B+
Title: Maybe This Time
Author: Jennifer Crusie
Publication Info: St. Martin's 2010
ISBN: 978-0-312-30378
Genre: Contemporary/Other
A few weeks ago, I gave away ARCs of Jennifer Crusie’s Maybe This Time, and asked that, if the winners were so inclined, the lucky ARC-getters would send me their thoughts on the book.
Carrie was the first to send me her review, and I’m including it here – with a bonus at the bottom. See? It’s sometimes worth it to read all them there words.
I am still writing my review – it’s both a good thing and a bad thing that this book has given me so much to think about – but Carrie hits on a lot of the things I’ve been thinking about, too.
Maybe This Time, by Jennifer Crusie, is Crusie’s attempt to “fix” Henry James’ classic tale of horror, The Turn of the Screw. In The Turn of the Screw, a young, repressed, isolated governess attempts to protect her two charges from the ghosts of their previous governess and manservant. Crusie keeps the ghosts, but her governess, Andie, is tough, smart, liberated, unflappable, and surrounded by people whether she wants to be or not. Also, unlike the governess, Andie doesn’t need anybody’s approval and is totally outspoken about everything that happens. On her website, Crusie describes this as “a ghost story with a romance”, and readers should be aware that the actual romance is very much secondary to the story, although themes of loss, longing, and desire are central.
Maybe This Time opens with so many Crusie tropes that a drinking game is in order. Take one drink for each favorite accessory, i.e, Fiestaware, amaretto, butterflies; and chug for every returning character (Hi Gabe! Hi Simon! Love ya!). Andie herself has her own unique and wonderful personality, but is clearly a close relation of Min, Mare, and Agnes, of, respectively, Bet Me, The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes, and Agnes and the Hitman. All of these touches make the book feel familiar and safe, even a bit derivative – until the ghosts appear and the story turns into something completely unexpected.
There is no need to be familiar with Turn of the Screw to enjoy Maybe This Time, but it does explain why Crusie uses so many horror cliches to tell her story. Not a door goes uncreaked in the house which was been imported, brick by haunted brick, from England to rural Ohio. Some readers may experience this book as a fun lark, since it certainly contains ample touches of humor and hilarious chaos. Personally, I’m an easy scare. One good rocking chair rocking by itself sends me diving under the bedcovers. Also, I have a daughter about the same age as the little girl in the book, who looks and acts very much like the little girl, so the menace hit home at a very visceral way for me. I can honestly say that as soon as the ghost of Miss J appeared at the foot of the little girl’s bed, I was absolutely terrified until the book ended. But, my guess is that most readers are a bit (OK, a LOT) more hardened than I am. Also, I understood why Crusie used the trappings of gothic horror to tell her story, since she was trying to rework a gothic story. But by using so many cliches (the creepy house, the creepy housekeeper, the creepy – well, everything) the reader is very aware that this is just a story, and not a new one.
The romance aspect of the book involves Andie and her ex-husband, North. When the book opens, they have been divorced for ten years. Andie is about to remarry when North asks her to take care of two children who have been left in his care for one month. This will allow Andie to enter her new marriage debt-free and put some closure on what is clearly an unfinished love affair with North. Ta-da, situation set for romantic mayhem.
Andie and North are the old standby, opposites who attract. They married after knowing each other for only twelve hours (which consist mostly of sex) and they set up house in the attic of North’s family house. When North had to save the family law firm, he became a secretive workaholic, leaving free-spirited Andie basically trapped in the attic. Although Andie left the marriage, it’s clear that Andie and North are haunted, pun fully intended, by their memories of each other, a fact which one of the ghosts exploits. Does the romance work? Well, aspects of it do. The fact they still long for each other is made vividly clear, as is the fact that they have great sex. The problem is that we don’t get a good enough picture of what their happy times were like, other than that they involved sex and dancing, to see why they want to be together. The relationship doesn’t really build up in the present, either. I liked to see that they had both grown up and become more honest with each other, but there just wasn’t enough to hang a romance on. We know they are in love because they say so, and that’s it. They aren’t a bad couple, they just aren’t developed enough to make me invested in their relationship. Also, the culmination of the romance wasn’t that important to the plot. In a really successful romance, while the reader hopes that everything will be fine for everyone, the reader really cares first and foremost about the fate of the main couple. But in this book, it was nice that Andie and North got together and all, but what I really cared about was whether the kids were safe and the ghost eliminated.
