Then She Found Me (Lipman) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
A bright, lively, and funny look at an eccentric mother-daughter relationship.
New York Times Book Review

First-rate...stylish, original....delightful...Then She Found Me is a little, big-hearted book with the capacity to stir surprisingly deep feelings.
Boston Globe

In an enchanting tale of love in assorted forms, Lipman, author of the well-received collection of short stories Into Love and Out Again, delivers a first novel full of charm, humor and unsentimental wisdom. At age 36, April Epner, her adoptive parents recently deceased, is quite satisfied with her quiet, self-sufficient, solitary life as a Latin teacher in a suburban Boston high school. Then she is claimed by her birth mother, Bernice Graverman, star hostess of Boston's popular, gossipy morning TV talk show, Bernice G! Loud and self-centered, always on-stage Bernice, who was 17 when she gave April up for adoption, barrels her way into her self-effacing daughter's life, wreaking havoc all around. Not the least of these occasions occurs after April, bullied into bringing a date to a dinner with Bernice, invites the only available man she knows, the apparently nerdy school librarian, whose shy exterior hides unexpected virtues. Lipman displays a sure, light touch while charting the various transformations that love performs. Raising laughter and tears with acutely observed characterizations and dry, affectionate wit, she also keeps dealing out the surprises, leaving readers smiling long after the last page is turned.
Publishers Weekly

What happens when a well-adjusted adult is found by the birth mother she never sought? In Lipman's deft hands, the relationship between high school teacher April Epner and her newly discovered mother, talk-show hostess Bernice Graverman, is often strained, replete with humorous misunderstandings, but ultimately a warm and positive experience for both. Lipman's depiction of a 1980s family is a skillful rendering of the morals and manners of our time. Each character displays his or her human contradictions, whether it's Bernice frantically inventing preposterous stories concerning April's birth father, or April tentatively moving toward romance with the school librarian. This is a delightful addition to public library fiction collections. —Andrea Caron Kempf, Johnson Cty. Com. Coll. Lib., Overland Park, KS
Library Journal

Winningly wry and dry-eyed.... Funny, moving, and very wise in the ways of life.
Kirkus Reviews