Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing!
Review: "Potential" is a dangerous word; after the fact, its most common unstated implication is "unfulfilled." So, too, with MOURNING GLORY. From the title through the final page, this novel had the potential to be terrific. Like the title, the underlying premise of the story is clever. MOURNING GLORY tells of the quest of a down-on-her-luck divorcee who decides that she will find husband number two by haunting the funeral parlors of a wealthy town. She hopes that she will be able to focus in on a heartbroken widower desperate for the attention of a good woman before the other predatory women of the community can get to him. This story should have been great, it should have been funny. As it was, the novel only is distasteful. While there's nothing wrong with Mr. Adler's writing, it was odd to see a book with a 2001 pub date mention Bonwit Teller's, a New York based department store that has been out of business for about twenty years. Where was his editor? Also, "garter belts" are consistently referred to as "suspenders," and a sex toy consistently is called by a technical term that women do not use. The sole compliment that I can find for MOURNING GLORY is that, for a change, the heroine is not just some young girl with firm breasts whose worst problem is a broken fingernail. It would have been nice if the author could have offered a more thorough description of Palm Beach, where he places this novel, and which is a unique and interesting town. Finally, the sex scenes just...lie there. To compound the problem, the sex is pretty repetitive as well. Virtually any of the female romance writers do better with these episodes. Anyone who wants to read a juicy romance should buy something by Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Nora Roberts, Elizabeth Lowell, Rachel Gibson, Jane Graves. There is a vast group of authors who do a superior job with this type of story.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Potential
Review: "Potential" is a dangerous word; after the fact, its most common unstated implication is "unfulfilled." So, too, with MOURNING GLORY. From the title through the final page, this novel had the potential to be terrific. Like the title, the underlying premise of the story is clever. MOURNING GLORY tells of the quest of a down-on-her-luck divorcee who decides that she will find husband number two by haunting the funeral parlors of a wealthy town. She hopes that she will be able to focus in on a heartbroken widower desperate for the attention of a good woman before the other predatory women of the community can get to him. This story should have been great, it should have been funny. As it was, the novel only is distasteful. While there's nothing wrong with Mr. Adler's writing, it was odd to see a book with a 2001 pub date mention Bonwit Teller's, a New York based department store that has been out of business for about twenty years. Where was his editor? Also, "garter belts" are consistently referred to as "suspenders," and a sex toy consistently is called by a technical term that women do not use. The sole compliment that I can find for MOURNING GLORY is that, for a change, the heroine is not just some young girl with firm breasts whose worst problem is a broken fingernail. It would have been nice if the author could have offered a more thorough description of Palm Beach, where he places this novel, and which is a unique and interesting town. Finally, the sex scenes just...lie there. To compound the problem, the sex is pretty repetitive as well. Virtually any of the female romance writers do better with these episodes. Anyone who wants to read a juicy romance should buy something by Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Nora Roberts, Elizabeth Lowell, Rachel Gibson, Jane Graves. There is a vast group of authors who do a superior job with this type of story.
Rating: 
Summary: Insightful and Full of Irony
Review: Adler is up to his old tricks ala The War of the Roses and Random Hearts. Mourning Glory is funny, insightful and full of irony. I really liked Grace Sorentino and admired her fighting spirit in the face of so much trouble. And who doesn't try to reinvent themselves to better their position. I really thought Mr. Adler outdid himself in Mourning Glory and I feel comfortable about recommending it to anyone.
Rating: 
Summary: Good for single mothers
Review: As a mother of two daughters, I enjoy reading stories and novels about fellow mothers coping with their young. Which is one reason why I loved Warren Adler's new novel "Mourning Glory." But there are several more! Second reason: great plot premise. What is it, you ask? Grace Sorentino, resident of Palm Beach, Florida, and recently fired from her job at Saks Fifth Avenue, is a smart, attractive woman on the prowl for a rich man to call her own. And her hunting ground? Funerals of the wealthy. The plot immediately had me hooked. I was tired of the same old, bored, tired plot. And it's not often that the main character of a contemporary romance is middle-aged. Attractive and sexy, yes, but starting to wrinkle a bit and sag in all the wrong places. Third reason: great characters. Adler seems to have a lot of insight into the female psyche, as I found all of his characters completely believable, very real and human. The rocky relationship between Grace and her daughter Jackie added a great family dynamic to the novel, and made for some of "Mourning Glory"'s most heart-wrenching yet best moments. And last but not least: interesting commentary on relationships, truth, and true love. How does Grace cope with the fact that the man she loves is unaware of her devious plot to snare him? And how does Sam, Grace's "target," handle the truth when and if he learns it? "Mourning Glory" has all that you could want in one novel and more. I loved it, and I think you will too.
Rating:
Summary: Fast-paced and Suspenseful!
