Title: Don’t Forget to Write
Author: Sara Goodman Confino
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Publication date: September 1, 2023
Length: 334 pages
Genre: Historical fiction
Source: Prime First Reads (free during August)
Rating:
In 1960, a young woman discovers a freedom she never knew existed in this exhilarating, funny, and emotional novel by the bestselling author of She’s Up to No Good.
When Marilyn Kleinman is caught making out with the rabbi’s son in front of the whole congregation, her parents ship her off to her great-aunt Ada for the summer. If anyone can save their daughter’s reputation, it’s Philadelphia’s strict premier matchmaker. Either that or Marilyn can kiss college goodbye.
To Marilyn’s surprise, Ada’s not the humorless septuagenarian her mother described. Not with that platinum-blonde hair, Hermès scarf, and Cadillac convertible. She’s sharp, straight-talking, takes her job very seriously, and abides by her own rules…mostly. As the summer unfolds, Ada and Marilyn head for the Jersey shore, where Marilyn helps Ada scope out eligible matches—for anyone but Marilyn, that is.
Because if there’s one thing Marilyn’s learned from Ada, it’s that she doesn’t have to settle. With the school year quickly approaching and her father threatening to disinherit her, Marilyn must make her choice for her future: return to the comfortable life she knows or embrace a risky, unknown path on her own.
What a treat to take a chance on a book I’d never heard of… and end up loving it! I came across Don’t Forget to Write through a promotional email for this month’s free Prime Reading choices. The cover caught my eye, and I once I read the description, I figured… why not?
Set in the summer of 1960, Don’t Forget to Write starts with a bang, as a rebellious 20-year-old — whose father only agreed to send her to college so she could find a husband — decides to make out with the cute son of the rabbi during Saturday morning services… and ends up crashing through a stained glass window with him, mid-kiss, in front of everyone. It’s a scandal — a scandal, I tell you!
While the rabbi and Marilyn’s parents all seem to feel that the only solution is for Marilyn and Daniel to get married, Marilyn has no intention of doing so. She’s grown up seeing her mother’s boredom as a housewife (dinner is often burned because her mother is too busy reading to check on the food), and she’s determined that she will not have that same fate.
Facing parental wrath, Marilyn is forced into the only acceptable alternative: She’ll go spend the summer with her great-aunt Ada, a matchmaker in Philadelphia, with a reputation for strictness and keeping a tight rein on anyone under her control. Upon arrival, Marilyn finds that Ada is a no-nonsense free spirit, and yes, she has very strict rules for Marilyn, but she’s also fierce, outspoken, generous, and a big believer in thinking for oneself.
Before long, the two head for Ada’s home on the island of Avalon on the Jersey Shore, where further adventures await, including glamorous nights out in Atlantic City and sunbathing (with Coppertone!) on the beach while wearing the latest fashionable bikini. Ada is not what Marilyn expected, and under her care, Marilyn starts to bloom into the independent young woman she was meant to be.
Don’t Forget to Write is such an enjoyable read, in so many ways. I loved the depiction of the era — we know the looser vibe of the late 60s is just a little way in the future, but for Marilyn, those freedoms will be too late unless she comes up with her own plans. She’s very much still a hostage to the morals and traditions of the 1950s, when any woman who breaks the mold of wife and mother is judged and scorned.
Avalon is described wonderfully, as is the sense of Atlantic City in its heyday. Ada herself is marvelous — feisty, smart, strong, entrepreneurial, seemingly hard as nails but with quite a loving heart underneath her tough exterior.
The Jewish elements are really engaging as well, and I couldn’t help but laugh at the scenes of scandal in the synagogue! While this takes place before my own time, it definitely mirrors the era in which my parents were young adults, and knowing their stories, I could really relate to some of the scenes and dialogue here.
The relationship between Marilyn and Ada deepens over the course of the book, and is both funny and touching. Marilyn’s growth and the realizations she has about her life and her choices are well-developed, and I really enjoyed seeing her figure out what she wants out of life, what she’s willing to accept, and what she’s prepared to fight for.
The ending may have been a smidge predictable, but that’s okay. Overall, Don’t Forget to Write is an entertaining look at women’s lives in a bygone era, with a terrific mix of nostalgia, summer breezes, and strong characters.
I’m so happy I decided to pick up this book! It’s rare these days that I read something that I know nothing about ahead of time — what fun to just go for it and have it turn out so well!
Bookshelf Fantasies 