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Nov 10, 2008

Carla rated it:

I zipped through this book and here's why: The story caught my attention because the plot did not sound like any story I had ever read. It is set in the outer reaches of Long Island where a family reunites for a party to mark the end of the parent's marriage (THE "divorce party") and the chance to meet the son's new fiance. The story is told alternately from the perspectives of two female characters (aren't the women always the story-keepers in families?): the mother, Gwyn, and the n More...

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Jun 20, 2011

Michelle rated it:

"When I first read the marketing information about this book, I was intrigued. Divorce parties? Really? Isn't that all a bit...odd?[return][return]It turns out that there are perfectly acceptable reasons for throwing a divorce party. While I may still be uncomfortable with the idea, I do see their merit, especially when the parting is amicable. However, in spite of its title, this book is not about divorce parties but about marriage and love and, just like the synopsis reads, what it takes More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 13, 2010

Sharon rated it:

This book gives “Meet the Parents” a new twist.

Gwyn Huntington has been married 35 years to the day and she’s having a divorce party… for herself. Her husband Thomas has claimed he is found religion and wants to move on, but she knows the real truth. What will Thomas do when she reveals her surprise?

Maggie MacKenzie is engaged to Nate Huntington and they are planning to scrape enough money together to open a restaurant. As if that isn’t enough she is meeting her future in- More...

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Sep 23, 2009

Trisha rated it:

I enjoyed this book. It was about two different women, each at different ends of their marriage. Gwyn and her husband of 30 some years are getting divorced and throwing a divorce party. And Maggie is with Nate, Gwyn's son. So Maggie and Gwyn know each other because of Gwyn's son. It was sad at some points in the book. Like when Gwyn is having doubts on if she is still in love with her husband, then she finds out what he is really doing, when he said that he was at Buddhism classes. And Nate is h More...

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Nov 01, 2009

Jeanette rated it:

The Divorce Part by Laura Dave is one of the best books I have read in awhile. You know a book is good when it only takes me 3 days to read it!

The whole book takes place in one day. Maggie is about to meet her future in-laws at their Divorce Party. Yes, Divorce Party. The couple, Gwyn and Thomas, is throwing in the towel after nearly 35 years of marriage. Thomas has found religion (or at least that is his version of him growing apart from his wife) and doesn’t see Gwyn as part of his j More...

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May 14, 2009

Kerri rated it:

First of all, I read most of this book while laying on my new awesome hammock so that may have added to the enjoyability!

I think the book would be just a light, quick read. And it was pretty quick! But, it was pretty thought-provoking, actually. Made me think about marriage, and what it means- And more importantly, the whole idea of truly being intimate and honest. I'm a songwriter, and it's a topic I find comes up over and over in my writing. That need and want to lay all th More...

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Jul 30, 2010

ICPL added it

I read Dave’s London is the Best City in America awhile back and enjoyed it so I though I’d try her new book. Maggie and Nate are working together to open a restaurant. Maggie loves her life and its challenges until she realizes that she doesn’t know her fiancee Nate very well. The first clue is that Nate has been hiding some envelopes from an investment company from her. Maggie is unsure if she should fight to save their relationship or let it go.

This story is contrasted with N More...

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Jul 13, 2011

Heather rated it:

Based on the title and the cover, I expected this to be a light and fluffy "chick lit" type book. I don't mean that to be disparaging; I like that type of book sometimes. In any event, I was surprised to find that this book was more serious and thoughtful than I had imagined it would be. I really enjoyed the stories of both Gwn and Maggie. I thought it was a little unlikely that Nate would try to hide so much, but maybe I'm just naive. I liked reading about the women's internal strug More...

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Aug 01, 2009

Andrea rated it:

This story is told by the two main female characters: Gwyn and Maggie. Gwyn Huntington is planning a Divorce Party that falls on the day of her thirty-fifth wedding anniversary. Her husband says that he has found a new religion and that they are now too different from each other, but she knows better. Maggie is Gwyn's soon to be daughter-in-law. On the day that Maggie is to meet her in-laws for the first time, she finds out all about Nate's, her fiance, hidden past. The two women must overc More...

