Then She Found Me

By: Elinor Lipman

Narrated by: Mia Barron

April Epner teaches high school Latin, wears flannel jumpers, and is used to having her evenings free. Bernice Graverman brandishes designer labels, favors toad-sized earrings, and hosts her own tacky TV talk show: Bernice G!

But behind the glitz and glam, Bernice has followed the life of the daughter she gave up for adoption 36 years ago. Now that she's got her act together, she's aiming to be a mom like she always knew she could. And she's hurtling straight for April's quiet little life....

©1990 Elinor Lipman (P)2009 BBC Audio

Critic reviews

"She descends upon April's quiet life with the tact of a size-six locust, and the delightful and surprising results of this unlikely reunion will keep you turning pages long after bedtime." (Amazon.com review)

Understanding mom

Great story about an incredible young woman. She understood people and was able to glue her family back together.

A very satisfying book.

Starts a little slow but the story grows and blossoms. Elinor Lipman excels at making quirky people real. While some of her books are more sober and some more whimsical they always draw you in. Sometimes I want something between tense family dramas or zany, madcap escapades. Then I look to see if there is something new from Elinor Lipman. If not, I reread one I enjoyed before like this one.

An Entertaining Book

Then She Found Me is a charming book. It's funny, at times poignant, and its characters are vivid and complex. Elinor Lipman's writing sparkles. I highly recommend it if you're in the mood for something light and entertaining.

Mia Barron's narration is energetic and suits the book's tone, but I'd have liked the characters' voices to be a bit more nuanced and the pacing to be a little more varied. If I could have deducted only half a star for that, I would have.

Note to those who (as I did) found their way here after seeing Helen Hunt's movie adaptation and hoped to delve a little more deeply into some of the movie's themes: You won't find the movie here. The movie's broad premise is the same, Bernice is essentially the same, and the April of the book is vaguely recognizable on film, as if strayed into a parallel universe and driven by different motivations. The movie's plot is entirely different, with most of the other characters either absent, utterly changed, or newly-created for the screenplay. The insights at the end of the movie, which are perhaps what I value most about it, are not drawn from the book.

None of that is to say that the book suffers by comparison, no matter how much you loved the movie. In its own right, it's a lovely book with characters you'd miss if you read the book first and then saw the movie -- just as the movie is a lovely and deeply touching movie, with characters you miss if you see it first. If you're forewarned, if you approach the book as a different story, you won't be disappointed.

great reading

This is a fun book and the reader enhanced it. she did an excellent job

I hated the birth mother.

I'm not adopted. I don't even know any adopted people. I absolutely did not want April to welcome Bernice, her birth mom. I was completely on Team Adopted Parents. Bernice was selfish and self-centered. Yes, she waited until April's adoptive parents passed away to contact April but that wasn't altogether altruistic. (Can you tell I didn't like Bernice?)

Even with that very real dislike of one of the main characters, I loved this listen! Loved, loved, loved it!!! April was an incredible character. She was in her 30's and had the requisite amount of self-assurance. I liked the way she welcomed and was open to the burgeoning romance with the librarian. It was really sweet and worth dealing with the cringefest that was Bernice.

The narrator probably has more to blame for my dislike of Bernice. Barron performed that character to perfection! All of the characters in this book were unique and fully-formed, which in its own right, is a major achievement. The Bernice persona was next level.

Cringey

I tried to get through this, as it was our book clubs lighthearted December read. I could not listen after chapter 15. That was enough. The characters are unlikable, cringey exchanges between characters. Pits birth mothers against adoptive parents. And the vanity and narcissistic attitudes in the story is just not some thing I want to read for a feel good December book.