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    The View from Penthouse B
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    The View from Penthouse B
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    The View from Penthouse B
    Audiobook8 hours

    The View from Penthouse B

    Written by Elinor Lipman

    Narrated by Mia Barron

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

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    About this audiobook

    Unexpectedly widowed Gwen-Laura Schmidt is still mourning her husband when her sister Margot invites her to join forces as roommates in Margot's luxurious Village apartment. For Margot, divorced amid scandal, then made Ponzi-poor, it's a chance to shake Gwen out of her grief and help make ends meet. To further this effort she enlists a third boarder, the handsome Anthony. As the three swap money-making schemes and Gwen ventures back out into the dating world, the arrival of Margot's paroled ex in the apartment downstairs creates not just complications but the chance for all sorts of unexpected forgiveness. A sister story about love, loneliness, and new life in middle age, this is a cracklingly witty, deeply sweet novel from one of our finest comic writers.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDreamscape Media Audio
    Release dateApr 16, 2013
    ISBN9781624064685
    Author

    Elinor Lipman

    ELINOR LIPMAN is the award-winning author of sixteen books of fiction and nonfiction, including The Inn at Lake Devine, Isabel’s Bed, I Can’t Complain: (All Too) Personal Essays, On Turpentine Lane, Rachel to the Rescue, and Ms. Demeanor. Her first novel, Then She Found Me, became a 2008 feature film, directed by and starring Helen Hunt, with Bette Midler, Colin Firth, and Matthew Broderick. She was the 2011–12 Elizabeth Drew Professor of Creative Writing at Smith College and divides her time between Manhattan and the Hudson Valley. 

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    Reviews for The View from Penthouse B

