Dinner With Anna Karenina

by Gloria Goldreich

Hot off the presses, Dinner With Anna Karenina is a story about modern friendships. We are introduced to a group of women with a passion for literature. A book club, who steer themselves away from modern choices preferred by book clubs all over, and choose to read classics. Their choices include Anna Karenina, The Lottery, and The Bell Jar, among others. These six women are all from very different walks of life. We first meet Trish, married with a daughter, on the brink of financial success with her husband. We also meet Jen, a freelance artist who grew up in terrible circumstances, and is now sharing her apartment with a care-free artist. Jen's sister Elizabeth joins the book club, and her and Jen don't always get along. Elizabeth is unhappily married with a severly autistic son, for whom treatments don't seem to be working. Donna is a dietician who grew up watching her mother slave away her life for her father. Determined to not repeat her mother's mistakes, Donna is overwhelmingly independant, casually keeping two men in her life at the same time. Then there is Rina. Rina is a single Mom who is living the life of poverty. And finally, we meet Cynthia, the ideal woman. Cynthia is a very successful business woman with beautiful twin daughters, and a husband who is a film-maker. They seem to have the idyllic life.

Until one night at book club, Cynthia reveals that she is leaving her nusband Eric, and will nto say why. And so begins the journey of these women to discover themselves and who they want to be. The shock of the perfect marriage and perfect life coming ot an end causes each woman in her own way to speculate about what could have happened. As a result, the begin to inspect every inch of theri own lives and find out some startling things along they way. They also learn more about each other, as with each meeting they become more open and more honest with each other.

So did I enjoy this novel? All told, yes I did. Immediately I was drawn into the book by the colorful writing. The announcement from Cynthia cemented that I would be reading this book in its entirety, as I was hooked, and was in a "need to know" state of mind. I enjoyed the metamorphosis of the differnet relationships among the group along the way, and the way they developed. There were some predicatable things, and some not so predictable things. There were quite a few times where I thought the story lingered too long on a flashback, or spent too long describing the way a table looked, but overall, it was a pleasant read. The book also neatly wrapped everything up, and I felt a strong sense of conclusion for these women. Personally I would have liked just a tiny bit more, as it seemed to end abruptly, but I find that a lot with novels that I read, so that may just be me.

I recommend this book to anyone who may have a group of women they get together with. Whether that be a book club, Bible study, or canasta group. I do think this is more along the lines of what I would call "chick-lit". I doubt many men would enjoy reading this particular book. While a good book, it definitely is a one-time read for me. I wouldn't rush to pick it up again, not the way one would relish the opportunity to re-read an excellent book. This was not excellent, but good and satisfying. Pick it up at your library.