Displaying 1 of 1 2013 Format: Book Author: Sullivan, J. Courtney. Title: The engagements : a novel / J. Courtney Sullivan. Edition: First edition. Publisher, Date: New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2013. Description: 383 pages ; 25 cm Summary: "The story of four couples linked over sevearal decades by one diamond ring, and the woman who launched the most famous diamond campaign in the world"-- Provided by publisher. Subjects: Women in the advertising industry -- Fiction. Couples -- Fiction. Diamonds -- Fiction. FICTION -- Contemporary Women. FICTION -- Sagas. FICTION -- Literary. Comic. Amerikanisches Englisch. Roman. Genre: Domestic fiction. LCCN: 2012043874 ISBN: 9780307958716 (hardback) 030795871X (hardback) 9780307958723 (ebook) 0307958728 (ebook) OCLC: 813539864 System Availability: 2 # System items in: 2 # Local items: 1 # Local items in: 1 Current Holds: 0 Place Request Add to My List Expand All | Collapse All Availability Large Cover Image Trade Reviews Library Journal ReviewMary Frances Gerety's greatest contribution to American romance, not to mention the jewelry industry, was the tagline she wrote for her employer, the N.W. Ayer advertising agency: "A diamond is forever." Under the umbrella of the real-life Frances's career, Sullivan weaves the stories of four couples bound together over decades by one opulent and iconic diamond engagement ring. We begin in the 1970s with the Pearsalls, reeling from their immature son's abandonment of his family for a flagrant affair. In the 1980s, EMT James and nurse Sheila struggle in a stagnant Boston economy while working low-income jobs. In the early aughts, a beautiful French woman abandons her husband as she is consumed by passion for a brilliant and much younger American violinist, to whom she becomes engaged-until his behavior sends her on a rampage. A decade later, Kate and Dan eschew marriage while they prepare for the same-sex nuptials of Kate's gay cousin. -VERDICT Sullivan (Maine; Commencement) has written an intricate, beautifully timed novel, so delicious in its gradual unfolding that readers will want to reread it immediately to enjoy the fully realized ties. [See Prepub Alert, 12/16/12.]- Beth Andersen, Ann Arbor Dist. Lib., MI (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. Librarian's View Displaying 1 of 1