ATTACHMENTS

The novel begins in 1999, where Y2K looms large in the offices of a newspaper in Omaha, a small city in the Midwest. Interoffice email is still a novelty, so the newspaper management hires Lincoln, an I.T. computer guy to monitor unauthorized ('flagged') email and make sure the system doesn't crash on New Year's. Jennifer, a copyeditor, and Beth, a film critic, are constantly emailing one another with messages that get flagged, so Lincoln has to read their correspondence. Through their email chat, Lincoln (and the reader) gets to know these two women, who are hilarious and vulnerable by turns, each looking for that elusive combination of true love, job satisfaction, and a bridesmaid's dress that doesn't make them look fat. They struggle with the ups and downs of relationships, Jennifer dealing with her fear of pregnancy, and Beth obsessing over the mysterious identity of 'The Cute Guy' who obviously works in the building, but does God-knows-what. Lincoln, who is under-occupied and lovelorn, is first intrigued, then captivated, and soon he falls in love with Beth - without ever knowing what she looks like - and he finds that he can't stop reading her mail. While Beth crushes on her Cute Guy, a man she's seen but never dared speak to, Lincoln dreams of, but fears to seek out, this woman whose secrets he should never have been privy to.

Rainbow Rowell has written a sparkling and very commercial debut novel. It's witty and sweet - very satsifying and very hard to put down.

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Deutsch von Sonja Hagemann
[PB: Goldmann 10/11]