Cecily von Ziegesar, author of the Gossip Girl series, has created a delightfully absurd novel with Cobble Hill, about four quirky families who all live in the Cobble Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn.
First there are the Clarkes: Roy, a famous novelist; magazine editor Wendy; and their teenage daughter, Shy, who adores Latin but who is struggling through math. Shy is getting tutored by Liam, the geeky son of Greg, a kindergarten music teacher, and Peaches, the flirtatious elementary school nurse. Peaches is ecstatic to discover that one of the fourth-graders is the son of Stuart Little, former member of a famous band and now a second-rate music producer; his ex-model wife, Mandy, is faking multiple sclerosis because she can't deal with her boring life anymore. The last couple is Tupper and Elizabeth--an eclectic inventor and a truly bizarre artist, who enlist Roy and Peaches in the strange power plays they undertake in their marriage.
Funny, thoughtful and downright irresistible, Cobble Hill offers a glimpse into a rarefied world, and how everyone deals differently with affluence and influence. The misfit characters struggle through many disasters and funny social occasions, ultimately finding connection with each other and with readers through von Ziegesar's humorous prose. Sure to appeal to fans of Modern Lovers or That's What Frenemies Are For, Cobble Hill is a lighthearted look at modern family life among Brooklyn's upper crust. --Jessica Howard, bookseller at Bookmans, Tucson, Ariz.