At once tender and hilarious, this captivating story turns suburbia upside down, revealing the inner lives of three characters who have more humor, heartache, and heat than one PTA can hold
When a Hollywood location scout comes to Applewood, Long Island, and announces that the local elementary school might make the perfect backdrop for an upcoming George Clooney movie, the PTA's decorum crumbles like a cookie from last week's bake sale.
Enter Maddie, Ruth, and Lisa, three women who become the glue that holds the project together . . . and wind up forging a bond of friendship stronger than anyone could imagine.
A good thing, too, because each one of them is about to come apart. Maddie Schein, an ex-lawyer trying hard to fit in and save her marriage, gets knocked off balance by Jack Rose, an old college friend hell-bent on seducing her. Ruth Moss—rich, sexy, and outspoken—has more to give and less to enjoy than most people think. Indeed, since her husband's stroke left him embarrassingly uninhibited yet completely impotent, she's more of a caretaker than a wife. And modest Lisa Slotnick, a loving parent who wants nothing more than to fade into the scenery as she tends to her children, must deal with the humiliation of being thrust into the spotlight by her scandalous, alcoholic mother.
When these three get together, a powerful alliance is formed. But is it strong enough to overcome the obstacles to getting the movie made in their town? And will their friendship be enough to mend their hearts and homes? Join them as they reach for the stars . . . and try to pull off a Hollywood ending of their own.

Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA: A Novel

Humor & Entertainment

Meister, Ellen

Humor

William Morrow

When a Hollywood location scout comes to Applewood, Long Island, and announces that the local elementary school might make the perfect backdrop for an upcoming George Clooney movie, the PTA's decorum crumbles like a cookie from last week's bake sale. Enter Maddie, Ruth, and Lisa, three women who become the glue that holds the project together, forging a bond of friendship stronger than anyone could imagine. And not a moment too soon, as marriage woes, old flames, and scandalously embarrassing family members threaten to tear each of them apart. Is their powerful alliance strong enough to overcome the obstacles to getting the movie made in their town? And will their friendship be enough to mend their hearts and homes? Join them as they reach for the stars . . . and try to pull off a Hollywood ending of their own. At once tender and hilarious, Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA is a captivating story that turns suburbia upside down . . . with more humor, heartache, and heat than one PTA can hold.

Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA

William Morrow Paperbacks

Bev is the Smart One, who finally leaves her artistic ambitions in chalk dust (and her humor-impaired husband in the arms—and legs—of his nubile protégée) to become a schoolteacher. Clare is the Pretty One, who married well and seems to be living a designer version of the suburban dream. Joey is the Wild One, struggling to stay clean and sober now that she's used up her fifteen minutes of fame as a one-hit-wonder rock star. They love each other but mix like oil, water, and hundred-proof gin . . . a combination that threatens to combust over family tensions, suspected infidelities, a devastating accident, a stunning confession, and the sudden reappearance of their handsome, now all-grown-up former neighbor, Kenny Waxman, who's back in town making his mark as a TV comedy writer. It seems they'll never understand where their differences begin and their own destructive tendencies end. Then it happens: the sisters discover a decades-old body stuffed inside an industrial drum and begin a bold, heartbreaking, and sometimes hilarious journey that will either bring them together . . . or tear them apart for good.

The Smart One

Literature & Fiction

Dramas & Plays

Read Ellen Meister's blogs and other content on the Penguin Community. If you could return to the road not taken, would you? Happily married and pregnant, Quinn Braverman has an ominous secret. Every time she makes a major life decision, she knows an alternate reality exists in which she made the opposite choice-not only that, she knows how to cross over. But even in her darkest moments-like her mother's suicide-Quinn hasn't been tempted to slip through...until she receives devastating news about the baby she's carrying. The grief lures her to peek across the portal, and before she knows it she's in the midst of the other life: the life in which she married another man, and is childless. The life in which her mother is still very much alive. Quinn is forced to make a heartbreaking choice. Will she stay with the family she loves and her severely disabled child? Or will an easier life-and the primal need to be with her mother-win out?

The Other Life

United States

G.P.Putnam's Sons

What if inspiration came to visit...and wouldn't leave? When it comes to movie reviews, critic Violet Epps is a powerhouse voice. But that's only because she's learned to channel her literary hero, Dorothy Parker, the most celebrated and scathing wit of the 20th century. If only Violet could summon that kind of courage in her personal life. Determined to defeat her social anxiety, Violet visits the Algonquin Hotel to pull strength from the hallowed dining room, where Dorothy Parker and so many other famous writers of the 1920s traded barbs. But she gets more than she bargained for when Dorothy Parker's feisty spirit rematerializes from an ancient guestbook and hitches a ride onto her life. Violet is shocked and thrilled to be face-to-face with her idol, but when the gin-swilling writer takes up residence in her home and grows pricklier and more outspoken by the day, the timid movie critic is pushed to her limit. With her job threatened, her new relationship in tatters, and the custody fight for her orphaned niece in jeopardy, Violet is forced to face her fears ...and she makes sure Mrs. Parker does the same. Wickedly funny and surprisingly poignant, Farewell, Dorothy Parker perfectly re-imagines one of America's most iconic voices in a captivating and unforgettable tale.