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Aug 04, 2009

Cheryl rated it:

Gwyn Huntington is getting ready to throw the most important party of her life…her divorce party! Yes you hear me right…a divorce party. It is like a tradition to host one, when your divorce is final. It is like freeing yourself of the old and saying I am ready to take on the world again. Someone who can’t understand what Gwyn is going through is Gwyn’s soon to be daughter in law, Maggie Mackenzie.

Maggie has found the man of her dreams and his name is Nate. He comes from a wealthy f More...

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Jul 12, 2009

Sarah rated it:

If London Is the Best City in America is a good book, this is a GREAT book. I loved the characters and the setting. It was very cinematic, and I think it will translate into a movie quite well.

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jul 16, 2011

Katie rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Sep 26, 2009

Bridget rated it:

Gwyn is a party planner who has been a leader in all different kinds of celebrations for other. Including Divorce Parties. After being married for thirty-five years, her marriage is over. Now, she is throwing her own divorce party which she knows will be different from all the rest.

Meanwhile, Maggie is looking forward to starting her life with the man of her dreams. This may sound wonderful right now, but she still has to meet the in-laws.

Weddings and divorce may seem lik More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 01, 2010

Cassie rated it:

I really enjoyed this book. It was a very fast read, and was easy to get through. The entire book (minus the prologue and epilogue)takes place in one day, yet you get so inside these two women's lives, it feels like you know everything about them. The back and forth between Maggie & Gwyn keeps you going. I thought both of these women were great characters and they had a pretty fabulous supporting cast. Even with all their faults, I found myself really liking these characters. Nate & Thomas are b More...

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Jun 19, 2011

Ruth rated it:

Maggie is engaged to Nate. She is traveling out to Montauk to meet his parents for the very first time at a party that they are having to celebrate their divorce. The idea of the party is to let everyone know that they can honor their past life and remain friends into the future. But does each person have secrets that they haven't revealed to others? Why haven't they revealed those parts of themselves? Are there ever good reasons to have secrets and if they come to light can we forgive, for More...

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Sep 27, 2011

Carol rated it:

A banquet of suprises that nudges your taste buds with emotional flavour. An indepth drama that unfolds as a stale marriage is to be celebrated with a divorce party to be held on the couples thirty fifth wedding anniversary. By reflecting on happier times with family and friends at this gathering they hope those close to them will understand their decision to seperate. Then the older couple can move forward with the changes in their future. A well written novel that touches the heart strings and More...

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Nov 10, 2009

Jules rated it:

I really like Laura Dave's writing style, but I could see how someone else wouldn't. She delves so completely into the emotional and mental life of her characters that every action and decision is imbued with ample weight and meaning. Nothing is simply careless. I could see how that would irk people or they could find it ponderous, but I like it as a window into all the quirks of someone else's mind. It feels intimate, particularly because Dave is so great observing and capturing the tiny detail More...

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Aug 29, 2011

Dana rated it:

I started this delightful book after dinner last night, and finished it by midnight. I felt as if I were living inside a Noel Coward play, with his wry sense of humor and sly understanding of love and marriage and secrets. This novel was so well written, never overly sentimental, and always held my interest. A young man and his fiance head to Montauk, to his family estate home to attend the divorce party being given by his parents to commemorate the good years of their long marriage, that is n More...

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Nov 02, 2010

Natalie rated it:

Simply amazing.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 17, 2012

Vicky rated it:

Nice smooth writing; realistic story; I love the characters doing what real people would actually do, good and bad. I like that it covers one day, I always think it's amazing when authors (and movie directors) can do that. The storm of 1938 that starts the book could have had more to do with it; I know it made the patriarch of the family stay at Montauk, but I wonder if the storm at the end was really needed. Anyway, the use of almost my favourite Van Morrison song at the end of this gets it More...

