Under the Influence

A Novel

By: Joyce Maynard

Narrated by: Joyce Maynard

The New York Times bestselling author of Labor Day and After Her returns with a poignant story about the true meaning—and the true price—of friendship.

Drinking cost Helen her marriage and custody of her seven-year-old son, Ollie. Once an aspiring art photographer, she now makes ends meet taking portraits of school children and working for a caterer. Recovering from her addiction, she spends lonely evenings checking out profiles on an online dating site. Weekend visits with her son are awkward. He’s drifting away from her, fast.

When she meets Ava and Swift Havilland, the vulnerable Helen is instantly enchanted. Wealthy, connected philanthropists, they have their own charity devoted to rescuing dogs. Their home is filled with fabulous friends, edgy art, and dazzling parties.

Then Helen meets Elliott, a kind, quiet accountant who offers loyalty and love with none of her newfound friends’ fireworks. To Swift and Ava, he’s boring. But even worse than that, he’s unimpressed by them.

As Helen increasingly falls under the Havillands’ influence—running errands, doing random chores, questioning her relationship with Elliott—Ava and Swift hold out the most seductive gift: their influence and help to regain custody of her son. But the debt Helen owes them is about to come due.

Ollie witnesses an accident involving Swift, his grown son, and the daughter of the Havillands’ housekeeper. With her young son’s future in the balance, Helen must choose between the truth and the friends who have given her everything.

A talented writer becomes a pawn for the media

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

The story seems obligated to include the talking points of the liberal media.
Rich people must be bad and corrupt. Poor people are better. The best people
are the illegals who come from Central America.

If you’ve listened to books by Joyce Maynard before, how does this one compare?

I have read and enjoyed books by Joyce Maynard before, but never felt that she
had to suck up to the liberal media to have her book published.

Which character – as performed by Joyce Maynard – was your favorite?

Joyce Maynard did an excellent job of narrating her own novel.

Did Under the Influence inspire you to do anything?

I remember Maynard's essay in the New York Times Magazine section when she was in college. I will be very hesitant to read her other novels because it may be more propaganda from the liberal press.

Any additional comments?

Your novels would be much better when you don't have to push a liberal agenda.

Excellent

First off - great storyteller and writer. The story has everything to keep your interest. Intrigue, romance and human unpredictability. Loved this book and will seek out others from this author.

Predictable, yet entertaining. Good narration.

The story, while predictable, is entertaining. The entire story is told like a memory flashback, so it took a few short chapters to get used to the narration with almost no dialogue. However, I stuck to it and wound up intently drawn into the tale. Tightly woven plot and well developed characters make this an impressive book to have been a debut work. I would read (listen to) other books by the author.

Beautiful book

If you like literary writing style and are interested in a non-action packed in-depth exploration of one woman’s life, this book is so good. I recommend Joyce Maynard. She is an excellent writer.

Overall pretty good

Slow start, but got interesting in the middle. Good narrating, and not completely predictable. Worth the purchase.