Mourning Glory Published Book Reviews See complete details about Mourning Glory including immediate purchase options. Mourning Glory is a provocative heart stopping bittersweet tale of desperation and desire in the vein of The War of the Roses and Random Hearts.

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Quotes

"Novelist Warren Adler, whose books The War of the Roses and Random Hearts were turned into star-driven films, returns with Mourning Glory, which Hollywood will soon snap up"
-The Post and Courier (Charleston, SC), June 7, 2001

"The reader roots for protagonist Grace Sorentino, wanting her to win through and triumph in this new page-turner from the author of Random Hearts and The War of the Roses. Warren Adler's insight into people, and women in particular, plus his strong story-telling ability, make this a smashing and suspenseful read."
-Barbara Taylor Bradford, author of The Triumph of Katie Byrne

"This book is a blast and compulsory reading."
-David Brown, producer of Chocolat, The Player, and A Few Good Men

"Mourning Glory is a fresh, original, compulsive read.  Warren Adler delivers a dark, delectable look at lust, greed, betrayal and redemption.  Never have the seven deadly sins been such fun.
-Judith Kelman, author of Summer of Storms and After the Fall

Scribes World Reviews
by Karen McCullough

Grace Sorentino's life is tanking. She's divorced, in debt, saddled with a demanding, rebellious teenage daughter, and stuck in a dead-end job. With no education, no family to back her, and no lifeline when she's fired from her cosmetic sales job, she literally has no idea what to do, doesn't know how to survive. Her only opportunity is the cynical, despicable advice that is her former employer's parting gift to her..."Find yourself an older wealthy man, a widower, fresh from the burial ground, someone who in his vulnerability can appreciate a good-looking woman like yourself to share his bed and his fortune."

Grace is sickened by the advice, disgusted by the cynicism and heartlessness of it. But then she has to face life without a job, or any prospect of finding a way to support herself and her daughter. Desperation drives her to follow the advice and brings her into the orbit of Sam Goodwin, a man who more than fits the criteria. Not only has his wife just died, he's wealthy, powerful and even handsome for his age.

Her plan to insert herself into Sam's life goes off even more smoothly than Grace could have anticipated, and soon she's sharing his home and his bed. But to get to that place, she's had to build a complex web of lies that will, sooner or later, catch up with her. The difficulty grows as she learns the guilt Sam carries and gains insight into the realities that underlay the apparently perfect marriage Sam had with his late wife, Anne. Worse yet, Grace falls in love with Sam and comes to realize that she's going to have to tell him the truth. She doubts their relationship can survive the revelation of her deceptions.

MOURNING GLORY is a romance novel with a harder, cynical edge, but it's a totally entrancing and compelling read. Grace and Sam are very human characters, confronted with needs that force them into actions others might judge harshly, but the author shows us their desperation and makes us understand what drives them. The relationship between them is developed in a somewhat roundabout way that begins with seduction but moves into deeper emotional sharing and connection in unexpected ways. The plot proceeds smartly, with several intriguing twists, and resolves in a completely satisfying way. You won't regret the time spent reading this book, and you won't quickly forget it either.

Reproduced with permission from Scribes World Reviews.

American Library Association Booklist
by Carol Haggas

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Out of a job, out of money, and out of patience with her out-of-control teenage daughter, Grace takes some unusual advice from an unlikely source and does something out of character to stop her life from falling completely apart. Deciding that a loveless marriage to a wealthy man is the solution, the thirtysomething divorcee makes a calculated attempt to snare a rich widower. In tony Palm Beach, such creatures are not uncommon, and finding a likely suspect is as easy as perusing the obituaries, then cruising the funeral parlors. Quick as you can say "my deepest condolences," Grace meets Sam and insinuates herself into his life, his bed, and ultimately his heart. Although everything goes beyond her wildest expectations, nothing goes according to plan as truth and honesty are sacrificed to greed and deception. Viewing the dating game from an offbeat perspective, Adler paints a credible portrait of a grieving widower and a ruthless caricature of a predatory woman.

Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Publishers Weekly

Lubricious (and sometimes ludicrous), this novel gives hope to despairing single females on the verge of 40. There's always a chance to acquire a rich husband if you screen the obits, pick out a grieving widower with a posh address and take after him, saving the sex card, of course, for last. Prolific novelist and screenwriter Adler (The War of the Roses) is a skilled fictioneer; his plot turns are inventive, and his true-to-life dialogue helps identify each character all of whom engage readers' emotions in one way or another. Grace Sorentino, divorced mother of feisty teenaged daughter Jackie, sells cosmetics at Saks in Palm Beach until she's fired for talking back to a rude, rich customer. Faced with continued downward mobility, she takes her boss's advice, does the research and finally fibs her way into Sam Goodwin's mansion after the funeral of his "perfect" wife, Anne, professing to be a volunteer who's been designated to distribute Anne's extensive wardrobe among appropriate charities. One lie leads to another as Grace invents an upscale past (parentage, college, ex-husband, daughter) to match her envisioned upscale future. Grace can foresee neither the threat posed by Sam's greedy adult children nor that represented by her own daughter, full of curiosity about her mother's secret activities. The sex and money showcased here constitute soft porn: designer label lingo will satisfy upwardly mobile wannabes, and the occasional stirrings of conscience among the principal characters make everybody feel good. This is romance doctored with a good dose of suspense; the titillating premise should attract browsers, especially when the mass market edition appears. National advertising; 3-city author tour.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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