Farewell, Dorothy Parker

The acid-tongued Dorothy Parker is back and haunting the halls of the Algonquin with her piercing wit, audacious voice, and unexpectedly tender wisdom. Heavenly peace? No, thank you. Dorothy Parker would rather wander the famous halls of the Algonquin Hotel, drink in hand, searching for someone, anyone, who will keep her company on this side of eternity. After forty years she thinks she’s found the perfect candidate in Ted Shriver, a brilliant literary voice of the 1970s, silenced early in a promising career by a devastating plagiarism scandal. Now a prickly recluse, he hides away in the old hotel slowly dying of cancer, which he refuses to treat. If she can just convince him to sign the infamous guestbook of Percy Coates, Dorothy Parker might be able to persuade the jaded writer to spurn the white light with her. Ted, however, might be the only person living or dead who’s more stubborn than Parker, and he rejects her proposal outright. When a young, ambitious TV producer, Norah Wolfe, enters the hotel in search of Ted Shriver, Parker sees another opportunity to get what she wants. Instead, she and Norah manage to uncover such startling secrets about Ted’s past that the future changes for all of them.

Dorothy Parker Drank Here

If you could return to the road not taken...would you?Quinn Braverman has a perfect life, with a loving husband, an adorable son, and another baby on the way.
Quinn also has an ominous secret: she knows that another version of her life exists...one in which she made totally different life choices. But she's never been tempted to switch lives-until a shocking turn of events pushes her to cross over, and she discovers the one person she thought she'd lost forever: Her mother.
But Quinn can't have both lives. Soon, she must decide which she really wants-the one she has...or the other life...

BERKLEY

When it comes to movie reviews, critic Violet Epps is a powerhouse voice. But that’s only because she’s learned to channel her literary hero Dorothy Parker, the most celebrated and scathing wit of the twentieth century. If only Violet could summon that kind of strength in her personal life. Violet visits the Algonquin Hotel in an attempt to find inspiration from the hallowed dining room where Dorothy Parker and so many other famous writers of the 1920s traded barbs, but she gets more than she bargained for when Parker’s feisty spirit rematerializes. An irreverent ghost with problems of her own—including a refusal to cross over to the afterlife—Mrs. Parker helps Violet face her fears, becoming in turn mentor and tormentor…and ultimately, friend. READERS GUIDE INSIDE

Farewell, Dorothy Parker (A Dorothy Parker Novel)

Humor & Satire

Penguin Publishing Group

In a prequel to her appearance in Ellen Meister’s “delicious”* Farewell, Dorothy Parker, the acid-tongued writer haunts the halls of the Algonquin Hotel with her piercing wit and unexpectedly tender wisdom. Death cannot quell the feisty spirit of Dorothy Parker. For more than forty years, Mrs. Parker has been spurning the white light and wandering the famous halls of the Algonquin, drink in hand, searching for someone—anyone—who will keep her company on this side of eternity. She may have found the perfect candidate in Ted Shriver, a brilliant literary voice of the 1970s, silenced early in a promising career by a devastating plagiarism scandal. He is now a recluse hiding away in the old hotel, waiting to die. But when a young, ambitious TV producer enters the hotel in search of Shriver, she and Dorothy Parker begin to discover a host of secrets surrounding the life of the famous man—and why he seems as anxious to enter the beyond as Mrs. Parker is to avoid it. *Cleveland Plain Dealer

Dorothy Parker Drank Here (A Dorothy Parker Novel)

"Readers looking for a light beach read will enjoy the engaging writing and compelling plot."--Library Journal "A great romp of a read"--Candace Bushnell, New York Times bestselling author of SEX AND THE CITY Bright lights, big trouble...Dana Barry has nothing against rules. She just knows they're meant to be bent. So it's no wonder the single, twentysomething, aspiring actress loses her day job. Now her life is a mess... until she hears the Shopping Channel is auditioning. Relying on her knack for knowing what makes people tick, she lands a gig on air. But before she can say office politics, Dana is caught in the biggest drama of her life. The star host--a diva who terrorized the entire staff--is found dead. Dana knows the prime suspect is innocent. The heat is on, and Dana thinks she's ready for it...until she tangles with the tall, dark and smoldering detective in charge. It's more fuel than she needs right now as she's trying to launch her career. But Dana's never been afraid to take chances...even when a single spark could ignite everything.

Love Sold Separately: A Novel

MIRA

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Meister, Ellen. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Meister, Ellen

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Meister, Ellen. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA: A Novel

Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA

The Smart One

The Other Life

Farewell, Dorothy Parker

Dorothy Parker Drank Here

The Other Life

Farewell, Dorothy Parker (A Dorothy Parker Novel)

Dorothy Parker Drank Here (A Dorothy Parker Novel)

Love Sold Separately: A Novel