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    Mercury in Retrograde: A Novel
    Mercury in Retrograde: A Novel
    Mercury in Retrograde: A Novel
    Audiobook7 hours

    Mercury in Retrograde: A Novel

    Written by Paula Froelich

    Narrated by Marguerite Gavin

    3/5

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    About this audiobook

    Penelope Mercury, an intrepid reporter at the New York Telegraph, has pounded the pavement for five years from city borough to borough, carrying out her boss's eccentric orders to break stories that seem inconsequential to everyone but him. Finally, she is inches away from being promoted to her dream job-covering courtroom drama for the paper-but after one spectacularly disastrous day, she is fired instead.

    Lena "Lipstick Carcrash" Lippencrass has a pretty fabulous life, even by a socialite's standards, as top editor at the high fashion magazine Y. Long lunches with her girlfriends and afternoons spent shopping at Bergdorf's are all in a day's work. But when her indulgent parents abruptly cut off her cash flow and kick her out of her beloved West Village duplex because she refuses to work for the family business, Lena is forced to confront the reality of what it takes to pay the bills.

    Dana Gluck, a workaholic lawyer, had been married for two years to a man who was perfect on paper but increasingly critical in reality. She hoped that her dreams of motherhood would be fulfilled soon, which surely would also fix their marriage problems. Instead, her husband leaves her for an exchange student/model who, to make matters worse, promptly gets pregnant.

    When fate conspires to have these three very different women move into the same SoHo apartment building, they soon discover that having their carefully planned lives fall to pieces might be the best thing that could have ever happened to them.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateSep 28, 2009
    ISBN9781400183807
    Author

    Paula Froelich

    The deputy editor for the New York Post's Page Six column, Paula lives in New York City. Mercury in Retrograde is her first novel.

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    Reviews for Mercury in Retrograde

