A smart and sexy novel about a woman on the edge, soon to be a major film
"Subtle, astute... Zeidner joins the ranks of Doris Lessing, Margaret Atwood and Fay Weldon"
New York Times Book Review, Notable Book of the Year
Claire Newbold is not your typical heroine. Smart and sexy, yes, but she's also been known to sneak into a hotel room or two without paying, seduce a teenager in wet bathing trunks, and just check out of things altogether - like her job. And her marriage.
Grieving the loss of her only child, and unsure of what's to become of her relationship, Claire takes a leave of absence from everyday life. She moves from hotel to hotel, basking in the anonymity of travel and forbidden sex, struggling to understand herself. Who has she become? And how will she ever find redemption?
"A moving portrait of a woman who reclaims her life... Zeidner skillfully charts the map of Claire's vulnerable heart... a wicked sendup of contemporary life"
Publishers Weekly
"A sharp and wryly moving portrait of a woman in the midst of a breakdown... A wise and satisfying read"
Kirkus Reviews
Lisa Zeidner has published five novels, including the critically acclaimed Layover, and two books of poems. Her stories, reviews, and essays have appeared in The New York Times, Slate, GQ, Tin House and elsewhere. She directs the MFA program in creative writing at Rutgers University in Camden, New Jersey.
About the Author :
LISA ZEIDNER has published five novels, including the critically acclaimed Layover, and two books of poems. Her stories, reviews, and essays have appeared in The New York Times, Slate, GQ, Tin House, and elsewhere. She directs the MFA program in creative writing at Rutgers University in Camden, New Jersey.
Review :
Layover, is the tale of Claire Newbold, who having just lost a baby walks out of her marriage for the anonymous thrill of travel and no-strings sex when what she's really looking for lies far closer to home
An astute study of a woman... struggling to make sense of what her life has become and seeking redemption in the process
A thoughtful and highly impactful exploration of alienation
Witty and accomplished, Layover is an impressive piece of fiction
Very powerful... explores grief, marriage and life through its entertaining and emotional heroine
There is an honest fragility to the sometimes sharp but always authentic prose with its undercurrent of grief and subtle need - a well-structured and engaging read
Subtle, astute [...] With Layover, Zeidner joins the ranks of Doris Lessing, Margaret Atwood and Fay Weldon.
Zeidner's writing is like her heroine: taut, intelligent, and seductive.
Marvelous. . . Layover is that rarest of books, one to be read again and again.
The psychic death, and rebirth, of a saleswoman, Layover is a chillingly modern pilgrimage: rental cars and anonymous rooms in franchise hotels, crisp bills from automated tellers, the music of e-mail chimes and electronic pagers. Lisa Zeidner writes with the precision and the ear of the poet she is.
In this spirited, original take on the subject of prolonged grief, Zeidner presents a moving portrait of a woman who reclaims her life through passion and humor [...] Zeidner skillfully charts the map of Claire's vulnerable heart, eschewing the maudlin. Instead, she offers titillating-and sometimes funny-sex, and a wicked sendup of contemporary life, deconstructing the men whose professions give them a false sense of aggrandizement and the women who live with them.
Intelligent, sarcastic, and slightly unhinged, Claire is a fascinating character. Zeidner has done a wonderful job of capturing the dark night of the soul that comes to virtually all of us eventually by exploring the depths of Claire's grief and anger without once slipping into melodrama or cliche.
A sharp and wryly moving portrait of a woman in the midst of a breakdown [...] A wise and satisfying read.
