A great summer read! The story of the Coffeys feels very real, but no less interesting. I loved experiencing the action through each woman's eyes. How interesting that the men, while central characters to the plot, still remained on the periphery. ( )

This author needs a new editor- too lengthy in many parts- geesh!
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I previously read Jennifer Close's Girls in White Dresses (Vintage Contemporaries) and loved it and was happy to pick up her second novel, "The Smart One".

"The Smart One" focuses on the Coffey family living in Philadelphia. The matriarch, Weezy Coffey and her husband Will have raised three children, Martha, Claire, and Max. We find that all of the Coffey children are in some form of arrested development and due to events that Ms. Close details in the novel, all of them end up back in their family's home while readers get to experience the family's ups and downs that transpire throughout one year.

I did love this novel since it really does not just focus on Weezy thought he book synopsis initially made me think that it did. Jennifer Close alternates chapters by focusing on Weezy, Martha, Claire, and Max's girlfriend Cleo. I like that all of the women in the novel were either seen as the smart ones, (Weezy and Martha) or the pretty ones (Claire and Cleo) though none of them saw themselves that way.

I also liked that Ms. Close would have all four of these characters discussing the same event, like Thanksgiving dinner in their own individual chapters so it was a nice way to see how four different people interpreted the same event.

In addition, the other characters in the novel, Will, Max, grandmom Betts, and Weezy's sister Maureen, were written quite well too and I wish that we could have gotten a glimpse into these character's heads as well.

I would hope that Ms. Close has a follow up to this novel just so we can see how the Coffey family is doing.

I highly recommend this novel.

I received this novel for free via the Amazon Vine Program. ( )

While I normally appreciate details that allow me to picture the settings and know the characters, they became monotonous when I started to wonder what the point was. By the time I got to the end, it seemed there was no point to the story other than to annoy and bore the reader. The reason for the second star is the effort the author put into characters and settings. ( )

Close's sophomore effort, as per tradition, is weaker than the debut Girls In White Dresses. The subject is much bleaker, too - the 30 year olds who retreat back to the suburbs and their parents' basements to recover from relationship/job/financial disasters. Almost no one has an easy time of it, including the mother, except the father, who remains oblivious to it all and pats his "little girls" patronizingly on their heads, just as he did when they were five years old. Still good reading, and still a fine writer. ( )