Peeking Between the Pages

...escape into the pages of a good book

Book Spotlight & Giveaway: Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakthrough by Ruth Pennebaker

by


I’ve got a great book to spotlight and do a giveaway for today and I can’t wait to read it myself. I love the title: Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakthrough by Ruth Pennebaker. Here’s what Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakthrough is about…

Three generations, one house; zero sanity?

What happens when Mom, daughter, and Grandma are financially forced to share a roof?

AUSTIN, Texas – If there’s one lesson the Great Recession taught us, it’s how to host (and sometimes, be) unexpected roommates.

The number of multifamily households in the US is now at its highest since 1968, a demographic shift felt in each cramped bedroom and every crashed-on couch. It’s also the new American reality that gave rise to Ruth Pennebaker’s big-hearted, witty novel: Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakthrough (January 2011, Berkeley Trade Paperback Original / Penguin).

Pitting three women – mother, daughter, and grandmother – together under one roof, Pennebaker allows what she calls “a kind of horror story” to unfold:

Joanie is a recovering divorcee, has shakily re-entered the Austin, Texas, workplace, and has sworn off sex forever.

Ivy is her 78-year-old Christian mother, who has recently taken up shoplifting.

Caroline is Joanie’s sulky teenager, whose pot brownies get distributed a little more widely than she expected.

And to top things off, Richard, Joanie’s ex-husband, has just announced that his much younger girlfriend is pregnant.

Proving that mother-daughter relationships are more complex than any romance, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakthrough is a tough love story about individual isolation – the kind that happens with people you love, people with whom you share living quarters. In the end, it’s also a story is also about reaching a better understanding of one another, and learning to love a little better.
__________

About the Author


RUTH PENNEBAKER is the acclaimed author of three young adult novels and one collection of essays. Her writings have appeared in The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News, Parents, Redbook, McCall’s, Cooking Light and other nationwide publications. She is currently a columnist for the Texas Observer, a commentator for KUT-FM,and host of the award-winning blog, The Fabulous GeezerSisters. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband and emotionally unstable cat, Lefty. For more information, please visit www.ruthpennebaker.com.
__________

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

I have one copy of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakthrough by Ruth Pennebaker available for giveaway. To enter…

  • For 1 entry leave me a comment with a way to contact you.
  • For 2 entries follow my blog. If you already do, let me know in your comment. The extra entry is yours as well.
  • For 3 entries, blog or tweet this giveaway to spread the word.

This giveaway is open to US & Canadian residents only (no PO boxes) and I will draw for the winner on Saturday, March 5, 2011. Good luck everyone!

© 2010, Darlene of Peeking Between the Pages. All Rights Reserved. If you’re reading this on a site other than Peeking Between the Pages or Darlene’s Feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Share this post!
Share

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Oh I LOVE the sound of this book! It sounds so good!
    Please enter me DARling.
    I am a follower.

    forevereading at gmail dot com

  5. I have this one up for review soon, and I am looking forward to it. Thanks for the great giveaway, but no need to enter me!

  8. Oh, that title does seem appropriate for most of us – having to deal with the multiple tasks of running a house.

    pboylecharley AT hotmail DOT com

  9. This sounds so interesting. I try to imagine what it would be like to live with my daughter and granddaughter. We three get along famously, but I'm sure problems would arise.
    Thanks for the giveaway.

    extra entry – Google Follower

    lcbrower40(at)gmail(dot)com

  21. I'm a follower! (extra entry!)

    I'd love to win the book 🙂 It sounds great!

    CMShelstad at gmail dot com

  26. I keep reading great reviews of this book, so I'd love to be entered. I subscribe in Google Reader. milou2ster(at)gmail.com

  30. +1 I've been in this position before – twice, so I know the story all too well.

    +2 Blog follower

    Margay1122ATaolDOTcom

  31. The title alone got me interested! I'd love a chance to be entered into this giveaway thanks.

    I'm a blog follower thanks.

    unforgetable_dreamer_always (at) hotmail.com

  34. This looks like a great book… love the title. I follow you on my google reader.

    marieavedisian at gmail dot com

    P.S. The site is looking fab!

  38. I tweeted – no longer have the link to paste in her my browser stuck and I couldn't get back here. My tweet name is dancealert or Brenda Rupp

    dancealert at aol dot com

  39. Sounds like an interesting book, I like how the author put three generations in one house. Please enter me. Thanks!

    ayancey(at)dishmail(dot)net

  52. This sounds like a great, witty book! Thank you for the giveaway!

    Amy // artsyrockerchick at aim dot com

  53. Oh, and I just became a follower of your beautiful blog!

    Amy // artsyrockerchick at aim dot com

  63. I would love to read this book! Please enter me in the giveaway.

    bookloversarah1 at yahoo dot com

    Sarah E