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February 9th, 2009 Jane J. - Central Library

If you work in a library - or even if you’re just a big reader - sooner or later you’re going to have a book show up amidst your reserves that makes you wonder what or who prompted you to request it.  Often these books don’t grab me and I’m even more puzzled about why I came to request them.  But every now and then one of them is just right.  Turning Tables by Heather & Rose MacDowell is that most welcome of surprises.

Erin Edwards has been downsized from her marketing job and after five months of looking for a new job in her field, she’s desperate to find a paying gig.  When her father’s friend sets her up as the newest wait-person at the ultra-chic restaurant, Roulette in New York, Erin reluctantly takes the job.  This isn’t what she went to school for.  But she quickly realizes that being a server in a high-end restaurant is a lot harder then it seems.  While learning the job she has to absorb abuse from her boss, the chef and the customers, but the tips make the job a hard one to leave.  That fact and the chance to best the management by sticking with it, when they’d like nothing better then to see her gone, keep Erin in the job.

Given the cover art you’d be safe in guessing that this book falls within the bounds of chick-lit.  A genre that is very definitely hit or miss for me.  Luckily the MacDowell sisters have made their book about something more then the inept/clumsy/clueless gal (who’s obsessed with shoes) finally figuring out which guy is for her - after she spends hundreds of pages dealing with the guy who isn’t.  Certainly Erin finds a love interest, but that is not the focus of this book and thankfully the only discussion of shoes is Erin’s need to find something comfortable to wear while running from table to table.  Instead of shopping, Erin is figuring out where to go with her job and career and how much she should let those things define her.

I’ve never waited tables but clearly the authors have and the behind-the-scenes glimpse into an upscale NY restaurant and the divisions amongst the staff were fascinating for this Top Chef fan.  Add that to my interest in Erin’s struggles and this was definitely a winner.  So thank you to the person who suggested this book to me.

Entry Filed under: Recreational Fiction, Romance