Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA

May 8, 2006
Cat fights erupt among Applewood's soccer moms in Meister's eager-to-please debut. The local PTA, driven by über-wife Suzanne Podobinski, is raising money to build a small stadium at the elementary school when a location scout, searching for a place to film a movie starring George Clooney, happens into their Long Island town. The PTA quickly dissolves into factious committees, and Meister uses the ladies' competitiveness to delve into the histrionic relationships of suburban housewives: lawyer Maddie Schein has an inferiority complex that's exacerbated when she imagines her chiropractor husband has a crush on his cousin; brash, show-offy songwriter Ruth Moss secretly longs for satisfaction after three years of caring for her impotent, half-paralyzed husband; and mousy Lisa Slotnick, married to a millionaire computer geek, is in for a rocky ride after her alcoholic singer mother shows up. As tension mounts, the ladies cast aspersions, scheme, connive and resort to blackmail (a ploy that comes in handy after Suzanne is spotted in a poolside ménage à trois). The comic book–inspired cover and Lisa Kudrow blurb are the icing on this cupcake of a novel.

October 2, 2006
Kudrow shows her deft comedic skills in her audiobook debut about the machinations and scandals of rival PTA factions in a small town whose school may be used for a George Clooney movie. Kudrow reads with a light comic tone but never goes over the top, and the warmth in her voice makes the characters sympathetic and likable. Kudrow gives each character a distinctive voice: raspy Ruth, whose confident, wisecracking exterior hides the pain of caring for a husband disabled by a stroke; shy, timid Lisa and her embarrassingly loud, brassy, alcoholic mother; conflicted Maddie, trying to decide whether to work on her troubled marriage or have an affair; and their nemesis, snooty, hilariously bitchy PTA president Suzanne. The comic tale is rooted in reality that keeps the listener sympathetic to the protagonists even during the plot's most absurd twists (e.g., during a midnight covert operation, the women unexpectedly come upon the PTA president engaged in a ménage à trois). By turns hilarious and poignant, this is chick lit that works perfectly on audio. Simultaneous release with the Morrow hardcover (Reviews, May 8).