Laura and Emma by Kate Greathead

I have been in a reading slump - not in terms of quantity but in terms of quality.  I have been gravitating more toward more literary fiction so I was excited to have been granted a digital copy of Laura and Emma by Kate Greathead from Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

The story started off interesting with Laura, a person of means who makes a choice to live modestly with her unplanned daughter.  As a single mom, I appreciated the choices that she had to make to find ways to make ends meet, however, the fact that she did come from wealth and had access to round the clock help and a guaranteed if needed dulled that camaraderie between myself and the main character somewhat.  As a result, it took me a long time to finish this book.

I can't fault the writing which was stylized and descriptive and made me feel the time period with the emergence of the AIDS epidemic and the changing view of the ability of single women to support themselves and their own freedom.  I wish the focus has been more on the relationship between Laura and Emma.  There seemed to be some disconnect in their relationship and I was expecting more given the title.

I recommend this book for your next book club pick as I'm sure that different women would have a great time discussing their perspectives on the story and the time.  This was a solid 3.5 star read for me.