cover image WOMEN ABOUT TOWN

WOMEN ABOUT TOWN

Laura Jacobs, . . Viking, $23.95 (256pp) ISBN 978-0-670-03088-0

Swapping journalism for fiction, Jacobs (The Art of Haute Couture) laces a gossipy guilty pleasure with feeling and sophisticated wit. Her cosmopolitan protagonists cat fight, take tea and climb professional ladders in New York City's most stylish neighborhoods. Elegant Iris Biddle, once married into an old money Mayflower family, is now divorced and 40. Romantically, she refuses to settle for second best, but is too busy with her career as a designer of stylish lampshades to concentrate on husband hunting. Lana Burton, 34, is a theater critic who writes for a respected dance journal, then lands a plum assignment for Vanity Fair. She has a knack for estranging her slightly older female colleagues, but is able to hold on to Sam, her commitment-phobic boyfriend of two years. The ambitious Manhattanites' concerns—sacrificing shopping sprees at Bergdorf's in favor of paying bills, gaining prestige in their respective fields—are similar, though they don't meet until the end (they share equal star time in alternating chapters). Jacobs effectively avoids cliché by treating Iris and Lana with gravity and respect, making them dedicated and focused on their careers. She also paces the novel quite well and turns an interesting phrase now and again ("wrinkled widows with vinegar voices"). In-the-know followers of Jacobs will indulge themselves, as will the nonurbanite who wants to catch a glimpse into these women's rarified worlds. Agent, Alice Martell. National publicity and review attention; events in New York and Los Angeles. (May 20)

Forecast:Jacobs should draw interest as a contributing editor to Vanity Fair, dance critic for the New Criterion and wife of well-known Vanity Fair writer James Wolcott.