Book Tour & GIVEAWAY: ‘And When She Was Good’ by Laura Lippman

And When She Was Good

by Laura Lippman

William Morrow

Pub. Date:   August 14, 2012

Book received from: Publisher via TLC Book Tours

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Genre:  Adult Fiction/ Thriller/ Suspense

Cover:  Simple- I liked the simplicity of the red curl.

Characters:  Unlikable all around

Worth the read?  Sure- it was interesting enough

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Heloise Lewis has spent most of her life trying to become someone else and escape her past and the abusive treatment of her father.  After a long road, she has reinvented herself as a madam who fronts as a lobbyist.  She has gone to great lengths to separate her past and her real profession from her personal life- all to protect her son.  However, things quickly begin to unravel when another madam is found murdered, and the threads connecting the two women are slowly discovered.  Everything Heloise has worked for for years begins to fall down around her, as she tries to maintain the safety of her son over all else.  However, she finds she may have to sacrifice everything for the one thing that matters most.

Lippman gives us a story and a character that is harshly stigmatized in our society.  She is a woman who has taken the oppressions in her life and transformed them into a part of her identity in an attempt to work against those who abused her.  Above all, she is a mother who is trying to protect her son.  It is an interesting story in the fact that it challenges the conceptions of prostitution, and gives an almost appealing approach to a business where the body is the commodity.  However, Heloise never convinced me she was the woman for the job.  She has too much else going on distracting her from running an effective business, despite all the forethought and safety nets she had in place.

While I know that Lippman was attempting to challenge the normal perception of one who is in the sex trade, I could not stop thinking that if Heloise really wanted to protect her son, she never would have chosen the life she lead, despite all the reasons and excuses she used to explain how she would up there.  Given her position, there were other choices that could have been made.

The other characters in the story were not likable, and each of them had a reason to betray or use Heloise for their own advancement.  It is not necessary to like any of the characters in this story, and is most likely the point.  Regardless, there is still no real connection to be made with any of them, and leads to an apathetic view of what is happening within the pages.

And When She Was Good is a dark, moody story of a woman trying to survive in a man’s world by taking on what is typically an oppressive role of the men in the sex trade.  While there are some interesting points to be made, Heloise herself is not a convincing strong character for me.  There is just enough suspense to keep one reading to the end to find out how it all unravels, and the writing style is very lush and detailed.  It is a story of a mother’s love and sacrifice, as well as the challenges that sacrifice can bring.

 

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The publisher has generously offered a copy of ‘And When She Was Good’ for one lucky reader.  To be entered, simply comment below and make sure to leave your e-mail address in the comment.   

Must be at least 17-years-old and live in the US/CAN.  I will pick a winner by random September 20, 2012.

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Check out the entire blog tour calendar.

‘And When She Was Good’ can be purchased at Amazon.com, as well as your local independent bookseller.

For more about Laura Lippman, go to her website here.