cast of characters in this, her first novel. Because the story is based on Austen's Pride and Prejudice, the fate of its characters is hardly a mystery, but Cohen has a sharp eye, writes with charm and humor, and has transported Austen's classic plot to a very entertaining setting -- the senior centers of Boca Raton, FL.Three friends -- May, Flo andLila -- reside at Boca Festa, and during the course of the book they each experience romance -- with complications. Even smaller characters are written with complexity and fun. This was a very entertaining read and I was sorry to see the end of these characters.
Rating:
Summary: delightful and charming
Review: Author Paula Cohen has created a memorable cast of characters in this, her first novel. Because the story is based on Austen's Pride and Prejudice, the fate of its characters is hardly a mystery, but Cohen has a sharp eye, writes with charm and humor, and has transported Austen's classic plot to a very entertaining setting -- the senior centers of Boca Raton, FL. Three friends -- May, Flo andLila -- reside at Boca Festa, and during the course of the book they each experience romance -- with complications. Even smaller characters are written with complexity and fun. This was a very entertaining read and I was sorry to see the end of these characters.
Rating:
Summary: Structure and Style in Boca
Review: Cohen adapts Pride and Prejudice to the senior set living in Boca Raton with wit, a keen eye for manners and customs, and a great sense of the rhythms of language and life one encounters there. The characters show why Austen's observations about human nature are timeless, and Cohen embodies in them the qualities of the Bennett sisters, post-menopause. Most impressive is the novel's structure, which brings the characters together--and to some self-realizations--in a formal discussion of Austen herself in one of Boca's retirement communities. The book, while mildly, often hilariously satiric, brims with a generosity of spirit and deep understanding of the generation of septuagenarian Jews and their offspring. Satisfying reading for anyone who enjoys novels of manners, Jane Austen, or finely wrought observations of life in ethnic communities.
Rating:
Summary: Delightful
Review: Here is literary fiction of the most charming variety. That the storyline is patterned after Pride and Prejudice's will in no way impede your enjoyment or desire to know what will happen to this work's three sympathetic heroines. Diane Johnson, Susan Isaacs, Elinor Lippman: watch your backs.
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous fluff
Review: I "saved" this book to read on the beach in FLorida. Perfect. I kept interrupting my husband's sunbathing by reading hysterical portions aloud. I grew up in the area of Northern New Jersey where some of the action takes place -- my only quips are that New Jerseyans NEVER refer to the state as "Jersey," and The Short Hills Mall ALWAYS takes a capital "M" in mall. Please! The author has a wonderful insight into several generations of New York area Jewish society -- things that I often thought about but never articulated appear on every page! I am a huge fan of Jane Austen (and her adaptors!) and put this almost right up there alongside Bridget Jones' Diary. I wanted to know more about Stan Jacobs, but hey, we never really get into knowing much about Darcy either! I've sent two copies out already -- one to a childhood friend with parents in Boca and another to a beloved aunt.
Rating:
Summary: Oy! I loved it!
Review: I could not put this book down and read it in one weekend. My mom lives in Boca and I could picture and hear each scene succinctly. I am sending her the book and insisted she read it and pass it along to her friends in Century Village (which isn't as fancy as Boca Festa or Broken Arrow)!
Rating:
Summary: extremely entertaining
Review: I judge a book by how much it entertains me, and this one delivers the goods. It characterizes typically Jewish style behavior, with some humorous exaggeration, without the negative caricature style of Philip Roth, etc. and best of all, puts a positive and humorous twist on it. The only limitation is that probably only a certain audience would appreciate the nuances of behavior. Life is grim enough; I enjoy books with substance, but also with humor and hopefulness. If you liked this book, another great book along these lines is Julie and Romeo. This book was a twist on Pride and Prejudice; Julie and Romeo is a twist on, you guesse dit, Romeo and Juliet, with humor and without heartbreak.
Rating:
Summary: extremely entertaining
Review: I judge a book by how much it entertains me, and this one delivers the goods. It characterizes typically Jewish style behavior, with some humorous exaggeration, without the negative caricature style of Philip Roth, etc. and best of all, puts a positive and humorous twist on it. The only limitation is that probably only a certain audience would appreciate the nuances of behavior. Life is grim enough; I enjoy books with substance, but also with humor and hopefulness. If you liked this book, another great book along these lines is Julie and Romeo. This book was a twist on Pride and Prejudice; Julie and Romeo is a twist on, you guesse dit, Romeo and Juliet, with humor and without heartbreak.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing Waste of Money
Review: I positively LOVED this book ... so much so that I purchased several copies for friends as gifts. Anyone who's ever A) been to Florida, B) or New Jersey, C) worried about an older widowed Mom or Dad, or D) has ever been inside any nursing home will LOVE this book. Well written, fast moving, and a very sweet and unexpected love story ~~ AND remarkably true to the plot of Austen's "Pride and Prejudice." You'll knock it off in a weekend, and laugh your a** off at all of the very familiar characters. A fabulous "on the plane" or "vacation" novel. Enjoy!!
Rating:
Summary: Not just a "chick book" ... it's a GREAT read!
Review: I positively LOVED this book ... so much so that I purchased several copies for friends as gifts. Anyone who's ever A) been to Florida, B) or New Jersey, C) worried about an older widowed Mom or Dad, or D) has ever been inside any nursing home will LOVE this book. Well written, fast moving, and a very sweet and unexpected love story ~~ AND remarkably true to the plot of Austen's "Pride and Prejudice." You'll knock it off in a weekend, and laugh your a** off at all of the very familiar characters. A fabulous "on the plane" or "vacation" novel. Enjoy!!
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