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First Lady by Blayne Cooper and T. Novan
When "Madame President" originally premiered I heard quite a lot of talk about it and when I finally read it, I figured out why. These two ladies had created a pair of strong, competent, complex characters with depth and value and thrown them together in a manner ensuring the eruption of sparks for a variety of different and compelling reasons. Now, with the long-awaited follow-up in "First Lady", Cooper and Novan bring us deeper into the characters' lives, lifting the curtain on the inner life of the President, giving us to appreciate more fully the weight of such power and responsibility and its inevitable effects on one's personal life. Devlyn Marlowe, a supremely dedicated public servant, struggles to find the balance between the chaos of managing U.S. interests and some soul-harrowing choices, and finding time to develop her relationship with Lauren, get married, raise her kids, and schedule two minutes just so she can breathe. By contrast, Lauren Strayer, on the verge of becoming First Lady, is forced to deal with numerous stresses herself, including the press, her estranged father, Dev's instant family, the upcoming wedding, her responsibilities as biographer, and some pervasive personal demons relating to her now deceased mother. Truly, the emotional cauldron these two authors have mixed is fraught with drama, reversals, and intensity that ensnares your attention and demands it totally until you reach the very last chapter. Always maintaining the inside edge of plausibility, Cooper and Novan find moments of humour to share with us, lightening the mood on occasion and offering the reader a full spectrum of emotions to experience with the characters. I alternately bit my lip or chuckled outright as I read "First Lady" through two sittings (bring food! bring coffee!) and loved it as much as I loved their first offering. Most especially, I loved the little pepperings of real history and personal political commentary they added regarding recent political events. The subtle and not-so-subtle jabs were thoroughly enjoyed. If I were to voice even a single complaint, I'd say that the very few spelling/grammar issues I crossed--simply because of their rarity in such wonderful, flowing prose--were jarring, but thankfully the story didn't suffer for their presence. "First Lady" is definitely worthy of your time. Personally, I've added it to my own private list of stories I can happily re-read and hope you'll discover you feel the same. Go now, read it, and be sure to thank the authors! http://midgit.co.uk/advocatefl.htm |
