Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner

Goodnight Nobody

by Jennifer Weiner

"New York Times" bestselling author Jennifer Weiner's newest novel tells the story of a young mother's move to a postcard-perfect Connecticut town and the secrets she uncovers there.

For Kate Klein, a semi-accidental mother of three, suburbia's been full of unpleasant surprises. Her once-loving husband is hardly ever home. The supermommies on the playground routinely snub her. Her days are spent carpooling and enduring endless games of Candy Land, and at night, most of her orgasms are of the do-it-yourself variety.

When a fellow mother is murdered, Kate finds that the unsolved mystery is one of the most interesting things to happen in Upchurch since her neighbors broke ground for a guesthouse and cracked their septic tank. Even though Kate's husband and the police chief warn her that crime-fighting's a job best left to professionals, she can't let it go.

So Kate launches an unofficial investigation -- from 8:45 to 11:30 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, when her kids are in nursery school -- with the help of her hilarious best friend, carpet heiress Janie Segal, and Evan McKenna, a former flame she thought she'd left behind in New York City.

As the search for the killer progresses, Kate is drawn deeper into the murdered woman's double life. She discovers the secrets and lies behind Upchurch's placid picket-fence facade -- and the choices and compromises all modern women make as they navigate between independence and obligation, small towns and big cities, being a mother and having a life of one's own.

Engrossing, suspenseful, and laugh-out-loud funny, "Goodnight Nobody" is another unputdownable, timely tale; an insightful mystery with a great heart and a narrator you'llnever forget.

Reviewed by ibeforem on

3 of 5 stars

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I have mixed feelings about this book. Story-wise, it wasn’t bad. However… I know Jennifer Weiner’s books are supposed to be “fat girl does good” sort of things, but I got sooooooo tired of the references to her weight. I felt like every page had some reference to her thighs being larger than her husband’s, or her being the biggest person in the room, or some other badly hidden reminder that she doesn’t have a perfect body.

I haven’t written Weiner off yet. I have one more book of her’s to read (In Her Shoes, I believe), but if it’s written the same as this one I’m not going to bother with any others.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 14 April, 2006: Finished reading
  • 14 April, 2006: Reviewed