Paperback

Published: Lightning Books (March 2020)

ISBN: 9781785631689

Good Riddance

Elinor Lipman

£8.99

‘A vastly entertaining screwball comedy’ – Washington Post

Decluttering her tiny New York apartment, Daphne Maritch decides to throw out any belongings that do not spark joy.

These include a high-school yearbook inherited from her school teacher mother, June, to whom the class of ’68 dedicated the volume. June in turn attended every class reunion, scribbling notes and observations – not always charitably – after each one.

When neighbour Geneva Wisenkorn finds the discarded book and wants to use it for her own ends, Daphne realises she wants to keep it after all. Fighting to reclaim it, she uncovers some alarming Maritch family secrets and sets in motion a series of events that prove to be both poignant and absurd.

Good Riddance is a vastly entertaining screwball comedy from the Jane Austen of modern New York.

Extracts

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Extracts

quotes

‘Oh my God, I love her books. They’re so funny’

Marian Keyes

‘An enchanting, infinitely witty yet serious, exceptionally intelligent, wholly original, and Austen-like stylist’

Fay Weldon, Washington Post

‘Such brilliant news that Elinor Lipman’s new books are going to be published in the UK. I’ve been a huge fan of her novels for so many years. Her writing is witty, astute and deliciously dry, and I’m delighted to be able to share my love her work with a wider audience

Jill Mansell

reviews

‘I was new to Lipman, but I loved her signature snappy style and gently satirical detail. From dog-walkers to state senators, chocolate courses to trash TV, all American life is here’

Wendy Holden, Daily Mail

‘You’ll definitely be delighted. Can an entire book function as a shaggy-dog story?’

Washington Post

‘A caper novel, light as a feather and effortlessly charming. It inspires a very specific kind of modern joy’

New York Times

‘The author has long been one of our wittiest chroniclers of modern-day romance. Her writing is brisk and intelligent, and if the plot of this novel is zanier than her usual fare, that too may show just how plugged-in she is to our far-fetched times’

Wall Street Journal

‘Lipman has all the modern understanding of human interaction, dialogue and motivation, and a refreshing grasp of the screwball comedy’s need to be enjoyable without being 100% believable’

Buzz Magazine

‘A charming romantic comedy. A stellar cast of supporting characters and intelligent, lyrical prose, make this novel a delightful treat readers will want to savour’

Publishers Weekly

‘The ultimate V-day binge read’

Cosmopolitan

'Elinor Lipman writes the kind of sharply observed, absorbing and entertaining fiction that’s just the ticket when you’re after an intelligent bit of escapism'

A Life In Books

‘Fans of Lipman will cheer for a new novel in her signature style: funny, warm, sharp, smart, and full of love for family, no matter how flawed’

Library Journal

‘Smart, sassy, and satisfying... a tightly woven, lightly rendered, but insightfully important novel’

Booklist

‘If you like Nora Ephron then you’ll love this’

JeckyBookish

extras

Elinor speaks to the Jewish Chronicle following the UK publication of Good Riddance and On Turpentine Lane.

Seven things Elinor Lipman would like her readers to know about her, courtesy of Female First.

ABOUT

Elinor Lipman

Elinor Lipman was born in Massachusetts and is the author of fourteen novels. Her first, Then She Found Me, was published in 1990 and adapted into the 2007 film of the same name starring Helen Hunt, Bette Midler and Colin Firth. She won the New England Book Award in 2001, and her novel My Latest Grievance won the Paterson Fiction Prize. Four of her novels are published in the UK by Lightning Books.

She lives in Manhattan.