Like every other Crusie book, much of the joy of the story comes from its richly drawn and hilarious characters. Andie is a joy to spend time with, and I warmed to North as soon as he sent Andie a new oven so she could bake without scorching the cookies. The moms are fun characters in their own right, but they also serve as parallels for Andie and North. Andie’s mom wears Iron Maiden T-Shirts, and North’s mom wears impeccable suits, but neither mom has any patience with stupidity, self-destructiveness, or boundaries. The kids are well-written, although I was sure the little girl is six, until I re-read the book and saw that she is eight. She sure would make a dead-on six year old, as I should know, since I have one who bears an eerie resemblance to the one in the book, right down to the sparkle fetish and the temper tantrums. I also enjoyed the medium, Isolde, and the skeptic, Dennis (Jennifer, is that a Whedon shout-out? Because, if so, good one!). Sadly, Andie’s fiancee and an evil reporter are one-dimensional and serve only to introduce extra conflict to the book.
In short, Maybe This Time is the classic example of the whole being more than the sum of its parts. I read this book, flipped back to the beginning, and read it again just for fun. I loved the humor, the tension, the imagery, the crazy cast of characters, and the themes. For pure enjoyment, I’d give it an A. However, the book may disappoint lovers of the paranormal in it’s use of cliche, and it may disappoint romance readers because the romance is secondary to the ghost story. I loved the book and would read it again and again, but I wish it had gone a little deeper and maybe even a little darker. Maybe North shouldn’t have replaced the old oven, so that Andie was beset by a house that fought her attempts to domesticate it by burning all the cookies. Maybe this should have been a story in which the real life lovers have to let go of the memory of their love, just as the ghosts have to let go of the desires and needs they had when they were alive. But then we wouldn’t have our happy ending, and we might as well read Turn of the Screw instead. I did re-read it after I read Crusie’s version, and I don’t know which one has more merit as Lasting Literature, but I can tell you that I’d rather read the Crusie story any day!
Jennfer Crusie quote from: http://www.jennycrusie.com/books/fiction/maybe-this-time/
You want a copy? Thinking hardcovers are outside the budget right now? No worries. I have 8 hardbacks and a postage scale in my dining room (which is sign #253 that you might be a blogger). Just leave me a comment here and tell me why you want to try to read this book, and yes, your review would be welcome after you’ve read it, should you be so inclined. Contest ends midnight Sunday 29 August 2010. I’ll pick eight winners, and announce them next week.
Standard disclaimer: no, I am not possessed. No, I am not being compensated for this giveaway. Yes, I do spend a lot of money on postage. Yes, I have my own postage scale and stamp printer, which I love even more than my luggage and my microwave. Yes, I do believe in life after love. No, I do not have a first aid kit handy. Yes, I remember that one time at band camp.
I would love to read this book, because I’m already hooked on the first chapter Jenny has posted! And I’m impatient and can’t wait 🙂
I presume that I am ineligible, being in another country (I won’t finish that quote as it is inappropriate, mentioning wenches as it does), but I have not only read ‘The Turn of the Screw’, but I seem to be the only person here who actually enjoyed it. So much so, that I re-read it at intervals. It’s a wonderful example of a narrated Gothic ghost story, and it is truly chilling – just the thing to read on a cold winter night with the wind howling outside, the wood-burning stove lit and the curtains drawn. Although I have never seen the film, there is an operatic version, by Benjamin Britten, which truly captures the creepiness of the original novelette. I cannot believe that Jennifer Crusie’s version can compete!
