No One Could Have Guessed the Weather

“No One Could Have Guessed the Weather proves largely disappointing.”

No One Could Have Guessed the Weather is a contemporary compilation of the lives of four women living in New York City.

Lucy Lovett finds her family is now quite destitute after her husband loses his job due to the abysmal economy. Forced to move to a tiny apartment in the Big Apple, they relinquish their affluent lifestyle in England. Lucy, angry at her hubby, soon comes to love the lively city. She befriends three women and through them she can somewhat regain peace of mind from the complete disruption of her former life.

Christy Armitage is a bit troubled because she does not share the stresses her friends face. Married to a much older, wealthy man and living in a penthouse apartment, she seems impervious to the worries and cares of others. After her husband suffers a heart attack, Christy is enchanted by the doorman at her residence and fancies having an affair.

Then there’s Julia Kirkland, an overworked Type A screenwriter who conveniently succumbs to a nervous breakdown and commits herself to in-house therapy for a month in a posh Connecticut hospital. While recovering and after her release, she finds she enjoys her carefree life without the demands of a family. She rents a humble flat of her own, and she and her spouse shuttle her confused children back and forth.

Finally, Robyn Skinner, whom Lucy meets at their children’s school, proves to be inefficient and often cantankerous. Harried and trying to be a supermom, she works a full-time job but is committed to raising her children without her husband’s help.

It is difficult to get to the main premise of this somewhat tedious book. No One Could Have Guessed the Weather does touch on the distinct wants, needs, and problems of modern women. These four friends share their worries and unhappiness, but their relationship does not give the impression of close companionship among them.

The individual chapters jump around in covering each woman’s story, slowing the flow of the novel and making the storyline somewhat confusing. The depictions of the characters are disjointed, and their relationships are not what one would expect from what is suggested at the beginning of the book regarding depth and richness. Also, emotional ties common among a group of women who supposed;y bond and share secrets are simply not apparent. Each character appears directionless and distant from her “close” friends.

No One Could Have Guessed the Weather proves largely disappointing.