Mommy Tracked

As comfortable as fuzzy slippers and still as sharp as stilettos, Gaskell's latest (after Testing Kate) celebrates motherhood, marriage and friendship with humor and vibrant insight. Four young Florida mothers help each other through trying times in this sparkling example of ""mom lit."" Anna Swann is a restaurant critic, single mom to a toddler and afraid to date again. Anna's a member of Mothers Coming Together (""MCT""), an informal support group presided over by Grace Weaver, who's happily married with children but obsessed with dieting. Juliet Cole, a third member of MCT, is an attorney who doesn't want to get ""shunted onto the mommy track with no hope of making partner."" Unfortunately, her ambition is taking time away from her increasingly dissatisfied house-husband and their twin daughters. Newcomer to MCT, pregnant Chloe Truman desperately needs a ""mommy mentor"" and to knock a bad shoplifting habit. After her water breaks during a party at Grace's home, the four women bond and discover that ""Mothers matter... for better or worse,"" and friendship does, too. The novel's lessons-leaning to balance personal lives with parenthood issues and make important choices-are redeeming, even if Gaskell does play it safe with a predictably heart-warming resolution.