Birth rite Outspoken Becky, beautiful Ayinde and hopeful
FRANCE FREEMAN
Kelly meet in yoga class when they’re all in the third trimester of their pregnancies. Becky is a plump and sexy chef with a wonderful husband and a wicked mother-in-law, Ayinde is married to a bas- By Stephanie E. Ponder ketball superstar whose actions leave their new family open to public scrutiny and Kelly They say art imitates life. that there was a story there about tries to juggle motherhood and work while In Jennifer Weiner’s those first months.” her husband seems unwilling to find work. case it is more accurate Weiner has heard from moth- While struggling through their personal to say life inspired art. ers who have read the book who problems and trying to make their way
GASPER TRINGALE
Jennifer Weiner
With two successful say having a baby is exactly as she through the strange new world of mother- novels to her name, Weiner’s describes. She has also met hood, the women meet Lia, a Philadelphia experience of having a baby trig- women without children who told native who’s left her Hollywood career and gered the subject of her third her that after reading Little husband, along with a tragic secret, to start novel, Little Earthquakes, this Earthquakes they don’t want to her life over. month’s Costco Book Club pick. have children at all. With a laugh With each subsequent novel I become a The novel focuses on three she quickly adds that she doesn’t more dedicated fan of Jennifer Weiner’s tal- women who meet and become want to be responsible for ent. She has the ability to make me friends near the end of their pregnancies. babies not being born. laugh out loud and to Readers follow along as their babies affect But just the fact that Weiner has been make me cry. The hon- their lives in different ways. Weiner’s first able to be a mom to an infant and write a esty with which she writes exposure to the topic came in the form of her novel shows that women can achieve isn’t always present in college thesis, which looked at the represen- balance between family and work. In many of today’s novels. tation of maternity in women’s novels and fact, Weiner says, having a baby has Little Earthquakes is films. It examined whether women are natu- made her more focused on her work. “I available in most Costco rally maternal or if they become mothers sit down with my laptop and I work. I warehouses and at because it’s what is expected of them. don’t call my friends on my cell costco.com.
Weiner, 34, observes that women are now phone, or answer e-mail, and I don’t —Pennie Clark Ianniciello,
marrying and having children later than previ- ‘Google’ myself,” she laughs. Costco book buyer
ous generations did. Because having children However, a quick search for
is a mindful decision, not just a given, Weiner Weiner online brings up her Web
says the children being born now are probably site,
www.jenniferweiner.com, where
the most consciously wanted. fans can read in her own words how she grew Weiner moved to Philadelphia, where she
“There’s a generation that did not have up in Simsbury, Connecticut, and attended lives, in 1995. She’s been married to Adam
wonderful, rich lives as single women,” Princeton University—graduating summa Bonin, a lawyer, since Halloween 2001. She
Weiner tells The Connection. “They did not cum laude and learning from writers such as worked as a journalist for 10 years, writing
know what they were missing. We do. For John McPhee, Toni Morrison and Joyce Carol her first novel, 2001’s Good in Bed, on
us it’s much more of a choice.” Oates. Weiner won Princeton’s Academy of evenings and weekends. Her second novel, In
Weiner began the book after the birth of American Poets prize, but poetry, she says, Her Shoes, was published in 2002 and is
her daughter, Lucy, in May 2003: “I thought was more of a college phase. scheduled for release in 2005 as a feature film
starring Cameron Diaz, Shirley MacLaine
and Toni Collette.
Costco has 10 autographed copies of 98124-1088, or fax it to (425) 313-6718. Jennifer Weiner’s Little Earthquakes to No purchase is necessary. Entries must be give away. To enter, print your name, received or postmarked by midnight, November membership number, address and daytime 1, 2004. Void where prohibited. Employees phone number on a postcard or letter and send of Costco and their families are not eligible. it to: Little Earthquakes, The Costco Winners will be notified by mail. One entry Connection, P.O. Box 34088, Seattle, WA per household.
Despite the fact that Weiner has written about a reporter, sibling relationships and motherhood, she insists that there isn’t much similarity between her characters and herself. Nonetheless, readers should expect to see books that reflect what’s happening in the author’s life.
■ Join the Costco Book Club and send your feedback on this month’s book by e-mailing bookclub@costco.com. Book Club members receive a free monthly e-mail newsletter.
“Once a woman has a child, her whole focus changes,” says Weiner. “That baby is always going to be the most interesting thing in the room.” C
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