Three of Us

Funny and often acerbic, this diary in alternating voices chronicles one well-connected British couple's pregnancy, set against the backdrop of life among the media elite in New York City. Coles, a correspondent for the London Times, and Godwin, author of the award-winning memoir Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa, start their New York life in a loft in the trendy downtown meat-packing district, taking forays to hip restaurants, elegant social events and an East Hampton rental they consider somewhat shabby. While the 30-something authors are candid about their feelings about impending parenthood, as well as about their search for a sympathetic doctor and hospital, Coles's physical changes and the details of labor and delivery, there is little tension in the story beyond the initial surprise of the pregnancy and the occasionally pointed comments of pushy Americans about the authors' unmarried state. In what may be an attempt to paint a vivid picture of the New York melting pot, the authors intently pinpoint the races and nationalities of nearly everyone they meet (e.g., Margarita, the Ecuadorian cleaning woman; a Pakistani newspaper vendor). But they give little depth to these and other incidental characters, making the use of broad categorizations insensitive and jarring. When they look for a new apartment, Coles and Godwin adopt New York ""real estate fever"" only to comment warily on being ""nudged right up against the ghetto"" in their new Upper West Side digs. Closing with the safe delivery of a son, Thomas, this superficial chronicle does not have much to contribute to pregnancy literature. While it will probably garner some media coverage in New York and the Northeast, it will strain mightily to elicit interest from readers beyond the islands of Manhattan and Great Britain. Agent, Gil Coleridge (U.K.). (Nov.)