Prospect Park West: A Novel

Written by Amy Sohn

Narrated by Kate Reading

Brooklyn's famed neighborhood of Park Slope has it all: the sprawling, majestic Prospect Park; acclaimed public schools; historic brownstones; and progressive values. The more upwardly mobile New Yorkers discover its virtues, the more that claiming a stake in Park Slope becomes a competitive sport.

In the park, the coffee shops, and the playgrounds of the neighborhood, four women's lives collide one long, hot Brooklyn summer. Melora Leigh, a two-time Oscar-winning actress, frustrated with her career and the pressures of raising her adoptive toddler, feels the seductive pull of kleptomania; Rebecca Rose, missing the robust sex life of her pre-motherhood days, begins a dangerous flirtation with a handsome local celebrity; Lizzie O'Donnell, a former lesbian (or "hasbian"), wonders why she is still drawn to women in spite of her sexy husband and adorable son; and Karen Bryan Shapiro finds herself split between two powerful obsessions: her four-year-old son's well-being and snagging the ultimate three-bedroom apartment in a well-maintained P.S. 321-zoned co-op building. As the women's paths intertwine (and sometimes crash), each must struggle to keep her man, her sanity, and her play dates.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Sep 15, 2009
• ISBN: 9781400183463

Amy Sohn

Amy Sohn’s novels include Prospect Park West, Motherland, The Actress, and The Man Who Hated Women. Her articles have appeared in New York, Harper’s Bazaar, Playboy, and The Nation. She lives in Brooklyn with her family.

Reviews for Prospect Park West

[brianna_h_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Prospect Park West is surprisingly gritty for a novel about Brooklyn moms and their harried lives. Author Amy Sohn details the women's sexual frustration, masturbation habits, marital problems, child rearing dissatisfaction, feelings of loneliness and isolation without sugarcoating or pulling punches. The good, the bad, the ugly - it's all there. Prospect Park West addresses heavy issues including: race, sex, marriage, class, parenthood, morality, friendship and the pursuit of happiness. While Prospect Park West may not be as funny or witty as Candace Bushnell's novels, which are clearly her inspiration for this book, it is an entertaining and interesting read nonetheless. Each character's storyline is riveting - kind of in the same way that watching a train wreck might be. Each woman's life is a mess in its own way (but whose isn't?) The relateablness of each woman is what propels this novel forward, because even if you never have / would never be addicted to prescription pills, cheat on your husband, kiss a female friend, steal a wallet, etc. - Sohn does a good job of making the feelings that got these women there understandable. The main characters in Prospect Park West include: Lizzie, a former lesbian ("hasbian") now married to a black musician struggling to raise an interracial child in a judgmental society and her not-so-dormant lustful feelings for women; Rebecca, a freelance writer whose husband has not wanted to sleep with her since she gave birth to their daughter a year and half ago; Melora, an international movie star with a substance abuse problem who is failing at bonding with her adopted son; and Karen, a woman obsessed with social status and real estate. In short, Prospect Park West is a novel that deals with complicated social issues while still managing to entertain like a trashy soap opera.

[amf0001 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book really needed a map of the neighborhood - it was that specific. Going over the nuances of which side of which street was best... that was when the book seemed most alive. The women were cliches or just odd, and I couldn't warm to any of them. Their dilemmas were not presented in a heartfelt way, so it was easy to feel snide about them. You never felt them as human, it was all surface. And the sex, all of it, was pretty medicore for both the women and the readers. The men were non entities in the book, just place holders. I didn't actually see why it was printed, though it was a quick trashy read, surely there are better books out there, hidden under some of the mother's beds... I found some of the dilemmas portrayed in this book as totally unacceptable, and found Rebecca in particular to be a despicable character. If these women are leading lives of quiet desperation, then let us feel that, not their petulance.

[bearette24 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is definitely Sohn's best book. She takes a sweeping view of the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, its mothers, race problems and beauty, and has lots of trashy fun along the way. But the book is also smart and insightful.

[lauraleah_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I have to admit that I almost stopped reading after the first few chapters but I thought, let me keep going to see how this turns out. I did finish the book but it wasn't one that resonates with me after I closed the cover. The characters seemed flat and I wasn't really drawn to any of them. A quote on the front of the book from Lauren Weisberger says, "Makes Desperate Housewives look like amateur hour." As I was reading, I can picture this book as a weekly television show and see it working, it just didn't seem to work in book form. There were several short chapters that I wondered why they had been included, as the character for that short chapter had not appeared prior and did not appear afterwards. It seemed a bit disjointed and random and felt it could have been edited better to take those parts out. The writing was mediocre and I felt it and the story could have been more developed. I am not discouraging others from trying this book, it just wasn't my cup of tea.

[joannemonck · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I am not a prude and since I grew up in Park Slope I thought this would be a good read. Well I was surprised because in the first 50 pages I realized I was reading smut. I did not go any further because it was just too low.

[apsing01 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed the glimpse of life on the inside of this trendy neighborhood. It was an interesting book but the characters could have had a little more depth. It was still a great book.