"A good mainstream romance"

In Connecticut fortyish Emily Hudson leads a fulfilling life as an oil painter with some success and as the mother of four children. So why does the demand of middle class suburban living leave Emily feeling vapid and empty? Her relief from her unhappy thoughts is not in her oil painting or her spouse of two decades Peter. Instead she dreams of her first love James Moran when they shared their own New England summer of love thirty years ago.

Though married with an adopted daughter in Mobile, Jimmy Moran wonders more and more on what might have happened if he did not go to Nam back in 1967. Via the Internet, Emily finds Jimmy and gets in touch with him. They agree to meet in Washington, DC using the pretense of paintings on Vietnam, but both know that they need to see whether the love they felt as teens still exist between them. Both suspect that they were always meant for one another.

Any individual who enjoys a rich relationship drama will fully relish Stephanie Gertler's tremendous tale JIMMY'S GIRL. The story line alternates chapters between Jimmy and Emily point of view without disrupting the flow of the novel. Instead the reader receives a deep "he feels, she feels" tale loaded with a robust authentic- feeling support cast. Ms. Gertler's novel is obviously an immensely enjoyable read for sub-genre fans. However, business majors will find enlightening the seemingly simple choices for the lead couple to decide upon are actually complexly compounded by the impact on everyone in their sphere.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted January 6, 2002