Deal Sharing Aunt: Upper West Side Story by Susan Pashman Review & Giveaway

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Upper West Side Story by Susan Pashman Review & Giveaway

Book Description:

Meet Bettina Grosjean, a professor of Women’s History, and her husband, a high-ranking environmental policymaker in the New York City mayor’s office. Once a pair of student radicals, they are now raising their two brainy children on New York’s Upper West Side.

Here is the tale of their fierce parental love as it is tested in a startling eruption of racial hostility and political chicanery within the very community they have long loved and helped to build. Despite the deep love and affection they have for each other, their domestic life is suddenly thrown into crisis by a shocking and tragic event: During a school field trip, their son Max and his best friend, Cyrus, are horsing around when, in a freak accident, Cyrus falls down a flight of stairs, and dies a few days later.

The fact that Cyrus is black, that his mother is Bettina’s closest friend–that jealousy, suspicion and resentment have long been simmering in the community, and that there are powerful political forces at work as well–all conspire to reveal an ugly underbelly of the community the Grosjeans have worked so hard to fashion into a model of an enlightened, multiracial world.

Upper West Side Story is also the story of a remarkable multi-racial friendship, of two women united by their ideals and their devotion to their children, then divided by events that spiral out of control.

With cries for racial justice rising up all around our country, we must stop and consider how recent headlines are impacting our children, kids raised to believe in an America that is different from the one now showing its face.

Author's Bio:

Susan Pashman is a philosophy professor and former attorney. While in law school, she served a year in the New York City Council President’s office; some of what she learned there has found its way into this story. But most of this book derives from her experience of raising two boys on her own in Brooklyn. Many of her sons’ childhood exploits, and the hopes and fears she had for them, became the heart of this novel.
She now resides in Sag Harbor, New York, with her husband, Jack Weinstein.

Connect with Susan: Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Goodreads

Where to buy the book:

Amazon
Book Depository
Barnes & Noble

My Review:
This book reminds me that so many people get judged for how they look or where they are from. America is a melting pot of all different people and you would think that it is true especially in New York. The author really made me think about how things change over time, and yet some things always remain the same. I really liked that the author focused on the characters and their love for their children. The ending was good as well. There were some words that I had to look up meanings for, however I loved when the author used Latin. I am giving this book a 4/5. I was given a copy to review, however all opinions are my own.