The Bette Davis Club by Jane Lotter
Review by Mirah Welday (mwelday)
On a recent work trip, I listened to The Bette Davis Club by Jane Lotter. Unbeknownst to me, Jane Lotter passed away in 2013. The forward by her daughter Tessa highlighted Lotter’s sense of humor and life as a writer. It was an unexpected and touching way for the book to begin.
Margo Just is a middle-aged woman who is in California for her niece’s wedding. Dreading the day because of her very strained relationship with her half-sister Charlotte, Margo is drinking double martinis and hoping to get through the event unscathed. When her niece Georgia disappears before the wedding, Margo is offered $50,000 by Charlotte to go after Georgia and bring her back, along with property that Georgia took without Charlotte’s permission. Margo has no idea what this mysterious property is and doesn’t want to get involved but finds herself in need of the money and decides to accept the challenge.
Margo finds herself in her father’s classic red 1955 MG convertible with Georgia’s jilted fiancé Tully. This is the start of a long car ride of awkward discussions, petty arguments, a search for clues of Georgia’s location, and a reality check on the state of her relationships and life.
I thought The Bette Davis Club was a funny and heartwarming novel. Margo was self-deprecating and seemed like she was in denial but she was funny and charismatic. Margo’s life had been punctuated by hurt and disappointment that colored her life choices but through the journey to find Georgia, Margo managed to find herself and come to grips with the losses she had endured.
I have since learned that Lotter wrote her own obituary and, after reading it, I wish I would have had a chance to know her in life. Funny and witty with a great grasp of just the right words to use, Lotter was a humorist of the highest order and I highly recommend her novel.
Tags: book recommendation, Book Reviews, Book Suggestions, Fiction
This book looks really interesting!