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“Arriving in New York for the first time was like wearing a sign that said CHEAT ME.��

“What you see, she thought, is not what you get. What you see is what you see.��


Rosoff’s novel, set in 1983, focuses on eighteen-year-old Beth, who comes to New York City after being selected for a prestigious summer internship at a large daily newspaper. Three other young people—preppy WASPish Oliver; ambitious “New Wave�� Dan; and beautiful, unstable Edie Gale—have also won positions. Beth, the child of traumatized Holocaust survivors, is a dull sparrow compared to the worldly, stylish, and moneyed Edie, who is a different kind of Jew—one of the neurotic New York variety. Beth is flattered when Edie takes to her, tries to give her a makeover, and just generally shows her the way at both the newspaper and in the big city.

Rosoff’s narrative initially moves at quite a clip. There’s lots of snappy dialogue, some of it laugh-out-loud funny. However, the story becomes increasingly dark. Edie is a troubled, self-centred drama queen—and a nymphomaniac to boot. She’s been in therapy with Dr. Liebermann for years, but she hasn’t moved beyond blaming her psychological dysfunction on her harsh, controlling shrew of a mother. Beth learns all of this and more when she becomes feverishly, deliriously ill and Edie extracts her from the squalid apartment in Greenwich Village she’s sharing with a miserable young couple. Edie’s parents are away in the Hamptons for the summer and Beth is invited to live with her in rent-free, spacious, air-conditioned luxury. There’s a catch or two, of course. Beth is expected to be Edie’s audience and, over time, her minder. As her brilliant friend spirals out of control, Beth finds that her living arrangements and indeed her involvement with Edie are unmanageable.

This is a coming-of-age novel for mature young adults that is preceded by a warning about sexual content. There’s also a lot of drinking and drug use, and the AIDs epidemic looms menacingly in the background. The virus is no longer limited to young gay men; it’s beginning to affect women unaware of their partners�� secret histories. The newspaper where Beth interns has recently hired two additional obituary writers, as the arts and creative communities are being decimated.

I found it puzzling that Beth was able to consume alcohol, often to great excess, at New York drinking establishments. She is, after all, barely eighteen. Edie is apparently of legal drinking age, nineteen, but we’re told several times that her appearance is childlike. At no point is either girl asked for ID. Perhaps this is par for the course in what is depicted as a dirty, chaotic, cut-throat city. Rosoff intimates that no one here much cares about anyone else. Bystanders and the police certainly don’t. (view spoiler)[One Saturday Beth is mugged at gunpoint while lined up with others to withdraw money at an ATM. Later, when she phones the police to notify them of the crime, they’re indifferent. Busy. Maybe she could come down to the station in a few hours? Or not. Similarly, there’s no interest when Beth phones to report that Edie has been missing for days. Picked up by a man at a bar? Yawn. The desk clerk has heard it all before. Beth’s friend is just off having a good time. (hide spoiler)]

Rosoff’s novel is propulsive, and I see her target audience being rewarded by it. Characterization is generally strong, even if I wasn’t entirely convinced by some of Beth’s actions, reactions, and decisions. The novel also takes too long to conclude and is a bit preachy about all the things Beth has supposedly learned. At the same time, it is true that in almost every life there really are brief, intense periods when a person is shaken up by a cascade of events. It can take months or years to reassemble oneself from the pieces that remain. For Beth, “What had begun as treachery had morphed into something else. She has been through fire and was stronger for it. Forged in the flame of a New York summer.��

A thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for providing me with a free advanced review digital copy of Rosoff’s book.

Rating: a solid 3.5