Review: As an avid reader of novels, I brought Mourning Glory with me on a trip to Venice thinking I would read it around the pool of the Cipriani. Instead I made the mistake of opening it at the beginning of my plane ride from Cincinnati only to find that I was immediately hooked and never closed my eyes through the entire trip causing me no end of jet lag in Venice. This novel has everything, humor, pathos and intrigue. Mr. Adler creates real complex human beings, throws them together with panache and suspense and forces on to turn the pages. Thankfully, the characters like Grace Sorentino the heroine of this novel linger in the mind long after the story has ended. The fact is that I read it again on the trip back and was even more fascinated as I discovered more interesting facets of the lives of the characters. I never write my thoughts about a novel, but this time I just had to register my opinion. I'm sure any reader of this book will agree with my assessment.
Rating:
Summary: Mourning Glory
Review: Got as far as page 50 and figured life was too precious to waste on a woman who would have such a horrible daughter and let that horrible daughter and her horrible boy friend treat her and speak to her like that. I am usually pretty patient with a book but this one just grossed me out.
Rating:
Summary: When does the movie come out?
Review: I can't wait for the movie. I loved The War of the Roses and Random Hearts, both adaptations of Mr. Adler's books, but this novel should be even better. I see Michel Pfeifer as the mother and Sean Connery as the mark she goes after. What great roles for both of them. Mourning Glory was a great read, although the sexy parts were pretty raunchy. But then, sex is part of life. I had a ball with this book.
Rating:
Summary: A great and engrossing summer read!
Review: I consider myself to be a reader of discriminating and eclectic tastes. Favorite authors? James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway, Anton Chekhov, Agatha Christie, John Irving (and even Jude Deveraux, I guiltily admit). Recently, I've added Warren Adler to that list! Granted, he definitely is no Hemingway in terms of talent and lasting literary value, but he knows how to write an engrossing read. He's not very well-known (he seems to have been more popular in the 70s and 80s), but definitely should be! One of his old novels, "The War of the Roses," somehow managed to find its way into my family's bookshelves, and, bored one day this summer, I decided to pick it up. I didn't expect much, and so I was very pleasantly surprised. I couldn't put it down; it was a fascinating story of the worst divorce imaginable and a great read. So I decided to try some of his other novels, and bought the ebook of "Mourning Glory." The great plot is what hooked me in at first. It's about an attractive Palm Beach woman in her thirties Grace Sorentino who is fired from her job at Saks, and, with little money and a teenage daughter who wants the better things in life, devises a plan to lure a rich widower to her side. By going to funerals of their recently deceased wives, of all things! Of course, things don't quite turn out as planned (she didn't factor falling in love with her prey into the equation) and Grace, the heroine of the novel, must deal with the consequences. "Mourning Glory" has romance, humor, drama, a wonderful portrayal of a mother-daughter relationship, and even steamy sex scenes to spice things up a bit. Not to mention a neo-Nazi skinhead! Adler, an older middle-aged man, somehow manages to make his two main female characters, Grace and her daughter, very real and vibrant, and he really seems to have a lot of insight into the female mind and psyche. I liked the fact that Adler wrote about people with flaws, whose lives were far from perfect but whom you empathized with because of those flaws. "Mourning Glory" is definitely not your typical romance, and it was refreshing! I would've liked more development of the daughter Jackie, however. She was a very interesting character, in my opinion, and more on her teenage, tortured soul would've been welcome. But I'm being very nitpicky there! There's not much to complain about. In short, if you're looking for a great and fast-paced read that would be perfect on a summer vacation or on the beach, or anywhere really, you can't go wrong with "Mourning Glory" by Warren Adler. Adler has his own website http://www.warrenadler.com with more information on "Mourning Glory" and his other novels.
Rating:
Summary: don't get other folks ++ review
Review: I got this book in audiobook, which should be really easy to take. It was not. The book is full of overly sentimental sentiments, old-fashioned ideas about male and females roles and relationship, and corny lines. It's plays on the couple's explicit sex life until I start to say "who cares." And, it goes on and on and on--ad nauseum about how guilty the lead character feels. Okay, okay, I get it. I could not even finish the story--and again, it was a book on tape.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Summer Read! Maddening and Profound!
Review: I had never read any of Mr. Adler's book before picking up Mourning Glory. I did, however, see the movie The War of the Roses, an adaptation of one of his earlier books. I didn't know what I had missed. Mourning Glory had me hooked immediately. What I liked the most, aside from the great dialogue and fast paced reading, was the way in which Mr. Adler weaved this tale of one woman's fight to rise from the depths by finding a wealthy widow. The fact is that I am an ardent feminist and believe that a woman must seek independence on her own and not be dependent on any man's bounty. At first I was offended by Grace Sorentino's cynical approach to the method by which she chose to save herself and her dysfunctional daughter. Then I bonded with her and understood both her plight and the method she chose. This is the story of survival and in the end I cheered Grace on and understood how she might take this step. I am curious how other ardent feminists like myself might react to this story, which I found both maddening and profound.
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