Reviews
"[A] charming modern take on Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence. With understated wit, empathy and a cinematic eye of detail, Segal brings alive a host of characters so robust that you can easily imagine them onscreen .A winning debut novel."-- People (***1/2 stars), Francesca Segal's lustrous debut may have begun as a seed shaken from Edith Wharton's masterpiece, The Age of Innocence, but only a few pages will show how completely Segal has made The Innocents her own. The setting--a vibrant if enclosed London Jewish community--is beautifully counterbalanced by Segal's wry and compassionate voice. It is impossible to resist this novel's wit, grace, and charm., "Readers who enjoy fast-paced, gently satirical literary novels, fans of Allegra Goodman, and book group participants will find a Shabbat dinner's worth of noshing in this accomplished debut novel by the daughter of author Erich Segal."-- Library Journal (Starred Review), "Inspired by The Age of Innocence, Segal's book is warmer, funnier, and paints a more dynamic and human portrait of a functional community that is a wonderful juxtaposition to Wharton's cold social strata."-- Publishers Weekly (Starred Review), The Innocents is written with wisdom and deliciously subtle wit, in the tradition of Jane Austen and Nancy Mitford. Francesca Segal has a remarkable ability to bring characters vividly to life who are at once warm, funny, complex, and utterly recognizable. This is a wonderfully readable novel: elegant, accomplished and romantic., A moving, funny, richly drawn story of a young man's attempts to find out who he wants to be when there are so many others who know best. Full of real pleasures and unexpected wisdom this book sweeps you along., Readers who enjoy fast-paced, gently satirical literary novels, fans of Allegra Goodman, and book group participants will find a Shabbat dinner's worth of noshing in this accomplished debut novel by the daughter of author Erich Segal., [A] charming modern take on Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence. With understated wit, empathy and a cinematic eye of detail, Segal brings alive a host of characters so robust that you can easily imagine them onscreen .A winning debut novel., Inspired by The Age of Innocence, Segal's book is warmer, funnier, and paints a more dynamic and human portrait of a functional community that is a wonderful juxtaposition to Wharton's cold social strata.