    3/5

    52 ratings11 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Cute story, made me laugh at times.
    • 4/5
      A fun, lighthearted story of three ladies trying to make it in the big city. I really enjoyed it:)
    • 4/5
      It's basically SEX AND THE CITY on a budget. Three girls, a journalist, a lawyer, and a socialite find themselves in quite the position when MERCURY GOES INTO RETROGRADE causing all of the girls lose their way a bit (and money) and have to move into a four story walk up in SoHo. These characters are amazingly well crafted, with many laugh out loud moments... I just wish that there were more sexy moments. Overall, this is the perfect first episode of a television series...
    • 3/5
      This fun story focuses on three young women who live in the same apartment building in New York city. There lives are in chaos of one form or another. Dana Gluck is a divorced workaholic lawyer who is having difficulty in getting on with her social life but is very successful professionally. Other than work, the only place she ever goes is to Weight Watchers meetings. Penelope Mercury is a newspaper reporter who starts a fire in her workplace, and unexpectedly quits her job. She is running out of money to pay her bills. Another character, Lena Lippencrass, (nicknamed Lipstick) is a wealthy socialite who has been cut off from her parents money and has to learn to make it on her meager fashion editor's wage. One of her main dilemmas is how to afford the designer dresses that she needs to wear to the society events that she has to cover for her magazine. These three become friends over yoga lessons in Dana's apartment and help each other through the time of transition.This light chick lit was funny, quick and easy to read. The writing was clear and smooth in the transitions back and forth between the different characters. Paula Froelich has been very creative with some of the ludicrous situations that these characters find themselves in. She keeps her readers interested with lots going on in a short space of time. As a comic look at life's various problems, Mercury In Retrograde is a success. Reading about the characters bumbling mistakes makes an entertaining way to escape from your own. So long as you take it for what it is intended I don't see why anyone would be disappointed. The coincidental forces that seemed to ruin the characters happiness in the beginning of the novel end up granting them (and us) satisfyingly happy endings.
    • 3/5
      Mercury in Retrograde focuses on three women in their late-twenties who live in the same brownstone in SoHo. Though quite different, the women find some commonalities and become friends. Having been a reporter New York Post’s Page Six, author Paula Froelich colorfully details the lives of these young women, especially the socialite and newspaper/ television reporter. Penelope Mercury is a beat reporter at New York Telegraph. She has worked there for five years and has her eye on a court reporter position. When she gets overlooked for a newer reporter, she quits and ends up working for a cable television station. Her jobs take on a ridiculous quality very much like Bridget Jones [reporting in her underwear for national underwear day] but Penelope works hard and keeps at it to prove that she can persevere. Lena “Lipstick” Lippencrass is a socialite and editor at a fashion magazine, where she covers the socialite scene. When her parents suddenly cut her off, she must make do on a pittance of a salary and moves to SoHo. Soon she starts to design her own clothes by re-working her own wardrobe. This garners much attention. Finally, living in the penthouse, is successful attorney Dana Gluck. Dana is recently divorced and thirty pounds overweight. All three girls come together due to a mutual gay friend and private yoga classes at Dana’s apartment. The young women learn from each other and start to see themselves for who they truly are on the inside not outside. In developing this unlikely friendship, the three women find strength to make changes in their lives. While Mercury in Retrograde has a lot of laughs it also illustrates three independent women making their way in Manhattan. These women are becoming successful on their own terms and in a manner that makes them most content. Mercury in Retrograde is a fun, breezy read that is also thoughtful and provides the inside scoop on living and working in Manhattan.
    • 4/5
      A fun, light book about three women living in the same SoHo apartment building and the chaos that enters their lives when Mercury goes into retrograde. I don't often say this, but I wish this book had been longer! The three women, Dana, Lena (Lipstick), and Penelope are interesting, entertaining, and smart, but they aren't well rounded or developed. I suspect that if I had gotten the chance to know these women better I would have really liked them. As it is you just get a taste before the book ends. An easy, fast read with a happy ending, Mercury in Retrograde is a fine summer read and a nice debut. I will be anxious to see what Paula Froelich comes up with next.
    • 4/5
      Paula Froelich has created a fun, fast, friendly confection of a story. I was charmed by the premise and pleased with the outcome. The three main characters are each likable even if somewhat less than memorable. I was able to identify with some aspect of each one's personality and predicament. The secondary characters are comfortably familiar stereotypes -- the gay friend with the flair for fashion, the overbearing bosses, the clueless but meddlesome parents, and the status-obsessed socialite. Froelich doesn't really break any new ground here, but she writes well and the story is smoothly paced. If I was hoping for a little more depth, well, at least the book stays true to its title. All in all, MERCURY IN RETROGRADE is a pleasant if predictable read -- perfect for the beach, poolside, or backyard lounge chair. I'm hoping there'll be more books from Paula Froelich.(A plot summary and a longer version of this review appear on my blog, A Sea of Books.)
    • 1/5
      Breezy, fun, surface reading--good for a quick summer read in a pinch but there are better books that fit the bill. The characters could have used a bit more dimension, and the plot is predictable and simple. On the good news side, it's a fast, fun read; and for once, a book with a happy ending!
    • 4/5
      I admit I was surprised by how engaging I found this book; though it does center on the lives of three young women in NY, it was certainly not your standard chick-lit offering. All three main characters are complex and watching them work through their personal and profressional crises made for an excellent read. Froelich herself seems to understand the possible limitations of the genre, and injects sufficient warmth and humor into the novel to help it rise above the pack. Though I admit everything does wrap up nicely in a bow at the end, I never felt the urge to roll my eyes as the various plotlines sorted themselves so neatly, a testament to Froelich's strong writing and ability to make the reader empathize with the characters. Highly enjoyable!
    • 4/5
      Paula Froelich's debut novel is a frothy confection that anyone who's ever read a gossip magazine, or enjoys chick lit set in New York, will like. Mercury in Retrograde focuses on the campily named Penelope Mercury (a reporter for the fictitious New York Telegraph), Lipstick Carcrash (a socialite who's just been cut off by her parents), and Dana Gluck (an overweight, depressive lawyer, coming off a divorce). All three women live in the same apartment together, and are brought together by private yoga sessions in Dana's apartment.Penelope is the most fully developed character, and probably an alter ego of Froelich herself (a Page Six reporter). Lipstick comes into her own as a dress designer. Gluck is the least developed, but also enjoyable to read about.The book is peppered with thinly disguised anecdotes about Miley Cyrus, Eliot Spitzer, etc. - which will all be recognizable to anyone who follows the papers, and are also good for a chuckle.
    • 1/5
      I expected this to be a fun little read. Three ditsy sounding women living in the same building sounded like light and fun. A quick Saturday afternoon read. Mercifully I was right about it being a quick read. Instead of finding three smart women doing silly things and having each others back, I found three women who in my opinion were not very likeable and not very smart. Women who allowed men to treat them with complete disrespect and disdain. This book has a little of everything, spousal betrayal, employers who screech and throw office supplies, call girls and a stalker. Seriously. I tried, but found no humor. I read a lot of books, many different genres and that includes the occasion chic lit or fluff. Just like any good meal meal benefits for a little something sweet, do does fluff enhance ones reading habits. This book was not my cup of tea.