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Jan 31, 2011

Margherita Dolcevita rated it:

In copertina c'è una torta a forma di cuore spezzato.
Dietro, sotto la trama, c'è scritto "Una commedia nera piena di ironia"; ok, lo scrive ELLE, che non è esattamente la bibbia per quanto riguarda la narrativa, però uno che legge e recensisce i romanzi ci sarà anche lì.
Bene, con questi presupposti uno cosa si aspetta? Una commedia nera piena di ironia sul divorzio.
Sbagliato. Di comicità non c'è traccia, meno che mai nera, l'ironia se la sono dimenticati da qualche parte e il divorzio More...

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Feb 01, 2010

Meg rated it:

Perhaps I am becoming a softie...I liked this book too! Another quick read, great plot, the premise quirky, the drama pretty far fetched, but it IS fiction afterall. The beginning went very smoothly for me, but with the "twist" it seemed too fast paced for what had come prior. Almost as if the author took it up two notches instead of what I would have preferred to have seen - one. I would have rated it four, if it not had been for this hiccup. The younger female character accelera More...

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Sep 10, 2009

Patricia rated it:

Can you think of any circumstance in which it would be okay for your fiancee to neglect to mention that he has been married before? How about the fact that his family is worth half a billion dollars? Maggie, one of the two main characters in this novel discovers both of these things on the way to meet her fiancee's parents for the first time. What's worse, they are attending her future in-law's Divorce Party.

I found this to be a nicely written novel with sympathetic characters and More...

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Dec 10, 2009

Sarah rated it:

The Divorce Party has a strong sense of place. It starts with the 1938 hurricane that destroyed most of Montauk Island (off the coast of Long Island). It's the ferocity of the storm that cements their choice to marry. Together they vow that the house will see everything.

Sixty-nine years later the love has gone from the home. Instead of a thirty-fifth wedding anniversary, Gwynn Huntington is planning a divorce party. She and her husband have grown apart as he finds a new religion. Gwy More...

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Dec 11, 2009

Laurel-Rain rated it:

What kind of a couple throws a huge party on their thirty-fifth anniversary to celebrate, not the event itself, but the fact that the marriage is ending? This particular divorce party is marking the end of a coupling that others thought would survive anything—the Huntingtons come from a family of survivors on this island of Montauk. And Gwyn and Thomas seemed to be the perfect couple.

As the guests assemble for this lavish get-together, another couple, just beginning their journey to More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Aug 19, 2009

Lynn rated it:

Sweet and moving... thought provoking. Reminders of the realities of life and love... of acceptance and letting go.

"....She recognizes him in the way we get to recognize the people we are supposed to meet, the ones we have been waiting our whole lives to meet. Does that mean that Gwyn turns out okay, just because she's found someone else, someone who wants to see her? No, not as far as she is concerned. As far as she is concerned, it means she turns out okay because she be More...

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Mar 11, 2009

Tee rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Dec 13, 2008

L rated it:

The story is this:

Maggie is engaged to Nate and they are working to open a restaurant together. On the day that they are traveling to Montauk to meet his parents for the first time, she is barraged by all sorts of information about Nate that she never new or imagined. It's one reveal after another, leading to a very quick and compelling read. And, the occasion for meeting Nate's parents (Gwyn and Thomas) is their Divorce Party. Nate's parents have also been holding secrets from o More...

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Feb 22, 2011

Jenny rated it:

This book was enjoyable. I loved the way the story switched back and forth between Maggie and Gwyn's very different relationships, as well as having Champ and Anna's story as the prologue and epilogue. A great look at love, relationships, marriage, commitment, and forgiveness. Not everything works out entirely happy in the end, though I was pessimistic going in to it, so it did all resolve happier than I was thinking it would. :)

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Nov 02, 2009

Danielle rated it:

I took my eye off the ball, and I missed this - Laura Dave's next book came out LAST YEAR. I already checked my local library catalog and the book is of course borrowed, but as soon as it comes back, it's mine! I hope this one is as delightful as her first novel!

I finally bought it, when I had a Borders coupon, and have been holding out for ages, but I gave in for my trip to Dallas - read about half of this on the plane back and will certainly finish it quickly - it's a fast read a More...

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