[.ca] Certain Girls (ISBN 0743569865)

ENGAGING READINGS BY TWO GIFTED ACTRESSES:
Mother/daughter relationships are a labyrinth of complexities - loving, angry, close, distant, confiding, secretive. Even more confounding is the fact that all of these feelings may occur within a 24-hour period. We are reminded of this in Jennifer Weiner's witty, insightful novel Certain Girls. Many fondly remember Cannie Shapiro first introduced to us in Good In Bed. She was then a handmaiden to fashion, and determined to make her mark in the world by writing. Her chosen oeuvre? A tell-all, racy but not real story of her life that flew off the shelves. It is now thirteen years later. Cannie is out of the spotlight and happily relegated to a question on Jeopardy. She's up to her ears in domesticity, married and planning her daughter Joy's bat mitzvah. Joy does not share her mother's contentment. After all, she is barely into her teens and navigating the shoals of junior high school. When she discovers her mother's long ago written novel it casts a new and surprising light on who she is. At the same time Peter throws his husbandly ingredient into the mix by announcing that he'd like to have a baby. Weiner's prose is as winning as ever and her humor delightfully barbed. Adding luster to the author's words are the engaging readings of two very gifted actresses Michele Pawk and Zoe Kazan. Tony Award winner Michele Pawk is a seasoned Broadway actress who has also received Drama Desk and Outer Circle Award nominations for her work. Her teaming with Zoe Kazan for this reading is quite a coup as it brings together two major talents. Daughter of screenwriter Nicholas Kazan and granddaughter of renowned stage and film director Elia Kazan, Zoe Kazan is a multi gifted actress with numerous television and film roles already to her credit. Her voice is aptly suited to the questing, questioning Joy. Highly recommended. - Gail Cooke