A Labor of Lunch

The sentiment behind the short stories that make up. Ladies’ Lunch is best summed up by the author herself in her quote from Proust.
“Old fiends bound by the closest ties of mental sympathy will cease after a certain year to make the necessary journey or even cross the street to see one another.”

This book is the story of close friends who have been meeting together for over 50 years. They are all facing the problems of aging but Segal’s humor shines through and for those of us women who are over 55 or so, there are many scenes that we will find ever so relatable.

I suspect this is a wonderful book. It’s beautifully written, and the human narrator does a pretty good job. But whoever did the audio editing needs to be fired.

A good book spoiled. It’s read as one long chapter with no visible chapter headings (though the chapter names are read) showing on the screen - not even numbered ones. It’s all one long chapter called “Opening”.

I had bookmarked regularly so I’d find my place in the audiobook, should I be distracted or fall asleep if reading at night. Still audio readers rely on chapter headings showing on the screen. I know there were physical chapters as I heard the reader say them, but in the same tone as the surrounding text so that they were mostly missed. Or if heard, disappeared immediately.

I was losing track of the characters, as there were many flashbacks both in time and place. Even now, I don’t even know if I actually heard all the stories.

Segal is brilliant. Take this description of Hope, one of the women who goes to the bathroom at the Hotel Provence where the ladies choose to lunch as the bathroom is on the same floor as the restaurant - thus no stairs,

When Hope sees in the bathroom of the Hotel Provence that her hair has come out of its pins. She took thee pins out and stood gazing at the crone with the gray shoulder-length hair girlishly loosened.

Or this, on language.

“Light tingled among the trees and thee grasses gleamed swordlike says my story. Curious how our language asks for similes. What is something like? ‘The sky is, like liquid light ‘ I wrote. Liquid is close but it’s not quite the right word.”

I’m quoting a lot because there’s no other way for me to describe the mangled version of the book that I actually had my brain process. Just imagine it in print!

I close with a conversation between two divorced people. With such sleight of hand Segal has us imagine the married couple during their marriage. We women will take Lilly’s side.

“She called Henry and said can you remember exactly why we got divorced?
You always think things can be explained exactly, said Henry.
Oh really she said. Is this one of those things I always think?
If you want to argue you’ll have to call back after I’ve had my coffee, said Henry.
Anything else I have to do? she said and hung up.”

Recommended in print version only. ( )

“We need a moral: let us be patient with each other and with ourselves, and suffer the diverse paces at which we move through one another’s time and space.”

Ladies' Lunch and Other Stories by Lore Segal revolves around a group of friends in their 80s and 90s. While many of the stories have been previously published throughout the author’s illustrious career, a few are relatively newer. Through the course of ten of the sixteen short stories, we follow Ruth, Bridget, Farah, Lotte, and Bessie, friends for over four decades who have a lifetime of memories they share over their luncheons, as they also confront the challenges of aging, loneliness, loss of friends and family, the COVID lockdown and much more. Though the ladies’ luncheons and their discussions form the larger part of the collection, we also get a handful of “other” stories ranging from themes of childhood memories, the Holocaust, age related ailments, and nostalgia.

Insightful, heartfelt and bittersweet, I enjoyed the author’s sharp writing, sparse prose (occasionally, a tad abrupt) and realistic characters. The tone of these stories does tend toward sad and melancholic, but the author injects a steady dose of witty observation to balance the sadness. My rating reflects my opinion of the collection as a whole. While some stories were more impactful than others, overall, I found this collection to be a thought-provoking read. My favorites among the stories were The Arbus Factor, Dandelion, Making Good and Ladies' Zoom.

Many thanks to Melville House Publishing and NetGalley for the digital review copy of this book. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This book was published on September 26, 2023. ( )

Pulitzer Prize finalist, and beloved New York writer, Lore Segal pens a short story collection about five female friends who have been lunching together for over forty years. As they enter their ninth decade of life, they find that things that were important in their youth don't matter so much anymore. They limit their talk on aches and pains and try to focus on friendship, family, the future, and of course aging. Over the course of sixteen stories listeners are treated to humor, heartbreak, resourcefulness, and grim determination as these women try to avoid assisted living, figure out how to travel, and brainstorm ways to keep the whole gang together. Ladies' Lunch is narrated by Callie Beaulieu, who effuses the ladies' advanced ages and voices with wisdom, humor, and grace. Segal brilliantly showcases both incredible sharpness and wisdom in characters that sometimes forget names and misplace medications; with a perspective that younger writers can't easily imitate. Some stories shine much more than others, but seniors especially will relate and identify with the struggles of aging gracefully. ( )

This is the first I have read of Lore Segal’s writing, but it will not be the last. Her prose is deceptively simple but shows intricate emotions and subtle humor. Ladies’ Lunch is a group of short stories about a small group of elderly women who meet regularly for lunch, rotating between their homes. Their physical and emotional difficulties are frequent fodder, but also discussed are their personal histories, entwined in surprising ways, and gossip about other people and situations. Lore Segal is a magnificent writer, master of minimalist prose with shrouded sophisticated content. The artful humor woven through her words is inspired. At 95 years old, her art form is stunning. What will she gift us with next?
Thank you to NetGalley and Melville House for this ARC. ( )

Lore Segal is not a writer I'd heard of before - for anyone in the same camp, she's a 95 year old stalwart writer of the New Yorker, has written several novels and short story collections and has won numerous accolades (including being a Pulitzer finalist). Most of these stories have already been published either in the New Yorker or in another anthology, so if you're already familiar with Segal's work this collection may disappoint, but for a newbie like me it was terrific.

The first half of the book, and my favourite, was Ladies Lunch, a collection of interconnected stories about a group of sharp and spiky nonagenarian friends who have been lunching together for 40 years. It's not often that fiction is told (or written) from the perspective of someone in this age bracket so it felt original and poignant, particularly the story about one of the ladies being moved against her wishes by her children to a nursing home far from where her friends could visit. The second half was a collection of individual stories, the best of which was Making Good, a story about a week-long bridge-building class between New York Jews who had experienced the Holocaust and some younger people from Vienna, which was awkward and funny and thought provoking all at the same time.

I really enjoyed this book. Segal is a Viennese Jew who was part of the Kindertransport rescue mission to England in 1938 after Hitler annexed Austria, and has lived in New York City since 1951. The Holocaust is referenced in conversations and memories in many of the stories in this book, and although never handled with disrespect, Segal is clearly a great wit and woman not to be messed with. I adored the sass that was evident throughout each story - I'm sure she's quite a lady in the flesh.

4.5 stars - how much fun Lore Segal would be to lunch with. ( )