29: A Novel

From Publishers WeeklyThe proverbial search for youth's fountain manifests itself in Ellie Jerome, a 75-year-old woman who has employed every available artifice to remain young. Identifying more with her stylish young granddaughter, Lucy, than with her abrasive middle-aged daughter, Barbara, Ellie's 75th birthday wish is to be 29 again, for just one day. When her wish comes true, hilarious problems arise, as the young Ellie must create a new persona in order to enter and leave her apartment in a neighborhood where everyone knows the old Ellie. Choosing to let Lucy in on her secret, Ellie persuades her to be her guide on a youthful adventure in pursuit of stylish looks and a trendy life. While the dynamic duo romp through Ellie's magical day, Ellie's daughter and her dearest friend, Frida, a 75-year-old worry wart, having decided that Ellie was kidnapped, embark upon their own misguided adventure before the old (now wiser) Ellie returns at the end of her big day. With this rollicking, if familiar, offering, Halpern (whose earlier novel, The Ten Best Days of My Life, is being adapted into a film) sets out to prove that you're only young twice. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From BooklistIn her second novel, Halpern plays on wishful thinking about age. Although Ellie is 75, she feels closer in age to her granddaughter Lucy, 29, than to her daughter Barbara because of all she has done over the years to stay young in body and in spirit. So with another birthday bringing her closer to 80, she makes a wish to be 29 again for one day and it comes true. As Ellie finds herself caught up in a day full of hijinks and humor, she questions the life she has chosen as she experiences the youth she has been striving for. Ellie, Barbara, and Lucy all learn things about each other that change everything they thought they knew about their close-knit family. Halpern buoyantly tells the story of three generations of women and how one “freaky” day changes their relationships and helps Ellie decide between the thrill of being young again and the life she would be leaving behind. --Claire Orphan