People magazine included The Restaurant Critic's Wife on their Great New Fiction list and hailed it as "thoroughly entertaining." Lila Soto has a master's degree that's gathering dust, a work-obsessed husband, two kids, and lots of questions about how exactly she ended up here. In their new city of Philadelphia, Lila's husband, Sam, takes his job as a restaurant critic a little too seriously. To protect his professional credibility, he's determined to remain anonymous. Soon his preoccupation with anonymity takes over ...
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People magazine included The Restaurant Critic's Wife on their Great New Fiction list and hailed it as "thoroughly entertaining." Lila Soto has a master's degree that's gathering dust, a work-obsessed husband, two kids, and lots of questions about how exactly she ended up here. In their new city of Philadelphia, Lila's husband, Sam, takes his job as a restaurant critic a little too seriously. To protect his professional credibility, he's determined to remain anonymous. Soon his preoccupation with anonymity takes over their lives as he tries to limit the family's contact with anyone who might have ties to the foodie world. Meanwhile, Lila craves adult conversation and some relief from the constraints of her homemaker role. With her patience wearing thin, she begins to question everything: her decision to get pregnant again, her break from her career, her marriage--even if leaving her ex-boyfriend was the right thing to do. As Sam becomes more and more fixated on keeping his identity secret, Lila begins to wonder if her own identity has completely disappeared--and what it will take to get it back.
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Fine. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 313 p. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
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Seller's Description:
New. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 313 p. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
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New. Num Pages: 306 pages. BIC Classification: FA. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 140 x 209 x 24. Weight in Grams: 322. 2016. Paperback.....We ship daily from our Bookshop.
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The Restaurant Critic's Wife by Elizabeth LaBan is an unusual novel. Lila Soto is pregnant with her second child. Lila, Sam (her husband), and Hazel (their three-year-old daughter) have just moved from New Orleans to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Sam has the chance to do his dream job-be a food critic! Sam and Lila met with Lila was in New Orleans for Addison Hotels and Resorts and Sam was doing research for an article on gumbo. When Sam saw a job opening at the Philadelphia Record for a food critic, he applied. Lila had to give up her job in order to relocate with Sam. They are moving into a suburban neighborhood called Colonial Court where the mothers stay home and take care of their kids. This will be a new experience for Lila.
Sam is immediately wrapped up in his new job and experiments with ways to hide his identity. He also wants Lila to make sure not to tell anyone what he does (actually he would prefer it if she stayed in the house and did not associate with anyone for fear of exposure). Will Lila be able to cope with two kids, a new home, and Sam's wacky behavior? Lila is going on a new journey and she will have to find a way to cope (and move forward).
I did not find The Restaurant Critic's Wife to be an enjoyable novel. It was a little weird (and boring). I believe the book is supposed to be humorous but the writer did not pull it off. One thing I did not get is if Lila never wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, why did she have kids (Lila loves working and wants to continue to work)? This book was lacking (like a good plot). I got tired of hearing about Lila's everyday life (getting up, her wardrobe, breast feeding the baby), Sam's attempts at disguises and how he does not pull them off (that was actually the only funny part in the book), their many neighbors (I could not keep track of them), and the many food descriptions (the author described every food item they ate). I did not like any of the characters. Lila is someone who does not know what she wants (she really should have decided before having two kids) and Sam who is very childish and selfish. Sam was so obsessed with keeping his identity a secret. I wanted to know why he did not write the reviews under a pseudonym (of course, then there would not be a book). It was just an odd book. I give The Restaurant Critic's Wife 2 out of 5 stars (I did not like it).
I received a complimentary copy of The Restaurant Critic's Wife from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