    4/5

    107 ratings16 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Lipman excels at fire cracker-quick banter. Loved it!
    • 4/5
      Widowed Gwen moves in with her sister Margot. Margot's ex-husband Charles is in prison and Margot has lost her divorce settlement (apart from the penthouse) in the Madoff pyramid scheme. Later Margot takes in Anthony, who lost his job when Lehman Brothers collapsed, and Charles, released on parole, moves into a studio apartment in the same building.I liked this less than other Lipman novels I have read: I found it a little arch or smug in places, and the Margot/Charles storyline was faintly distasteful. On the other hand, I loved Anthony, and Gwen's dating mishaps were entertaining. The Olivia/Noel storyline simply disappeared half way through - what was that about?
    • 5/5
      Just plain FUN! The audio was terrific! Mia Barron made all of the characters appealing but you just can't help loving Gwen. I thought I had read Lipman's books but this is only my second so I'm looking forward to the others as I catch up!
    • 4/5
      I loved this book! It is quirky, smart, urban, and real. The characters are hilariously flawed, endearingly clueless and irredeemably tender in their clumsy devotion to each other.
    • 5/5
      I received The View from Penthouse B through the Amazon Vine Reviewers program. I hadn't read any of Elinor Lipman's earlier books and hadn't realized just how funny her writing can be. I started the book a few days ago, read it while traveling to Boston for a work emergency, and throughout the night once I got to Boston. I mention this just to emphasize that it drew me in and provided a wonderful escape!I loved the voice of the main character, the middle sister, Gwen-Laura Comadine. She's the newly widowed sister who had married a high school teacher and is unable/unwilling to move on. Her entrepreneurial idea is a platonic dating service. Her older sister Margot is another lovable character. The divorced wife of the disgraced fertility doctor invested her divorce settlement with Madoff. Margot's project is a website dedicated to Madoff victims that serves as a place to vent about the abuses of white collar thieves. Margot is defined by her strong emotions, sense of humor and charm. She opens up her home and heart - not just to her sister but to Anthony, a helpful and witty young gay man. The book is memorable because of the characters. The View from Penthouse B is witty, lighthearted, and fun. I highly recommend it!ISBN-10: 0547576218- Hardcover $26Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (April 16, 2013), 272 pages.Review copy courtesy of the Amazon Vine Reviewers Program.
    • 4/5
      I love Elinor Lipman books. They are set in a comfortable (to me) moral universe. Everything turns out as it ought, and everything is really well-written. (This wasn't one of my favorites, and I'd still recommend it.)
    • 4/5
      It took me a while to get into this. Lipman created charming, believable characters navigating life in late middle age.
    • 5/5
      I can't even begin to describe how much I loved this book. This book had me constantly laughing. For people who have experienced some difficult times these characters sure can find the humor in life. Let's face it, their lives are filled with funny situations. I loved the main characters in this book (Gwen, Margot, and Anthony), they jumped off the pages of the book straight into my heart. I would highly recommend this book, especially if you are looking for something that will keep you laughing.
    • 4/5
      A NYC penthouse overlooking the Hudson River is stuffed with zany characters and their emotional baggage. Margot purchased the apartment from the proceeds from her scandal ridden divorce, only to lose her remaining wealth to Ponzi King Bernie Madoff. Invited in is her reserved sister Gwen, two years a widow and originator of a sex free escort service for the timid. After a 'meet cute' on a picket line, computer savvy Anthony joins in with his cupcake pans and hunky boyfriends. Ex-husband Charles arrives later bearing only a faint whiff of minimum security prison. In true Lipman fashion, we are treated to whacky set pieces, all undergirded by a sweet story of sisters, love and forgiveness. I particularly enjoyed the various emails in response to a dating web site post. The story will be attractive to women who are, like me and the main protagonists, of a certain age. Those who enjoy witty writing and wonderful character development also will be rewarded by this charming tale. Lovely narration of the audiobook version was supplied by the talented Mia Barron. I was fortunate to hear a reading by Ms. Lipman early in the book's conception. It has more than lived up to expectations.
    • 4/5
      This is a delightfully lighthearted novel that focuses on two sisters who end up as room-mates following personal tragedies. Margot's husband, an ob-gyn doctor, is in jail after not-so-artifically inseminating patients at his fertility clinic. Adding insult to injury, Margot has lost her entire divorce settlement in the Madoff Ponzi scheme. Gwen was widowed two years ago and is still in deep mourning and also financially strapped, and socially stuck. Their new house-mate, Anthony, brings fresh air to their home, and the three of them take on their respective demons in a most satisfying way.
    • 4/5
      This book will probably be dated very quickly because of all the references -- Craigslist, Facebook, match.com, Bernie Madoff. But it was so charming! Gwen finds herself widowed when her dear husband dies unexpectedly. She moves in with her older sister, Margot, who used the windfall from her divorce settlement to purchase a penthouse apartment before investing the rest with BM. Because the sisters are a little hard up for cash, they take in a twenty-something laid off investment banker named Anthony. Anthony and Margot encourage Gwen to start dating again, but poor Gwen would rather stay home and think about launching Chaste Dates, a matchmaking service for adults looking for friendship only. It is a perfect comfort read -- funny and sweet without being saccharine -- with a very lovely and perfect ending.
    • 4/5
