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| Keep Your Mouth Shut and Wear Beige | 
| Author: Kathleen Gilles Seidel Publisher: St. Martin's Press Category: Book
List Price: $22.95 Buy New: $11.00 You Save: $11.95 (52%)
New (27) from $11.00
Avg. Customer Rating: 5 reviews Sales Rank: 316825
Media: Hardcover Number Of Items: 1 Pages: 288 Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9 Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.2
ISBN: 0312367740 Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54 EAN: 9780312367749 ASIN: 0312367740
Publication Date: May 13, 2008 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Condition: new....very nice
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| Customer Reviews:
Witty insight hits the marks July 21, 2008 The story builds gradually, with lots of intricate layers. Just when you think you've got a character figured out, there's a small (or large) surprise. Some things you see coming, but others... well, it took a great deal of effort to put the book down sometimes. I just HAD to know what was coming! The author nails her characters and is scrupulous in the details, making them very believable. Can't wait for her next one!
Realistic characters in real-life situations June 28, 2008 2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Although this book started off slowly, and seemed to sit on my nightstand forever before I picked it up, once I did, I couldn't put it down. The characters are vivid and real, and the modern-day dilemmas and situtations are astonishingly real. Betsey Shpiro, Author "Queen's Hostess"
Bit too beige for me... June 3, 2008 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I've loved KGS for a long time and have read every book she's written. She used to write category romances, moved on to longer more complex romances and her past 2 books haven't had any romance per se in them at all. I miss the romance. I love the characters she creates, who feel so real, like friends next door. I like her dramas and dilemmas are all real world and pertinent. But I miss the romance. So I bought this hard cover and it has a few shining moments, but I would have liked a bit more passion in it.
A terrifically smart and funny read May 28, 2008 4 out of 4 found this review helpful
WONDERFUL book! I'm tempted to reread it immediately because I like Seidel's voice so much. The narrator, Darcy, is an ICU nurse with two sons and a fairly recent, fairly amiable divorce. Then her older son, who is graduating from college and going on to med school and his similarly directed girlfriend decide to get married--and life changes.
The future daughter-in-law, Cami Zander-Brown, is really nice even though her parents have this 12 bedroom beach house in the Hamptons and tons of money. But the Zander-Browns are good people, and the family includes a medically fragile youngest child and some complicated relationships. Darcy, as mother of the groom, finds that her ex's new girlfriend, a Martha Stewartish blogging queen, wants to take over the wedding and edit out anything that isn't in Perfect Taste, and that includes Darcy.
But that's just the basic set-up. Seidel is an absolute master of insightful relationships, and all the many characters are beautifully delineated. This is women's fiction at its best--as entertaining as it is thoughtful. Highly recommended.
deep look at the dynamics of relationships May 17, 2008 6 out of 20 found this review helpful
In Virginia ICU nurse Darcy Van Aiken and her ex spouse Mike get along reasonably well just as they did in their two decades of marriage and not just for the sake of their three kids; especially since two have left the nest. However the family dynamics are changing as their oldest son Jeremy is getting married soon to clothing designer Claudia Postlewaite.
Darcy was a bit apprehensive in meeting her future in-laws as they are wealthy and she and Mike are middle class, but she and Claudia's mom seem to get on quite well. However, Darcy is upset that her future daughter-in-law sees her nuptials as advertising to further her professional reputation and to insure she stays amongst the social upper crust. Darcy wants what is best for Jeremy, but resents paying an exorbitant emotional price.
Amusing with a light tone yet populated with fully developed characters, KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT AND WEAR BEIGE is actually a very deep look at the dynamics of relationships when external forces changes the internal energies. Darcy and Claudia are adversaries with Mike caught in the middle; the rest of the cast are pulled in one direction or another by the battling amazons. Kathleen Gilles Seidel uses hyperbole and humor to tell a poignant tale of how the adult child inadvertently nukes the expectations of the parent.
Harriet Klausner
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