Book Review
Rise and Shine
By ANNA QUINDLEN Reviewed by PEGGY BARNETT
Bridget, who tells this story, is sister to Meghan Fitzmaurice, super morning television star. Orphaned as children, they grew up with their Aunt Maureen, who continues to love and advise them. Meghan is the perfect one, always beautiful, always in charge, always ready with the best possible response. That is, until she makes a profane comment about a guest on her show with the microphone still on.

It's a phrase that is unacceptable to most of the public, to her network executives, and to the FCC. Almost everyone agrees that the phrase fits the guest perfectly, but that is not an adequate excuse. Bridget learns that not only is Meghan's career probably over, but also her husband of many years has just told her that he is leaving.

Bridget is an engaging character. After trying various jobs, she now directs a women's shelter program in the Bronx. She loves her job, her apartment, her police "significant other," her sister, and her nephew. She has also been very fond of the brother-in-law who has moved out. When Meghan seems to disappear, the reader is less concerned about her than worried about Bridget's despair.

A columnist for Newsweek magazine, Anna Quidlen has published four other novels and six non-fiction books. She lives in New York, and communicates her love of that city through her characters. "There are three kinds of people who live in New York City. There are the ones who will leave as soon as they can, and the ones who will never leave. There are two groups of that second kind: the ones who are trapped by circumstances, and those who are trapped by love."

The New York that Bridget lives in is very different from the one that Meghan knows. Bridget enjoys the "perks" of Meghan's wealth and prestige, but she finds fulfillment in her work with the "less fortunate" and is respected by her colleagues. Quindlin has created a believable and engaging character in Bridget.

In the glimpses we get of Aunt Maureen, she seems almost too good to be true, as does Leo, Meghan's son. They, too, are lovable, though, and when trouble strikes Leo, we care more about him than about Meghan (who is, after all, absent for much of the book and remote in her star quality.)

Quindlin is talking about more than her characters, however. There is an underlying theme about American culture. How does the television screen distort our idea of ourselves, as well as the personalities we admire or resent who appear on it?

As always, though, good fiction presents a story, this one dealing with relationships and new understandings.

Rise and Shine is available at the Mary Willis Library.

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