I would love to have a copy of this book, because I’ve never been to Ohio and reading her books are a vicarious thrill. Also, I need a bit of cheering up after beginning a new school year.
Thanks to everyone who liked my review! It was a tough one to write, because for such a light book there was an awful lot of “stuff” in it – the ghost story, the romance, the power of memory, and I didn’t even talk about things like the role of family (by birth and by choice) in the book, or possession, or the fact that what was supposed to be the big scare was pretty horrifying – but only in the sense that it made me realize how dirty my carpets are. Now THAT’S scary! I think this is one of the books where milage will vary A LOT so I’m looking forward to seeing what people think of it once it comes out. Also I do think that the book is fun even without and knowledge of TTTS. I had read TTTS a long time before I read MTT, and forgotten most of it. But then I re-read TTTS and MTT again, and I have to say it made MTT more fun.
For the fans/non-fans of Turn of the Screw, I wouldn’t say this book is really in competition. TTTS is deeply, seriously, tragically tied to the limits and challenges faced by women and children in a rigorously class-conscious, sexist society. It is a great story that gets better the more I think about it, but right after reading it I was all, WTF and wanted to slap all the characters upside the head. Since so much if the tragedy of TTTS has to do with the inability of any characters to communicate clearly and directly, and the need of characters for each other’s love and approval above all else, it was really fun to watch Crusie’s character just blast through all that with her strong sense of self and perspective. I’m a people pleaser in recovery and I loved watching a character who has a high sense of ethics, empathy, kindness, and responsibility, but doesn’t need anyone to like her just for the sake of being liked.
I’d love to win a copy! I never miss a Crusie book, I’ve read them all and The Cinderella Deal might be my favorite all time romance. After reading the excerpts Crusie posted on her blog, I loved the His Girl Friday flavor of the opening scene between Andie and North and the suitably creepy house/governess. I’ve never read Turn of the Screw or James at all, so this could be a nice way to ease into it maybe!
I have piles upon piles of books on my bookshelves, flowing out my closet, and piled sooo high you can’t even see out my bedroom window anymore…and the funny part is, I have lent out even more books than the ones piled to friends and family!
Which means…I’m always looking for new books to read and gush over. I’ve always gushed over JC (all her books are located on the 3 shelf of my bookcase….yes, you can say it. I’M. A. GEEK.)
Plus, life is always better with a great novel with awesome characters/plot/writing that makes you forget about everything else and just read until the sun comes up.
Hm…I may seem to be a copycat with the list function, but I’m feeling list-y today.
1. I’m a complete Crusie virgin, which should be taken positively for this because I say so
2. Ghost stories are the shiz. As are retellings of classics. So, two in one is like…like a Reese’s cup with the combined amazingness of two things.
3. I am not afraid to beg.
4. I am a teenager. We are known for being poor. And smelly. But mostly poor.
5. I am not above bribery
My five reasons for wanting this book. 🙂
Pick me! I’ve never read Jennifer Crusie, although she’s on my wish list. I haven’t read a ghost story in ages because I got turned off by gore and endings that weren’t happy. I love being scared, hate being grossed out. Really hate it when an author leads me down a hellish garden path and then just leaves me there. This one sounds so good!
Oh, and of course I’d send you my review.
I enter everything yet never win anything.
I don’t know why I am bothering (again) but can only say I am intrigued by the story.
I should be given a copy of the book because I will die if I don’t get to read it soon, which means I will haunt you and become a trope. Do you you WANT your rocking chairs to rock by themselves? Do you? Additionally, I am a fellow bitch. My bitchiness is extreme. There is also the fact I am a feminist stay-at-home mom. It’s hard to parent three small daughters and I need the book because I need something for me that has not been found and filched by sticky little fingers. Although the five year old reads, so she may get her paws on it anyway. But I still need the book! Finally, I have a Glittery HooHa and I should de facto get what I need with very little effort. My HooHa is so damn Glittery that I leave sparkling drifts when I walk. I cough and it looks like a Rainbow Bright factory in my living room.
