The Trouble with You: A Novel

by Ellen Feldman

Overview

"Rich in colorful characters, Feldman's riveting tale is one of resilience, determination, and hope." —Booklist

In an exuberant post WWII New York City, a young woman is forced to reinvent her life and choose between the safe and the ethical, and the men who represent each...

Set in New York City in the heady aftermath of World War II when the men were coming home, the women were exhaling in relief, and everyone was having babies, The Trouble With You is the story of a young woman whose rosy future is upended in a single instant. Raised never to step out of bounds, educated in one of the Sister Seven Colleges for a career as a wife and mother, torn between her cousin Mimi who is determined to keep her a “nice girl”—the kind that marries a doctor—and her aunt Rose who has a rebellious past of her own, Fanny struggles to raise her young daughter and forge a new life by sheer will and pluck. When she gets a job as a secretary to the “queen” of radio serials—never to be referred to as soaps—she discovers she likes working, and through her friendship with an actress who stars in the series and a man who writes them, comes face to face with the blacklist which is destroying careers and wrecking lives. Ultimately, Fanny must decide between playing it safe or doing what she knows is right in this vivid evocation of a world that seems at once light years away and strangely immediate.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250879462
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	02/20/2024
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	88,954
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Ellen Feldman, a 2009 Guggenheim fellow, is the author of The Living and the Lost, Paris Never Leaves You, Terrible Virtue (optioned by Black Bicycle for a feature film), The Unwitting, Next to Love, Scottsboro (shortlisted for the Orange Prize), The Boy Who Loved Anne Frank, and Lucy.

Editorial Reviews

"Set during the 1950s Red Scare, this novel features Fanny Fabricant, an unlikely heroine who makes a journey from conformity to independence and strength. Feldman has created a compelling woman who knows her own mind and insists on using it."

—Kirkus (starred review)

"Snappy dialogue throughout the novel is entertaining, quippy, and full of witty repartee... a historical romance with flair in all the right places."

—Evan Harris, The East Hampton Star

"Ellen Feldman has done it again. This time she conjures up New York City in the post-war years, as loyalty oaths and blacklists begin to take their toll, and as the irresistible Fanny Fabricant grapples with familial expectations and societal conventions. The result is an indelible novel suffused with heart and history, fresh, fast-paced, and exhilarating."

—Stacy Schiff, New York Times bestselling author

"Emotionally compelling and gorgeously written, full of Feldman’s trademark wit and wry observation, The Trouble with You is as addictive as the world of the 1950s soap operas in which the novel is set, and as serious and satisfying as the finest fiction being written today."

—Liza Gyllenhaal, author of A Place for Us and Local Knowledge

"I love this book in so many ways.... The descriptions of Charlie and Fanny working together amount to, for me, expert instruction in the craft of storytelling."

—Frederick E. Allen, former editor at New York, American Heritage, and Forbes

"A big hearted novel that takes the reader through history... It’s the NYC of automats and radio serials, the America where women are expected to stay home and raise kids. But Fanny finds independence, a career, and even love... I cheered for her every step of the way."

—Ann Hood, New York Times bestselling author of Fly Girl and The Knitting Circle

"An inspiring and thoughtful exploration of female ambition, creative spirit, and what it means for a woman to defy expectations in order to build the life she deserves. ...A compelling and insightful novel."

—Lynda Cohen Loigman, bestselling author of The Matchmaker’s Gift and The Two-Family House

"A heartbreaking joy to read, an entertaining ride through the exuberance of New York City following the Second World War. In the end, this wonderful book is an ode to the power, resilience and ambition of women everywhere in any era."

—Jessica Anya Blau, author of Mary Jane

"A captivating read, set against the backdrop of the Red Scare. Beguiling characters abound, in all senses of the word. At a time when book banning and threats of censorship are increasing, Feldman’s story reminds us of the human cost of the loss of freedom to believe, to read, and to write. A bonus: that a library, my very own, gets a star turn as Fanny’s and Charlie’s writer's haven, made this novel even more of a treat!"

—Carolyn Waters, Head Librarian, The New York Society Library

"Feldman is at the top of her game in The Trouble with You. She displays a perfect grasp of the postwar era, its politics, her characters, and the human heart. It is a masterful performance—and a great read."

—Kevin Baker, author of Dreamland

"Riveting...the work of a writer at the top of her game."

—Fresh Fiction

From the Publisher

2023-12-06
Set during the 1950s Red Scare, this novel features Fanny Fabricant, an unlikely heroine who makes a journey from conformity to independence and strength.

Fanny Baum, whose mother died when she was a child, marries Max Fabricant just before he ships off to World War II, and she immediately becomes pregnant with their daughter, Chloe. Unlike the husbands of some other women in Fanny’s circle, Max returns from the war, but Fanny ends up a single mother anyway when Max dies a few years later. Written in the third person, the story unfurls from Fanny’s point of view and, to a lesser extent, Chloe’s. Coaxed by her fearsome “maiden” Aunt Rose, as well as her own ennui and financial straits, Fanny gets a job as a secretary at a company that produces daytime radio serials—don’t call them soap operas. Feldman does a fine job of evoking the 1950s, using language and cultural references to films, books, and, most of all, social mores to make the period spring to life. She brings Fanny into focus through the presence of her loving and traditional extended Jewish family. Fanny’s growing opposition to restrictions on women’s independence drives her narrative. Aunt Rose emerges as a hero, bluntly questioning Fanny’s timidity and subtly encouraging her niece’s growing ambition. Two men vie for Fanny’s attention: Ezra Rapaport, a kind and caring family doctor, and Charlie Berlin, a screenwriter with an acerbic wit and a kind heart. Fanny’s search for who she wants to be evolves into a captivating love story, complicated by the career-destroying threats of the McCarthy era. Chloe, too, grows from a sad little girl missing her daddy to a perceptive young woman.

Feldman has created a compelling woman who knows her own mind and insists on using it.

Kirkus Reviews