The View From Penthouse B

This latest book by Elinor Lipman is a great summer read--light and with just enough of a story to keep you interested. But it is the characters you will love in this book. Two New Yorkers,  sisters 'of a certain age,' are both faced with different kinds of loss and must deal with the many issues of loss, aging, forgiveness, change, and romance. Margot loses her husband to a scandal (her fertility doctor husband was a tad too helpful to his patients) and then loses her money to Bernie Madoff, and younger sister Gwen loses her husband to an early heart attack. Fortunately Margot owns  her Greenwich Village apartment and so she invites Gwen to move in with her to help pay the bills. They soon take in a boarder, Anthony,  an unemployed former financial analyst in his 20s who likes to bake cupcakes, along with a few other random people who move in and out. After Margot's paroled husband get outs of prison, he too moves into a basement apartment in the building, causing lots of angst. All push to get a reluctant Gwen back into the dating scene.  There is nothing deep here, just some quirky characters trying to cope with their changing lives amid a busy Manhattan setting. Very readable and humorous, I found myself laughing out loud at times.