In The Land of Mango Sunsets, we find one middle-aged New York socialite - Miriam Elizabeth Swanson - still bemoaning her long-divorced husband who ran off 20 years ago with a lingerie model half her age.
Protagonist Miriam is also complaining that her adult sons are busy with their own lives and that she has little more than her long history of volunteer work to prop up her by now long- fading social standing. So when she decides to rent her townhouse to a suitable tenant, she has a great deal of trouble finding one who suits her persnickety profile.
Lawsamercy, Miriam would cry - she thinks she's found the perfect tenant in Liz Harper, a college admissions administrator, when she has the following discussion with her mother.
Miriam's mother is speaking.
Excerpt:
"Oh, Miriam. Honestly, sometimes you're such a prig."
"I am not."
Mother picked up our dishes and began cleaning up. "I love you. You're my only child. Trust me. You're a prig."
I snatched the sponge, rinsed it out, squeezed it, and began wiping down the countertop.
"Thanks a lot," I said.
"Miriam? Look at you! You're at the beach and what are you wearing? A silk blouse all tidy and tucked into your wool skirt, stockings, for God's sake, little heels with Pilgrim buckles, and pearls! Girl! We have to loosen you up! You need some fun in your life."
"Kevin says the same thing, but the last time I let Fun in the front door, it was wearing a thong and cavorting with the husband of one of my friends!"
"Your new tenant?"
"You don't want to know."
"Honey, I always want to know. Don't throw those vegetables away. I compose, you know. What's her name? This hussy."
I drained the broth and scraped the vegetables into a large can by the sink. I could feel my pulse picking up speed. "Liz Harper, lately of Birmingham. So you want to hear the story?"
"I said I did, didn't I?"
'Well, she seemed like just what the doctor ordered; you know, to add a little life to my otherwise dreary existence. At least Kevin seemed to think she was perfect. I had my doubts." Just thinking about it caused me to be short of breath...
..."I hate black cook tops. And granite. Can't see a bloody thing unless you lean into the light...Anyway, I thought it was suspicious that she worked at a college in a minor position and was able to afford to live on the East Side."
"Where?" Are you all right?
"I'm perfectly fine."
"Okay. What does she do?"
"Hunter College. Something in admissions, I think. So, then she tells me she bartends for a caterer and does some Nanny work. I mean, who does that sort of work?"
"Plenty of perfectly respectable people, Miss Priss."
"Whatever. Anyhow, the next thing I know, she's got Truman Willis upstairs in the sack with her, going wild. Ka-thump, ka-thump, all night long!"
"You could hear them?"
"Yes. Kevin says I should not go crazy and throw her out."
"He's probably right."
"He says she probably didn't know Truman was married."
"He could very well be right about that, too. But you could hear them?"
"Yes. Disgusting. I mean, here I am trying with all I've got to get Agnes, his wife, to appoint me the chair of the decorations committee for the museum's spring benefit. Let me tell you, since Charles ran off with that concubine of his, it has not been easy for me to maintain my social standing."
Mother started to laugh and I looked at her like she was certifiably insane. Funny thing, she was looking at me the same way.
"What?" I said. "Tell me what you see funny about this?"
"Oh, Miriam. Sit down. Let your mother give you some advice...."
..."Do you remember how insanely busy I was when your father was alive?"
"Sure."
"I was always chairing a gala or worrying about a raffle prize or trying to sell space in an ad journal. Remember?"
"I surely do. You were the one who taught me the value of volunteerism."
"Yes and it is terribly important. But I never depended on my volunteer work to influence or improve or secure my social standing in any way."
"That's not exactly what I meant."
"Yes it is. It is exactly what you are expecting! An able-bodied person has a responsibility to give back to their community. That's just good citizenship. But it was your daddy's money that gave me a highfalutin social life and I knew it from day one. Let me ask you something. Do you really think Agnes Willis is your friend?"
"Of course, she is! We've been friends for years!" I knew in my heart that my friendship with Agnes was finito but wasn't prepared to admit it.
..."Anyway, you don't have to answer me. Just ask yourself this. If you had the flu, would she bring you soup or call to see how you were? That's what friends do."
..."What's the point, Mother?"
"The point is that social pecking order in that world is nonsense - the way women bicker over napkin folds and a centerpiece is just ridiculous. But! It is noble, even personally fulfilling, to do good works. ...But that's not all there is to life, Miriam."
"It has been the framework of my life for so many years, I don't know what I'd do without it. It's what Charles loved about me - I mean, that volunteering gave us a marvelous life beyond his work and raising the boys."
"Charles is a shallow bastard, Miriam, pardon me. If you ran the biggest charity ball in New York, do you think it would bring him back to you?"
"No."
"If you were twenty years younger and skinny as could be, do you think that would bring him back?"
...."Why are we talking about this?"
..."Because you need to put this disappointment behind you once and for all."
"I have."
"No darling girl, Mother begs to differ. ...I see my wonderful, beautiful daughter, very unhappy, clutching at straws, trying to hang on to a life that isn't worth the effort."
"...Mother? ...What am I supposed to do?"
"Easy for you to say."
...Look, this gal, Liz? Don't use your passion all up worrying about her. Life is so precious Miriam. You have to realize that this battle cannot be won. Don't waste any more time, honey. That's all."
***
...So, if someone walked into Miriam's life - what do you think she would do? What do you think she should do?
Well, someone DOES walk into Miriam's life...and you have to read the novel to find out!
***
The Land of Mango Sunsets by Dorothea Benton Frank,
published by Avon, paperback, $7.99.
Amazon is offering it for less and has used or new copies for $3.99.
Link on Amazon
ISBN-10: 0060892390
ISBN-13: 978-0060892395
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Comments: 70
I kept wondering if she had returned to a 1/4 finished book ms. and completed it without a rewrite of first part.
I could not believe that those first cardboard people could morph into those interesting, kind, throughly enjoyable characters with whom I traversed the rest of the way to the end of the book. It was just too big a miracle to be believed. Even her writer's voice seemed different to me. It didn't make me anxious to read any more of her writing. Sad, but true.
Sharon and Tracey, you, too - I am sure you will love it.
Thanks J Kaye.
Hi Samantha, thank you for stopping by.
Anyway ... it is a great review. Believe it or not I never read reviews before so yours have been something new for me and I've enjoyed it. I will try to be a little more faithful :)
Excellent review, Kathryn:)
Rose: Yeah, you might like it. I really like her dialogue. Interesting, when you read something that frees uip one's own thinking processes - this did that for me.
Marge: Thank you for enjoying.
i already felt like i was into the book... wow... cool...
Angel Glitters
Jan: Wow - that is so funny. I have only read this and Bull's Island but I know Dot has a great following. A film would be great. I would love to see that.
love your icon, btw.
I generally have stayed away from bestseller books in my life, reading only the classics - but I have branched out to bestseller books in the past couple of years. Good to divert and try something new.
Isabel, thank you.