Synopsis
From the author of The Three Weissmanns of Westport, a wise, clever story of New York in the '60s
It's 1964. Eleven-year-old Fin and his glamorous, worldly, older half sister, Lady, have just been orphaned, and Lady, whom Fin hasn't seen in six years, is now his legal guardian and his only hope. That means Fin is uprooted from a small dairy farm in rural Connecticut to Greenwich Village, smack in the middle of the swinging '60s. He soon learns that Lady-giddy, careless, urgent, and obsessed with being free-is as much his responsibility as he is hers.
So begins Fin & Lady, the lively, spirited new novel by Cathleen Schine, the author of the bestselling The Three Weissmanns of Westport. Fin and Lady lead their lives against the background of the '60s, the civil rights movement, and the Vietnam War-Lady pursued by ardent, dogged suitors, Fin determined to protect his impulsive sister from them and from herself.
From a writer The New York Times has praised as "sparkling, crisp, clever, deft, hilarious, and deeply affecting," Fin & Lady is a comic, romantic love story: the story of a brother and sister who must form their own unconventional family in increasingly unconventional times.
About Cathleen Schine
See more books from this AuthorThere are few surprises in Schine’s rendition of Greenwich Village 50 years ago, with its Nehru jackets and desert boots, pillows on the floor and rugs on the walls, the reefer and the rock ’n’ roll.
Read Full Review of Fin & Lady: A Novel | See more reviews from NY Times...Fin & Lady suffers from the strain of attempting to blend two distinct, generally incompatible narrative modes — effervescent comedy-of-manners and heavy sentiment — into one big happy family of a book.
Read Full Review of Fin & Lady: A Novel | See more reviews from NPRSchine offers up a bittersweet lemon soufflé of family love and romantic passion.
Read Full Review of Fin & Lady: A Novel | See more reviews from Kirkuswhen we finally meet this mostly self-effacing narrator, the compulsion behind the storytelling becomes clear, and the enchantment comes full circle.
Read Full Review of Fin & Lady: A Novel | See more reviews from Star TribuneAt first this seems like a slight novel, a diversion. But as the Sixties swing on, Fin gets older, more questioning; the Vietnam war casts its shadow over all and Lady’s shining surface begins to show real cracks. The end is shocking, but beautifully planned and paced. Fin & Lady is a little gem.
Read Full Review of Fin & Lady: A Novel | See more reviews from Financial TimesThe revelation of this ghostly narrator’s identity doesn’t add much to the story’s conclusion, blurring our friendship with Fin and removing us even further from Lady, the whirling, consuming center of Ms. Schine’s story.
Read Full Review of Fin & Lady: A Novel | See more reviews from NY Journal of BooksAn aggregated and normalized score based on 246 user ratings from iDreamBooks & iTunes