Brooklynite’s book depicts sibling rivalry
Brooklyn BookBeat: ‘The Pretty One’ now out in paperback
In her latest novel, “The Pretty One,” first released last February and recently published in paperback (Little, Brown and Company), Brooklyn author Lucinda Rosenfeld tells the story of the Hellinger sisters, whose rivalries and alliances are constantly shifting. Olympia (“the pretty one”) is a single mother two coordinates events at a New York City museum, Perri (“the perfect one”) is a mother of three living in Westchester, and Gus (“the political one”) is an activist and lawyer who works for the Legal Aid Society of New York.
Although accomplished adults, the Hellinger sisters remain quick to judge each other and sometimes grapple with jealousy and resentment. Their relationships are tested when their mother winds up in the hospital, but Rosenfeld shows, with humor and charm, that these familial bonds are strong enough to withstand even the most trying circumstances.
Brooklyn Eagle spoke to Rosenfeld last year, just before her book was released in hardcover. Here’s a look back at the conversation, in which the author shares her own experience growing up with sisters (and raising two daughters), and her memories of the Brooklyn she moved to in the ’90s.
Brooklyn Boro
View MoreNew York City’s most populous borough, Brooklyn, is home to nearly 2.6 million residents. If Brooklyn were an independent city it would be the fourth largest city in the United States. While Brooklyn has become the epitome of ‘cool and hip’ in recent years, for those that were born here, raised families here and improved communities over the years, Brooklyn has never been ‘uncool’.