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SEDUCING HARRY, by award-winning humor columnist Judith Marks-White, is aptly named. This sweet, frothy crème brulee of a novel is as smoothly seductive as they come. From the opening chapter --- indeed the very first line --- SEDUCING HARRY inundates readers' senses, displaying tantalizing images of mouth-watering delicacies, designer clothing, luxurious country houses, delectable men and dishy women. This is all presented through the unflinching gaze and playful voice of Coco Plotnick Hollander Harding, an epicurean with an insatiable appetite for not only the pleasures of the palate but of the flesh as well.
Coco's unabashed desire for a man whose cravings and passions match her own propel the plot as she finds herself languishing in her marriage to Parker --- he of the predictable "prix fix" lovemaking style and lusting for Harry, "Plastic Surgeon to the Stars" and an ardent foodie whose fervent desires reveal an "a la carte" preference both at the table and (Coco is sure) in the bedroom. Sparks fly between Coco and Harry from their first meeting at a "Chaine des Rotisseurs Vegetarian Banquet," and after much verbal innuendo their fate is all but sealed. Unfortunately for Coco (but fortunately for the reader), Harry is married to the narcissistic Eclaire, a woman whose looks have been nipped and tucked and whose waxy façade seems to have penetrated her skull and frozen her brain.
Eclaire is one of the many peripheral characters whose delightful quirks and delicious neurosis readers will devour. From Coco's femme fatale of a mother to Parker's WASP train wreck of a sister, the bit players of SEDUCING HARRY are by no means relegated to sideline appearances and clichéd personas --- they are the stars of the show in their own mind and they dominate the pages they flit across.
The name-brand New York City restaurants at which Harry and Coco dine also should be billed as supporting characters. Renowned haunts such as "Café Des Artistes," "Lupa" and "Café Grey" serve as a kind of culinary foreplay to Harry and Coco's evening activities. They consume elaborate dishes and sinful desserts with almost as much ardor as they devote to each other.
Interspersed between Coco and Harry's increasingly heady tango are essays that Coco, a newly-minted humorist for Connecticut's Seaport Gazette, has published. Readers will enjoy this narrative technique as it serves to give a fuller sense of Coco herself --- rounding her out by imbuing her character with both analytical aptitude and a droll sense of humor. The essays themselves are cleverly placed and never jarring; instead they often serve to give context to the preceding chapter. I found Coco's mother-driven missives ("Letters to a Newly Married Daughter," "My Mother the Siren") particularly engaging. Other readers may prefer the pieces that demonstrate Coco's satirical flair for marital issues ("King of the Clicker") and cuisine-inspired musings ("My Years of Eating Dangerously").
For many readers these little interspersions may prove a refreshing (and necessary) palate cleanser. SEDUCING HARRY begs to be devoured in a manner akin to an extravagant seven-course feast --- consumed in one sitting, without pause --- and all the lusty descriptions of food and sex may prove overwhelming for those unaccustomed to such an overload of sensual stimulation.
As Harry and Coco's relationship moves past the stage of less-than-innocent flirtation combined with a few furtive kisses to a full-blown, madcap and potentially disastrous affair, the tone of the novel begins to resemble less a sweet and creamy French dessert and more an appetizer of chilled fresh oysters --- raw, salty, sexy and serious. While the sex is never devoid of humor, readers may find themselves blushing through their chuckles. Moreover, the delightful nature of Coco's character renders it hard not to get caught up in her fantasies and root for her and Harry. Yet the rasher she and Harry become, the more palpable the sense of foreboding to the point that, when Parker receives a letter informing him of an "indiscretion between two parties close to (him)," readers will not be particularly surprised.
Luckily, despite the serious turn of events, the novel, much like Coco, never loses its élan, its flair and --- most importantly --- its sense of humor. Marks-White has a few deliciously unexpected twists and turns up her sleeve, the revealing of which throws both Coco and the reader for a loop, yet we never lose faith in our peccadillo-ridden protagonist.
Coco recalls fondly her youthful days spent being the "neighborhood scamp," and her impish pluckiness serves her well. Much of the delight of reading SEDUCING HARRY is the proximity with which it brings us to Coco. Fully engaging from the very first line, Coco keeps her head held high as she navigates the choppy waters of secrets revealed and scandals uncovered. Readers will never doubt for a second, though, that she will not emerge unscathed --- a bit wiser, perhaps, but with a newly whetted appetite for more.
--- Reviewed by Jen Krieger
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