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This is exactly the kind of book I've always wanted to write. THE GOOD PEOPLE OF NEW
YORK, the first novel by short story writer Thisbe Nissen (OUT OF THE GIRL'S ROOM AND INTO
THE DARK), is a delightful, funny, moving and very real story about one woman, one man,
and the daughter they bring into the world --- and the everyday lives they lead. It may
not sound like much, but it's a universe of a book that will unleash a torrent of wonder
and joy into the lives of everybody who reads it.
Roz Rosenzweig meets Edwin Anderson and they marry. They have an irrepressible daughter
named Miranda. They have good times, they have bad times. And Nissen, with her acute eye
for the little things that make people who they are and her compassionate and open heart,
brings every nuance of their relationship and existence into heartbreaking focus. I
couldn't put this book down and I don't want to tell you much about the plot, because
every turn of the page brings another experience that you will both relate to and be
surprised by.
The way the story builds is so natural that you feel as if you are sitting down with an
old friend from high school, someone you haven't seen in ages, who decides to spill their
guts to you over a long autumn afternoon lunch, sparing you no details. THE GOOD PEOPLE OF
NEW YORK is about good people, flawed people, real people who are entirely entertaining
and compelling characters. Thisbe Nissen has a crystal ball of a voice that lets her into
the tiny fibers of a character's being --- she is a contemporary Edith Wharton, walking
that fine line between judgment and storytelling, filling in the blanks without being a
Miss Smarty Pants. She is a considerate and talented writer.
I could go on and on with nice adjectives about Nissen's writing, as alive and
entertaining as it is. Life is a wild ride, and Nissen throws us on, strapping us in for
the journey, making sure that we care about these characters as much as she obviously
does. And we do. THE GOOD PEOPLE OF NEW YORK becomes the best first novel I've read in
years.
--- Reviewed by Jana Siciliano
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