The author of Nine Women, One Dress delivers a charming, unforgettable novel about four women, one little lie, and the big repercussions that unite them all. It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. When Eliza Hunt created The Hudson Valley Ladies’ Bulletin Board fifteen years ago she was happily entrenched in her picture-perfect suburban life with her husband and twin preschoolers. Now, with an … preschoolers. Now, with an empty nest and a crippling case of agoraphobia, the once-fun hobby has become her lifeline. So when a rival parenting forum threatens the site’s existence, she doesn’t think twice before fabricating a salacious rumor to spark things up a bit.
It doesn’t take long before that spark becomes a flame.
Across town, new mom and site devotee Olivia York is thrown into a tailspin by what she reads on the Bulletin Board. Allison Le is making cyber friends with a woman who isn’t quite who she says she is. And Amanda Cole, Eliza’s childhood friend, may just hold the key to unearthing why Eliza can’t step out of her front door.
In all this chaos, one thing is for sure…Hudson Valley will never be the same.
Funny, romantic, raw, and hopeful, this is a story about being a woman and of the healing power of sisterhood.
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Eliza Hunt suffers from agoraphobia at various times, but has somehow managed to hide this from her family. It started in high school, went away, then resurfaced when her twins graduated from high school. Eliza also runs a social media ‘bulletin board’ for her community. When she hears of a competing site for “younger women” she decides to post an anonymous comment- a rumor – to generate interest and traffic on her site. This rumor sets off a series of events with some life-changing results.
I really enjoyed this book, there were some funny parts, and also some heartbreak. The reveal at the end was pretty important, and I thought the author did a good job with it.
I often defy the old adage that you can’t judge a book by its cover. I mean, what can go wrong when a book has a beautiful cover in lovely shades of purple, an aerial shot of a community? But, this time, the cover did not guarantee that I would love this book.
Eliza Starts a Rumor did not knock my socks off. Right from the beginning there were too many characters. It was hard to keep them straight…..especially when there were four women whose names started with A. Ashley, Amanda (sometimes Mandy), Allison and finally Andie.
I also thought this book tried to cover too many social issues. There was infidelity, social networking, agoraphobia, Me Too, equality of women in the workplace, repressed trauma and of course the required secrets and lies. There was just too much going on.
The main story line, Eliza starting a rumor on a women’s social network site was actually good. It evolved well though it was a bit far fetched. It was all the sub plots that became overwhelming. They did intertwine with eachother but, to me, it was overboard.
I did enjoy the theme of strong sisterhood among women. There were a lot problems that the women in this book were experiencing. They always had each other’s backs.
The ending did a good job of tying up loose ends but, it was a little bit too tidy.
I didn’t hate the book. I just wish it could have been better. And, I wish I had been able to read it sitting on a warm beach.
Eliza Starts a Rumor
By Jane L Rosen
Eliza Starts A Rumor is a beautiful, heart warming and engaging story about how an innocent rumor that is started permeates through the entire town of Hudson Valley and the snowball effect it started. This story was full of depth and serious topics though very hopeful and uplifting story about community and friendship. In such a simple premise, Jane Rosen delivered quite a powerful punch in delivering characters that are so well written, dialogue that flows well and the relationships between each of the women were fantastic. I loved reading this and getting lost in the story. Rosen is a master storyteller and this was incredible.
Everyone, read this book! I highly recommend it.
These characters are so realistic, you’ll feel you know them and their challenges. A must read book I rate 5*****!