When Claire strikes out on her own for the first time in her twenty-three years of life, she trades the wide-open spaces of New Mexico for the urban anarchy of New York City, a trade that nobody - not her family, not her boyfriend, and sometimes, not even Claire herself - seems to understand. Alone in the chaos and anonymity of the big city, she struggles to come to terms with her own self-professed independence, but it isn't until she is befriended by her next door neighbor, Jade, that she truly begins to feel the possibilities. Dazzlingly beautiful, mysterious, and cosmopolitan, Jade personifies all the qualities Claire has come to New York to find; she seems to live according to her own desires, no matter how unconventional or unpredictable they may be. Overnight, she becomes Claire's first guide, and then something far more intimate. Caught by both New York and Jade's magnetic spell, Claire is drawn further and further into a series of events that change her vision of herself in unforeseen and irrevocable ways. As her life becomes increasingly intertwined with Jade's, Claire is continually challenged to reinvent herself; inevitably, this new self clashes with the old one, and with the need for security she can't quite seem to outgrow. Torn between the familiarity of the landscape she grew up in and the unknown future that Manhattan's glittering skyline seems to promise, Claire is finally forced to make choices that will alter the course of her life forever.

This will be off to beautiful New Zealand soon, to visit with that lovely Kiwi, Charmelie. :)

Thank you to EllyMae58 for sending this (and a sweet bookmark) to me from the States. I'm really looking forward to reading this. It's a wintry, wet night outside and the fire's going at the end of a working day. Perfect for curling up and reading about New York.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book so much that I raced through it and will probably have to read it again. It was the perfect book for me to read at this time, I really identify with the main character (age, questions about identity/experience). A coming of age novel, like a Holden Caulfield for 20-something young women set in New York. Beautiful, enticing prose that draws you into the story effortlessly.

My sister has given this book to one of her friends in Christchurch...