This modern-day Sense and Sensibility is a witty story about two sisters: Liza, a would-be poet who spends miserable days as a legal secretary; and Bette a graduate student writing her dissertation on Toast in the English Novel. Bette has taken to eating only what the characters she is writing about would eat: boiled eggs on toast, mincemeat, nice cups of tea...Liza's a bit concerned. She's also worried about the status of her relationship with her actor boyfriend, Gregor. Then there's the issue of Liza's career, or lack thereof. Can dog-walking be considered a vocation? Liza's beginning to think so. Mercifully, Bette is merely a local phone call away.
Throughout this hilarious novel, the sisters deal with unemployment, infidelity, interfering parents, Hollywood, lemmings, a pregnancy, and a wedding. The Perfect Elizabeth is as indulgent and cathartic as a pint of Haagen-Dazs.
From Publishers Weekly
Composed of crisp, crumpet-sized snapshots, Schmais's winning romantic comedy tells the story of 30-something New York City sisters Eliza and Bette Ferber, who, when viewed as a composite, become the eponymously perfect Elizabeth. Eliza, otherwise known as Liza, a legal secretary who writes poetry on the side, has grown tired of her monotonous job and the commitment-phobic attitude of her actor boyfriend, Gregor. Meanwhile, academic-minded Bette has immersed herself in her dissertation on comfort foods in the English novel. Worried that Bette will become like one of the lonely characters in the books she reads, Eliza embarks the duo on a round of singles parties and pilgrimages to a laptop-toting Jewish matchmaker in Queens. Astoundingly, the sisters' wildest dreams come true: Bette meets a fabulous man named Lawrence who likes Jane Austen and hates roller blades, while Liza quits her job and moves in with Gregor. But although though everything Liza thought she wanted is falling into place, she still can't relax. Will walking some dogs, taking up astrology, waitressing in a coffee shop, taking dance classes, going to L.A. or writing a children's story help? The Ferber sisters have a charming propensity for viewing the world through Masterpiece Theatre-tinted glasses, and readers will enjoy following their attempts to stop shooting for perfection and to learn to accept plain old happiness.
From Library Journal
This absorbing first novel by a medical librarian is a contemporary Sense and Sensibility set in Manhattan and Southern California. A comedy of manners complete with happy ending, the book features sisters Liza and Bette, five years apart, who notice that their names are both diminutives of Elizabeth. The author cleverly satirizes the cold rationality of Sixties radicals, the ruthlessness of type-A supervisors, and the luxuriously vapid lifestyle of Bette as a Hollywood homemaker. Even readers who have nothing in common with the sisters will get plenty of laughs.
"Schmais whips up a luscious, frothy tale of Gen-X love...Unlike Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones, these sisters aren't over the top. They're very much the girls next door...The Perfect Elizabeth is the kind of book women will read, then tuck into the shoulder bag of their closest friend or officemate." --USA Today
"Refreshing...A delightful first novel that is personal but ddoesn't beg for pity or inspire pathos...Anyone who has ever been of two (or more) minds about something, occasionally feels small in a big world, wonders what it means to be a family,or struggled with forgiveness will enjoy this nifty little book." --Associated Press
Genre: Literary Fiction
Throughout this hilarious novel, the sisters deal with unemployment, infidelity, interfering parents, Hollywood, lemmings, a pregnancy, and a wedding. The Perfect Elizabeth is as indulgent and cathartic as a pint of Haagen-Dazs.
From Publishers Weekly
Composed of crisp, crumpet-sized snapshots, Schmais's winning romantic comedy tells the story of 30-something New York City sisters Eliza and Bette Ferber, who, when viewed as a composite, become the eponymously perfect Elizabeth. Eliza, otherwise known as Liza, a legal secretary who writes poetry on the side, has grown tired of her monotonous job and the commitment-phobic attitude of her actor boyfriend, Gregor. Meanwhile, academic-minded Bette has immersed herself in her dissertation on comfort foods in the English novel. Worried that Bette will become like one of the lonely characters in the books she reads, Eliza embarks the duo on a round of singles parties and pilgrimages to a laptop-toting Jewish matchmaker in Queens. Astoundingly, the sisters' wildest dreams come true: Bette meets a fabulous man named Lawrence who likes Jane Austen and hates roller blades, while Liza quits her job and moves in with Gregor. But although though everything Liza thought she wanted is falling into place, she still can't relax. Will walking some dogs, taking up astrology, waitressing in a coffee shop, taking dance classes, going to L.A. or writing a children's story help? The Ferber sisters have a charming propensity for viewing the world through Masterpiece Theatre-tinted glasses, and readers will enjoy following their attempts to stop shooting for perfection and to learn to accept plain old happiness.
From Library Journal
This absorbing first novel by a medical librarian is a contemporary Sense and Sensibility set in Manhattan and Southern California. A comedy of manners complete with happy ending, the book features sisters Liza and Bette, five years apart, who notice that their names are both diminutives of Elizabeth. The author cleverly satirizes the cold rationality of Sixties radicals, the ruthlessness of type-A supervisors, and the luxuriously vapid lifestyle of Bette as a Hollywood homemaker. Even readers who have nothing in common with the sisters will get plenty of laughs.
"Schmais whips up a luscious, frothy tale of Gen-X love...Unlike Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones, these sisters aren't over the top. They're very much the girls next door...The Perfect Elizabeth is the kind of book women will read, then tuck into the shoulder bag of their closest friend or officemate." --USA Today
"Refreshing...A delightful first novel that is personal but ddoesn't beg for pity or inspire pathos...Anyone who has ever been of two (or more) minds about something, occasionally feels small in a big world, wonders what it means to be a family,or struggled with forgiveness will enjoy this nifty little book." --Associated Press
Genre: Literary Fiction
Used availability for Libby Schmais's The Perfect Elizabeth