Don't Forget to Write: A Novel
In 1960, a young woman discovers a freedom she never knew existed in this exhilarating, funny, and emotional novel by the bestselling author of She's Up to No Good.
When Marilyn Kleinman is caught making out with the rabbi's son in front of the whole congregation, her parents ship her off to her great-aunt Ada for the summer. If anyone can save their daughter's reputation, it's Philadelphia's strict premier matchmaker. Either that or Marilyn can kiss college goodbye.
To Marilyn's surprise, Ada's not the humorless septuagenarian her mother described. Not with that platinum-blonde hair, Hermès scarf, and Cadillac convertible. She's sharp, straight-talking, takes her job very seriously, and abides by her own rules...mostly. As the summer unfolds, Ada and Marilyn head for the Jersey shore, where Marilyn helps Ada scope out eligible matches--for anyone but Marilyn, that is.
Because if there's one thing Marilyn's learned from Ada, it's that she doesn't have to settle. With the school year quickly approaching and her father threatening to disinherit her, Marilyn must make her choice for her future: return to the comfortable life she knows or embrace a risky, unknown path on her own.
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Community Reviews
As someone who grew up between Philadelphia and the Jersey shore, who now works based out of NYC, this book really hit on a lot of different levels. The historical aspects were well done and not overworked, which can be hard when pushing back a timeline 60 years. It gave me a nostalgia for the 60s without ever having lived in that era because I could imagine the places I love in a past state.
My favorite thing about the book was that I got to learn a lot about Jewish culture and pressures through the mindset of a main character that I related to in terms of her want to carve her own path. The characters were fully realized and my only complaint was there very occasionally were some cliched plot points that I had to overlook.
I would probably give the book a 4/5 on a normal scale, but it hit me with that childhood Jersey shore nostalgia, so it gets bumped to a 4.5/5. Nice work by Confino. Might pick up her other books after this.
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