The End of an Error

Fans of Mameve Medwed's two other funny and warm novels--Host Family and Mail--definitely will feel thrilled to return to yet another one of her well-written, humorous stories. If you have never read Medwed's novels, you might want to start with The End of An Error, which is about the road not taken--take it and see where main character Lee Emery ends up! Of particular fun in this novel--the exploration of authorship and how it can enrich/ruin/change your life. (If you're interested in this topic, you might want to read two other funny novels that address this subject matter: John Colapinto's About The Author or Christina Schwarz's All is Vanity).

Readers of Medwed's earlier novels -- Mail and Host Family -- will recognize her characteristic witty wordplay and warm, ironic humor. But this is a bigger, deeper book. Lee's yearning for her first love, Simon, is more than just the typical regret of a middle-aged woman for lost youth and missed opportunities. It's a subtle meditation on life's choices and where they lead us. Can we revise our own fates? Should we? Medwed's handling of these questions is always sympathetic, never heavy-handed, and often quite surprising. A lovely, satisfying novel.

If you enjoyed Medwed's previous novels then you will love this one. If you have never read Medwed before then go out and buy this now!! This is another wonderful novel by this funny, yet poignant author.

Mameve's tale of lost love is both heartbreaking and hilarious --and absolutely terrific. No one writes the way she does! The prose dances and glints right off the page. I loved this witty, wonderful book.

I've adored Medwed's work ever since the exhilarating "Mail", and this one is her most irresistible. Lee Emery is middle-aged, happily married, and she's written a book about the path --and the person-- not taken--a life with her first love Simon(already I'm hooked.) Amidst the memories of that love, we also read about her glamorous grandmother Marguerite (one of the most magnificent literary creations I've encountered!)Impulsively, Lee sends the book to Simon, turning everything in her life upside down. Told in sparkling prose, the book had melaughing out loud in parts and reaching for the box of tissues in others. And to me, a novel that can make you do both is a masterpiece indeed.