Lily Steps Out

by Rita Plush

Overview

Empty nest, retired husband ... after thirty-three years of marriage as wife, mother, nursemaid, and family mediator, Lily Gold has had it! There must be more to life than making beds and cooking dinners. A lot more, she discovers, when she decides she needs something of her very own – a job.

Re-entering the work force is harder than it seems, and Lily has difficulty finding a position that’s just right for her. When she finally does, she knows it’s a perfect fit. But husband Leon wants no part of it, and off he goes to the bank to put the kibosh on her chance of opening her own antique center.

This is marriage? This is war! Lily steps out of the tired old habit of always letting Leon have his way. This time she turns the status quo into quid pro quo and gives him a run for the money. And, while she’s at it, with a little help from her friends, she breaks the mold of Lily Gold. But does she have what it takes to create a new Lily – a Lily’s renaissance?

Lily Gold’s journey is the journey of every woman who wants it all – love, respect, personal fulfillment, and real happiness.

“...engagingly written. The voice is shrewd, sharp, funny, and yet tender.”
–Joyce Carol Oates

“Charming and carefully observed, LILY STEPS OUT is a First Wives Club for the new millennium. LILY will win your heart as she ‘comes of age.’ A great read!”
–Kevin Misher, producer of Public Enemies

“...the writing is lively and true to life.”
–Francine Klagsbrun, columnist and author of Married People: Staying Together in the Age of Divorce

“With wit and wisdom, Rita Plush proves F. Scott Fitzgerald wrong – there can be second acts in American lives.”
–Charles Salzberg, author of Swann’s Last Song

“It’s refreshing to read a novel about people whose desires and disappointments are so like our own.”
–Phil Wagner, editor/publisher, The Iconoclast

Product Details

BN ID:	2940153033105
Publisher:	Rita Plush
Publication date:	05/20/2012
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
File size:	243 KB

About the Author

I began my varied career as an interior designer, where I held the job of coordinator of the Interior Design/Decorating Certificate Program at Queensborough Community College for twenty years. I remain on the faculty teaching courses in design, decorative arts and creative writing. My first novel, “Lily Steps Out” (Penumbra 2012)—twelve years in the making—earned “Published & Proud,” a feature article in Newsday’s Act II, followed by “Rita Steps Out,” in the Times Ledger. My short stories appeared in many literary journals including The Alaska Quarterly Review, before they were included in the collection, “Alterations” (Penumbra 2013). “Feminine Products,” is my most recent novel (Penumbra 2015). I love to read and write about the books I read and enjoy being the book reviewer for the Fire Island News. I like talking about writing and other topics that interest me, and as a speaker I’ve presented at libraries and synagogues, at Hofstra University and CW Post Hutton House, on topics as varied as decorative arts, interior design, the talk, "Writing and Publishing in the Modern Age, or So You've Written a Book; Now What?" and "Coco Chanel ~ The Woman-The Legend." As far as blog talk radio, I read a segment from Alterations on "The Author's Corner" for Public Radio, guested on The Writer's Dream, LTV, and The Amy Beth Arkway Show. When I think about it, there are a lot similarities between interior design and writing. "It's creativity at work. Writing is another form of design. In rooms, you put fabrics and furnishings together, aiming for that perfect note of color, texture and scale. Everything arranged in a way that instantly strikes the eye as a balanced whole. Writing is similar, except that instead of objects, you put people and plot together to create that balance. A world made with words. http://www.ritaplush.com and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ritaplush.