      The View From Penthouse BByElinor LipmanMy " in a nutshell" summary...The adventures of two sisters who room together in a penthouse apartment with a gay young man who bakes amazing cupcakes.My thoughts after reading this book...Circumstances...death and a Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme...cause two sisters to share a penthouse apartment. Gwen's beloved husband is really dead...Margot's is just dead to her...due to infidelity and her OBGYN's husband's indiscretions in his office. He is in prison...soon to be released.Margot brings home Anthony...a gay unemployed man and their lives begin to change. He is everything they want in a roommate...they have the luxury of having a man around without any sexual tension...plus he changes batteries and cooks! Perfection!Everyone grows and changes and becomes more open to romantic possibilities during the time they are living together.What I loved about this book...I really loved that this book was fun. The events of Gwen's and Margot's lives were tragic but they still dealt with life with joy and humor. I loved reading about their relationships both past and present. I loved reading about their relationships with food...roasted chicken, cabbage soup, fluffy eggs, breads, cupcakes...loved this part of the book and its NYC setting.What I did not love...There was so much going on in this book. Every time I turned a page there was yet one more character with one more issue. Final thoughts...This book was fun...I loved the wit and humor...darn it...I loved these spunky women! They could bounce back and they did. And...who wouldn't love Anthony...he was probably my most favorite character. This was a charming yummy book...perfect for a summer beachy reading experience.
    • 5/5
      Elinor Lipman's characters pulled me with real life emotion and made me feel right at home. the voice of the writer was simply wonderful and the characters were all my favorites. I wanted this story to continue on and grow more allowing me to be a part. Middle age,love, a bit of humor, divorce and cupcakes blended together made a delightful read.I received this book via goodreads and very much enjoyed the opportunity to read it.
    • 4/5
      Elinor Lipman's 'The View from Penthouse B' is a modern saga of love, loss, and loneliness, adultery and fraud, family and forgiveness.Lipman ably juggles her themes in the tale of the two sisters who reside in Penthouse B. Margot, recently divorced from an infamous fertility specialist who is serving time for providing insemination services of too intimate a nature, is the owner of the apartment. Poor Margot, however, also encountered further bad luck when she made the investment of a lifetime with that clever Mr. Madoff. Now all that remains of her divorce settlement is the penthouse. Her recently widowed younger sister Gwen, the story's narrator, has come to share the expenses and put her own life back together after the death of her greatly loved spouse. Add to the mix the charming young Anthony, boarder and baker of extraordinary red velvet cupcakes, who becomes the sisters' mentor, introducing them to the world of Craigslist and on line dating.The sisters are dealing with unexpected loss - Margot is righteously furious with both Charles, her ex, and Bernie M. Gwen has taken a hit to the heart with the loss of her Edwin and just can't seem to get past her grief and build new relationships. Both have been felled by an inexplicable blow but neither is down for the count.And in Lipman's talented hands, we watch the two women push and prod each other back into life. If this novel is anything, it is a story in praise of the love between sisters and the power of that love. And of the effect of forgiveness on both victim and sinner. The publisher provided an ARC.
    • 4/5
      This book was different than I was expecting from the title, I was picturing real housewives, but what I got was a well written character driven book about sisters, second chances, dating, grief and forgiveness played out with a humor I wasn’t expecting. These two sisters with very different problems living in an apartment together with Anthony their gay roommate as Margot deals with the her paroled ex-husband who moved in downstairs, plus financial woes thanks to Bernie Madoff, and Gwen jumping back into the dating scene after mourning her husband for 2 years.I truly enjoyed these characters, they weren’t all weepy, woe is me; they were trying their hardest to get over the difficulties of the past and doing it surrounded by friends and humor. They have made this happy life for themselves they accepted Anthony as a roommate so they could have a man around but without all the hassle of a straight man. Although all are dealing with a lot of crap that life has thrown at them they are handling it so well, and that is what I enjoyed it wasn’t doom and gloom even Margot can make jokes about the ponzi scheme she ended up involved in and Gwen after mourning for two years is finally going from black to lavender –which was a euphemism of her finally putting down the mantel of widow and moving on to find some happiness in lifeMia Barron’s narration was very well done; she embodied the characters with wit and snark when warranted and had very good comedic timing that fit this book very well. I am honestly not sure I would have enjoyed it as much in print. Her narration of Myra at the end is splendid! I would definitely listen to this narrator again. 4 stars
    • 5/5
      With a plot inspired by the headlines and a roommate situation worthy of a sitcom, The View From Penthouse B is both witty and fun. Two 40 or 50-something sisters live together in genteel poverty as they try to recover from their life setbacks. Gwen-Laura’s beloved husband died two years ago, a loss she still feels, and Margot’s fertility specialist ex-husband has just been released from prison for spreading his seed among his patients in a most unprofessional manner. Margot lost all the money from her divorce settlement in a Bernie Madoff scam, but at least she still has the penthouse apartment, which is big enough to also house a third roommate--a congenial gay man in his twenties. Can Gwen-Laura move on with her life? Can Margot forgive her eager to please ex-husband? All the book’s characters are such good company--funny, open, thoughtful and interesting--that as I was reading I was crossing my fingers for them the way I would for a friend. A thoroughly enjoyable novel.