So to recap, give me a book or I will die and you will be haunted by a bitchy ghost who leaves endoplasmic HooHa Glitter all over your house while lecturing you to sit up straight and not to collude with patriarchal oppression.
There is nothing good about that. Gimme a Crusie book!
I should get a book because I quoted the Smart Bitches in a very scholarly article full of big words, which makes the Bitches look extremely smart and cool, which they are of course. Also, I am a redhead and we are terrifying creatures and need to be propitiated so you don’t suffer from The Curse of The Firecrotch. The only way to break the curse is to send a redhead a hardback copy of a Jenny Crusie novel. I am really only doing this for you. You should be grateful.
Holy shit! I have a twin!
I’d love to win a copy because I haven’t read a good ghost story in ages, and I’m very curious to see how Crusie handles a haunting- I’m sure it will be wonderfully done!
@Kyra Kramer and Betty Fokker: you made me spit Diet Coke all over my keyboard! Now get your butts over here to clean it up! Now! I mean it! Before the shifting FireGlitter dunes start sticking to the aspartame.
I am the redheaded feminist mother of two girls and I demand propitiation! Even if I can’t spell it. Spelling is a patriarchical construct enforced to keep the left-brainers down, I tell you!
What a way to start the weekend, thank you!
I would like to read this book because I have NOT enjoyed the last couple of books she’s written with other people. I am hoping that a new book by Crusie along will bring back the things I liked about her older books.
I would love a copy of this book. Sounds like it’s right up my alley.
I’d love to win this, since it’s Ms. Crusie’s first solo effort in awhile, and her books are good for the funny bone(s)!
feel33 is my word for today…I’m 38, but I guess I still feel 33—-sometimes even younger!
Oh, I would really like a book… I’m getting started on JC…. have a few, but would like another. Please. Please. Please.
I want want WANT this book!! Here are some reasons you should consider me:
*I’ve never read a Jennifer Cruise.
*I looooooove ghost stories, whether touted to be “true” or unabashedly fiction.
*I love romance.
*I’ve written my own ghostly romance and wonder how it measures up to a pro’s.
*I don’t have a book budget anymore : (
Pick me pick me pick me!!! I’ve never written a book review before but I’d love to give my best effort and I promise to be honest about what I think.
behind85: I’d look behind 85 creaky doors to find this book!
I’d love to win a copy of Maybe This Time as I’ve really enjoyed her other books.
It’s Jennifer Crusie. Do I really need to say anything else?
I would love to read this book because the quote on Cruise’s website that I read right after I heard about the book a couple of months ago: “In fact, I pretty much love this book.” When you can say that about your own work (and you’re not a raging egomaniac) there must be something pretty special going on.
I would dearly love to win a copy of this book. Crusie is the author who made me admit that there might be something to this strange “romance” genre, and yet I’ve had such an impossible time finding other authors to get by on in between Crusies. She writes so damn slowly! Please send me a copy to save me from having to read another book like Nobody’s Baby But Mine.
NOPE!! NO WAY do I want this book. I saw the movie adaptation in the 60’s and I spent most of my time with my hands covering my eyes because it was creepy so I never got the gist of the story. Thanks to this review, I have an idea of what was going on in “The Innocents”. That’s all I need to know!
I have never been a fan of the ghost story.
I would love to read this because Crusie is the only contemporary romance author I really enjoy and I’m so thrilled that she’s written something that’s not a collaboration again.
i would loooove to get my hands on this. bet me was my gate way drug to crusie books, and my ocd needs me to have a hard copy of all her books. plus im trying to branch out. i think i keep reading the same sorts of books over again. i need a change
Yes, I would like a copy, too. As an English major (decades ago) I had to read and analyze Turn of the Screw. Something to cheer up those memories would be great. Also, I like ghost stories but am having trouble finding current books with ghosts that I enjoy. I’d love to give this a try.
