Falling in Love with Natassia

My latest gym book was Falling in Love with Natassia by Anna Monardo, and to be honest, I almost abandoned it about 100 pages in. The jacket copy mentioned a character that was a New York City book editor, so I kept going, hoping that part would catch my interest. The character's role was small, but I was eventually sucked into the story.



Natassia was born to Mary and Ross when they were studying abroad in Italy. No longer together, they leave Natassia to be raised by Ross's parents (his father is the aforementioned book editor). Natassia is devastated after her much older boyfriend dumps her and tries to commit suicide. Mary's friends rush to her side to help, but during all the drama we learn that one of her friends committed some abusive behavior against Natassia when she was an infant. Mary takes her daughter to live with her on campus at the upstate prep school where she teaches dance, and the final scenes include a confrontation where the past abuse is brought out into the open.



This is a very melodramatic book. It's not quite as bad as a Jodi Picoult novel--where we're shown so many sides of each character we can't possibly blame anyone--but it would still be a good candidate for a Lifetime movie. Or maybe an episode of Law & Order SVU. All of these people have problems--personal problems, marital problems, problems from their childhoods. And with more than one therapist, you know you're in for a ride.



I didn't necessarily dislike this book, but I wouldn't really recommend it either. Unless you're needing a little melodrama in your life. But, really, who wants that?