Elinor Lipman's The View from Penthouse B is very much like her Ms. Demeanor. Or, rather, Ms. Demeanor is very much like The View from Penthouse B because View came out first. At any rate, both feature a luxe New York City apartment, second-chance romance, and the juxtaposition of the proper and the salacious, making for a tale that feels appealingly tongue-in-cheek Victorian.
Fiftyish, widowed Gwen-Laura "Gwen" Schmidt moves in with her divorced big sis Margot at the suggestion of their banker baby sis Betsy. Betsy thinks that her two near-destitute siblings should lean on each other financially -- and emotionally. Gwen is subsisting on her late husband's teacher's pension, and Margot lost all her money to none other than Bernie Madoff, her only collateral the penthouse she purchased with her divorce settlement from her indicted doctor ex. His crime? Personally inseminating his infertile patients. But it wasn't the sex that was the problem, as it was, oddly, consensual. It was the fact that he was shooting (mostly) blanks.
So the two sisters give it a go, Gwen's near-mousy reserve and Margot's fiery charm (mostly) complementing each other. They even take in a boarder, the hip yet kind cupcake-baking Anthony, who happens to be unemployed too. Yet although the three penthouse paupers (cue the Aerosmith) kibitz about nonstarter business ideas and the unexpected reappearance of Margot's ex, the crux of the story is Gwen's reluctance to get back out there. Although it's been two years since her beloved Edwin died in his sleep due to an undetected heart defect, she can't imagine sharing even an entrée with anyone else. Nevertheless, she sets up an online dating profile and, to the horror of her roommates, places an ad in The New York Review of Books. I found her ad to be quaint and endearing. As for the online bit, the responses she receives leave much to be desired. But Gwen's journey is a worthwhile one, and I wanted her to get her happy ending. (Margot not so much, at least not the ending she chooses.)
Sophisticated, heartfelt, and witty, The View from Penthouse B is a (sometimes dark) matchmaking lark for anyone who never grows up -- or gives up.