One Fifth Avenue by Candace Bushnell

29 August 2009 By Sarah 1 In Chick Lit, Fiction

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Candace Bushnell’s newest book, One Fifth Avenue. Everyone knows her best for the Sex and the City series and while I never read it or watched it on television, I enjoyed the recent movie more then I would care to admit. With that in mind I tried to approach this book as a little lighthearted reading between some of the heavier books I’ve been working through.

In that regard, for the most part, I enjoyed this book. My major drawback would be that there were very graphic sex scenes that were just a little uncomfortable. I don’t know why seeing some of the words (or word combinations) in written form makes it worse (for me), but I did feel almost embarrassed in some parts. I had to do a little bit of skimming but I do understand that may just be an issue of personal preference.

The main story of this book was about the building, One Fifth Avenue, a prestigious place to live that others aspire to be part of. There was an elderly woman who died and a young couple from “new” (hedge-fund) money that moved into the building and caused some tension to develop. There was the 45 year old single male writer with his gossip columnist aunt and his 22-year old girlfriend/assistant. His first love, an actress who moves back into the building. Another middle-aged couple who both are writers and are just on the brink of “making it.” And there is also idea that in the close lifestyles of those sharing a building in New York City, that you are more than just neighbors, you are more like family.

There are arguments, gossip, tension and love between the characters in this book. But throughout it all, One Fifth Avenue is featured and everything keeps going back to it. This book also tackled some of the issues of writers and journalists facing a new age of internet and gossip news and some of the difficulties, challenges and surprise successes found working in new mediums. I would recommend this, if you go in understanding that there are some pretty steamy sections. Which is what I should have probably expected from the author of Sex and the City