Oh, I love a good ghost story..and Crusie always cracks me up. Plus I’m recovering from abdominal surgery and have been putting a mean dent in my ‘to read’ pile!
I love JC, most of her books are a real comfort re-read for me. It is like going to visit old friends. This sounds great! I haven’t read Turn of the Screw but this makes me want to read it.
I am looking forward to reading Cruise’s new book, but the hardcover price is making me wait! I have been a Crusie fan from day one, and am looking forward to her take on The Turn of the Screw. Her characters have always been a big kick to me and Carrie’s review makes me want to read Maybe This Time all the more.
Thanks for posting the review and adding a little humor to the beginning of my day.
I want this book because I love all things Crusie and it has been a long long wait for another solo effort. I read the collaborations (heck I even read her listserv for the witty zingers she is full of), and actually reading the book should give me a fix so I can rein in the stalker fan girl stuff for awhile.
Tessa, click my name and come over for a visit to my blog and we can discuss the terms for cleaning the aspartame off your keyboard, although if it is covered in HooHa Glitter that is clearly not MY glitter and you are on your own. Your own personal Magic Crotch Sparkle is your own personal problem.
I haven’t read a gothic in ages. I used to love them- the gossamer nightgowns, every corner hiding a silent threat and how candles were the only source of light (like watching the X-files really- I mean are there *no* overhead lights anywhere?).
I’d be very interested to read Cruisie’s take on an old-school scary story. Plus- I scare like a guinea pig on crack, so that’ll be a good bonus.
I wonder if someone’s mother will complain about fat or dress sizes in this one too? Hmmm
Sign me up for wanting a copy too, please. This sounds like a really fun book.
Why do I want this book? Because it’s Jennifer Crusie! There hasn’t been a single Crusie book that I haven’t liked. Yes, even her collaborative efforts, which missed the mark for some. For me, her books have always been must-reads. Am so psyched she has a new one out again.
I would love a copy of this book because I miss the smell of a new book!
I love Jennifer Crusie, she might actually be my favorite romance author. And I am poor, and no way am going to buy this in hardcover. So yeah, I totally want to win one of these! I do! But I’m kind of stumped as to why I should get one rather than someone else. I’m really tempted to go below the belt here and say I should get it because I’m in treatment for breast cancer (true) but that seems kind of cheap. So…. I should get because I’m cute, spunky, quirky and love a stray animal, just like a Crusie heroine! Or…. I should get it because I have a lot of time on my hands and can write a great review! Or… because I lived in a haunted house once? Or… *bats lashes* …just ‘cause?
I will not go so far as to say I should get it because I’m a Henry James fan though because I’m really really not. But that’s ok- I can enjoy a good re-writing.
Why I would love to win this book..humor, ghosts, romance..Crusie..what more do you need?
Great, honest, insightful review!
I am very curious about this book now, and would love a copy!
SB Sarah…a giveaway and comments about how you love something more than your luggage? I almost checked to make sure I wasn’t on PW’s site…I kid! And I love you more n’ my luggage. (But in the interest of full disclosure that’s really not saying much since I have very little affection for my luggage) how about I say I love you more than my weekly planner. 😉
Verword: real33 – yes, I’m “keeping it real” and yes, I’m 33!
I’d so love a copy of this book! I’ve been waiting for soooo long for a solo Crusie book!
I’d love to get a copy of this – it sounds like it might be a keeper (as opposed to Wild Ride, which I didn’t finish and had to look up its’ title – it was such a ‘meh’ read I had obliterated it from my memory).
I loved Strange Bedpersons, Cinderella Deal, the Dempsey books, Charlie All Night and Agnes & the Hitman.
I love books that are “more than the sum of their parts” – Terry Pratchett and Lois McMaster Bujold are two writers that exemplify this – I would recommend them to you if you haven’t already read them.
Anyway, thanks for the great review – it gave me a great feel for the book and I am off to put myself down on the library list.