Helene Weaver is a familiar figure in fiction (and memoirs): the larger-than-life, charismatic, mercurial, possibly mentally ill mother. Her daughter Gerry’s completely absent father is of zero importance in a novel so female-centered that male characters barely register. Helene takes temp jobs to support the duo’s wanderings up and down the West Coast while casually home-schooling Gerry. As Helene swings from manic to depressive and back, mother and daughter remain totally wrapped up in each other until Helene strikes up a flirtation with a young Australian man and ships Gerry off for a long weekend in Connecticut with her college friend Bonnie Vowell, a divorcée who has bailed them out of financial trouble in the past. The weekend becomes weeks, then months. A typically precocious coming-of-age heroine only more cynical and less innocent, Gerry is angry about her mother’s abandonment but enjoys the easy comfort provided by the genuinely nice Bonnie. Gerry also connects with Helene’s estranged sister, Nell, a serious-minded artist in New York City. Attending a party with Nell, Gerry meets Finley Albright, a wealthy art collector with an exquisite Gracie Square apartment. Soon the three women are vying for Gerry’s loyalty. Through their separate efforts, she enrolls in a private girls’ school and receives prestigious internships. Bonnie offers an optimistic approach to life; Nell teaches the value of a sense of focus; Finley mothers with nonjudgmental generosity. Basking in their attention, Gerry manipulates the women, whose flaws she sees—but she also loves them. The author obviously feels the same way about New York City, which she describes with verve. Meanwhile, the still-absent Helene lurks in Gerry’s consciousness, stirring up conflicting loyalties and ambitions. Despite the fairy-tale aura provided by the three godmothers, the author’s intent is clearly social satire—in fact, Gerry compares herself to Oliver Twist.
