review: gossip by beth gutcheon

With a title like Gossip, I expected a scandal-filled good time from Beth Gutcheon.  Although there is some scandal, the storylines just didn’t live up to my expectations.  First off, the title is actually derived from what narrator Lovie says is the original meaning of talk between the godparents of a child.  As such, much of the focus is on the adult children of two of Lovie’s best friends.  Said children eventually meet each other (although Lovie is friends with each one’s mother, their mothers are not friends), fall in love, marry, and have a child of their own.  Meanwhile, real-life events such as the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack and the Great Recession affect the characters; however, everyone is relatively unscathed and problems are always of their own making.  It was for that reason that I couldn’t find anything likable about these snobbishly wealthy New Yorkers.  Another issue with Gossip was that it was told from Lovie’s perspective, which meant there was quite a bit of disconnect from the action as it is always Lovie relating what happened rather than it playing out on the page.  Furthermore, nothing really happened until the last few chapters of the book when there was finally the huge scandal that I was waiting for, but it came out of nowhere and was quite disturbing.

2/5

Review copy provided by FSB Associates.