In her first book, Carter, the founding editor of New York Woman
and current editor of My Generation, offers a refreshingly upbeat chronicle that covers the traditional memoir fare of life after divorce, surviving breast cancer and recovering from a disfiguring accident—and more. After fulfilling her childhood wish to be "ajournalistinnewyork" and rising to a senior position at Esquire, Carter began her descent into what she calls "The Dark Years." "I'd lost my teeth, my ability to bear children, my husband, my house, and everything in it. Stripped bare again and again. If this were a movie, I'd skip to the end and pray for a happy ending. But this was my life, and there was no easy fast forward." Ultimately, the list of woes includes her mother's inoperable brain tumor and the demise of New York Woman. Carter alternates the story of her adult traumas with recollections of coming of age in the 1950s, the daughter of refugees from Hitler's Germany. Of all her losses, Carter writes most poetically about confronting the reality of aging, ailing parents. At the end of a visit to her recently diagnosed mother—once a strong, pragmatic woman who supported the family—Carter remembers, "she came over to me and pressed a brown paper bag into my hand... I ate the sandwich slowly, knowing that this was the beginning of our saying good-bye." Thankfully, Carter's style is mostly breezier, and her engaging account of her triumph over adversity (to a comparatively happy ending) should gratify many readers. Agent, Kathy Robbins. (Aug.)
