Bobby's Diner

A diner owner-operator named Bobby falls insatiably in love with a woman, Georgette, new to the small Arizona town where his business is located. That Bobby is married to Vanessa, co-operator of the diner and mother to their daughter Roberta, does not prevent him from divorcing his wife and marrying Georgette who then takes on the responsibilities, once Vanessa's, of running the diner with Bobby. Years into his marriage with Georgette, Bobby suddenly dies from heart failure. At the reading of his will, Georgette and Vanessa learn that Bobby has bequeathed the diner to both of them who then reluctantly agree to operate the business mutually. Therein lies the tension that underscores and kicks off BOBBY'S DINER, author Susan Wingate's second novel, a finalist in the 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Award. The novel's initial premise, and the conflicts that naturally arise when sworn enemies attempt to run a business without pummeling each other in the process, meet the requirements to sustain a reader's attention for the length of a novel. But Ms. Wingate does not stop there. She infuses the story with a genuine sense of menace derived from the murderous intentions of local business magnates who covert the property upon which Bobby's Diner sits. Ms. Wingate's ability to create fully-realized characters is reminiscent of author Larry McMurtry's almost unparalleled gift for allowing readers to befriend fictional personae. This observation will perhaps help to usher in the death knell of that most patronizing of terms, "chick lit." Ms. Wingate's prose resonates with bone-hard realism and delicate poignancy characteristic of all great writers, irrespective of gender. This reviewer intends to keep a sharp eye tuned to future works by Susan Wingate.