How Elizabeth Barrett Browning Saved My Life - by Mameve Medwed (Paperback)

About the Book

This astonishing, wry novel is for any woman who has ever thought about changing a seemingly mundane life, making peace with her past, and the serendipity that can bring back an enthusiasm for life.

From the Back Cover

What do a chamber pot, a famous poet, a family feud, and a long-ago suitor all have in common?

Elizabeth Barrett Browning might have written about the length and breadth of love, but Abby Randolph has given up on all that, preferring to spend her time between her cluttered "needs work" apartment and an overcrowded antiques mart optimistically named Objects of Desire. Yet Abby can't help but wonder what happened to her earlier passionate self . . .

Then the Antiques Roadshow comes to town, and Abby joins thousands of Boston's hopefuls at the crack of dawn, artifact in hand. But there, among the carousel horses and bedraggled stuffed animals, Abby's rather squalid piece of porcelain gets the star treatment. And from the moment the show airs, everything changes--friendships, her career, love affairs, even the way she views herself and others--as life comes rushing back at Abby Randolph full force.

Review Quotes

"Don't be deceived by Medwed's light touch and irrepressible sense of humor... a canny writer with a distinctive voice." - Boston Globe
"Smart, witty, and delicious." - Anita Shreve
"...an adventure to which Jane Austen might have raised a celebratory glass of port...A whole lot of fun." - Kirkus Reviews
"Charming and funny without being precious, Abby's a thoroughly believable character." - Library Journal starred review
"A novel as delicious as its title, and a wonderful antidote if you're slightly depressed, searching for something to sink into on a snowy day or, like its heroine, have been in sweats since Friday night and it is now Sunday afternoon." - Boston Globe