What Nora Knew

October 28, 2013
Yellin’s second novel (after Such a Lovely Couple) is a roller-coaster of a romp about a writer careening through love and work in Manhattan as she nears 40. Molly Hallberg is divorced, dating a chiropractor, and writing colorful pieces for the Web site EyeSpy. She’s both settled and restless. Her editor assigns her to write a Nora Ephron–style piece on New York romance—an intimidating prospect for any writer. At a party, she meets bestselling author and ladies’ man Cameron Duncan, who gets under her skin and challenges her ideas about love and longevity. Molly maneuvers through all of this with the help of quirky coworkers, loyal best friends, and an affectionate, if odd, family. Ephron’s influence is felt everywhere in this novel, from Sleepless in Seattle references to the emphasis on the need to make grand gestures. However, Yellin manages to make her familiar premise and characters seem fresh and fun. Any woman in the heroine’s age range who’s lived in New York will both laugh and wince at the accuracy of Yellin’s details. Those who want to live in New York can hang on for a fun ride. Agent: Gail Hochman, Brandt and Hochman.

November 15, 2013
When an online magazine writer is assigned an article about love, she tries--and fails--to emulate Nora Ephron but ends up starring in her own romance. Molly Hallberg's a divorced writer who'd rather do anything than end up working in her family's upholstery business--and she has. Employed by EyeSpy, an online magazine, she's chomping at the bit to get her own column and tries to prove her worth with her latest assignment, a piece about romance with a Nora Ephron slant. But Molly's the penultimate cynic, and researching the article's a struggle. She shares her life with a few close friends, a slightly eccentric but supportive family and a bland chiropractor boyfriend, Russell, who doesn't exactly set off any bells and whistles where Molly's concerned, but he's reliable. Molly spends three weeks interviewing people: strangers in Central Park, customers at Tiffany's, clients at a speed dating get-together and guests at her friend's posh party in the Hamptons. It's there that she meets celebrated author Cameron Duncan, and she's pretty sure he's a self-serving egotist. Although she fails miserably with the assignment, Molly runs into Cameron at almost every turn and verbally jousts with him about the nature of romance. Meanwhile, Molly's clinging to her comfortable relationship and researching some pretty crazy assignments that have her leaping out of planes, bicycling around New York City and sneaking well-disguised vibrators past security checkpoints. And as she watches classic Ephron movies for the zillionth time, she stubbornly continues to ignore the obvious--until her dreams begin to come true. Yellin's (The Last Blind Date, 2011, etc.) tribute is lighthearted amusement, a witty and entertaining story that holds no surprises but has plenty of laughable moments. She puts readers at ease with her comfortable writing style as she takes them on a whirlwind tour of New York from an ambitious and single female writer's point of view. Funny, fresh and written with flair.

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