The Smart One

By: Jennifer Close

Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman

With her best-selling debut, Girls in White Dresses (An “irresistible, pitch-perfect first novel” —Marie Claire), Jennifer Close captured friendship in those what-on-earth-am-I-going-to-do-with-my-life years of early adulthood. Now, with her sparkling new novel of parenthood and sibling rivalry, Close turns her gimlet eye to the only thing messier than friendship: family.

Weezy Coffey’s parents had always told her she was the smart one, while her sister was the pretty one. “Maureen will marry well,” their mother said, but instead it was Weezy who married well, to a kind man and good father. Weezy often wonders if she did this on purpose—thwarting expectations just to prove her parents wrong.

But now that Weezy’s own children are adults, they haven’t exactly been meeting her expectations either. Her oldest child, Martha, is thirty and living in her childhood bedroom after a spectacular career flameout. Martha now works at J.Crew, folding pants with whales embroidered on them and complaining bitterly about it. Weezy’s middle child, Claire, has broken up with her fiancé, canceled her wedding, and locked herself in her New York apartment—leaving Weezy to deal with the caterer and florist. And her youngest, Max, is dating a college classmate named Cleo, a girl so beautiful and confident she wears her swimsuit to family dinner, leaving other members of the Coffey household blushing and stammering into their plates.

As the Coffey children’s various missteps drive them back to their childhood home, Weezy suddenly finds her empty nest crowded and her children in full-scale regression. Martha is moping like a teenager, Claire is stumbling home drunk in the wee hours, and Max and Cleo are skulking around the basement, guarding a secret of their own. With radiant style and a generous spirit, The Smart One is a story about the ways in which we never really grow up, and the place where we return when things go drastically awry: home.

A great work of fiction

A great story with character development, complex relationships and the meaning of family. I loved the narrator and the different points of view the same situations were told from.

Magnificent from start to finish!

The writing, the story, the narrator…all of it a complete pleasure. I loved every character and didn’t want it to ever end. Jennifer Close’s dialogue is so naturalistic and real; Rebecca Lowman can read me the phone book any day! Just wish it was longer!

Fun, girly listen.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, this is a great book for anyone who likes a nice family story that's girly.

What about Rebecca Lowman’s performance did you like?

Nice voice that never bored or annoyed me.

Any additional comments?

Overall a fairly simple story but real and well written. An enjoyable read.

Please Do NOT Waste Your Time

I don't write reviews, but this book and narration are so bad I couldn't in good conscious not. I should have cut my losses and returned it. But, I couldn't believe characters could be so depressing and dissatisfied with EVERYTHING without there being some redeeming twist. So, I stuck with the monotone narration and the overwhelming negativity and the most annoying and self-righteous character created (Margaret) I have coming across in my almost 50 years.