Loose Ends

by Barbara Raskin

Young and beautiful Coco Burman, a Washington, D.C. mother with seven bachelor lovers, becomes enraged by her husband's fling with another woman

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Barbara Raskin (1936–1999) was a Washington, DC–based journalist and author best known for her novel Hot Flashes. Capturing the feelings of the generation of women born during the Great Depression as they faced middle age, the novel spent five months on the New York Times bestseller list. Raskin wrote four other novels, Current Affairs, Loose Ends, Out of Order, and The National Anthem, as well as articles for numerous publications, including the Washington Post and the New York Times. She received a fiction award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Reviews

[jeffrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading this book was like being stuck in a small room with someone who will just not stop talking to herself. The primary character is a vacuous, narcissistic, selfish woman who is dishonest with herself and just about everyone around her. Most of the characters have few redeeming qualities, but among them she displays no introspection, portraying herself as the perennial victim. She just can't seem to understand why men always victimize her. Can you blame her husband for leaving her? In this misbegotten so-called "women's lib" polemic the author allows the protagonist to redeem herself in the last two pages, but it's a little late. Skip this mess.