Book Review: The Big Nap

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

The Big Nap     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Ayelet Waldman
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Woman Main Character   Ethnic
Series: Mommy Track mysteries # 2
Berkley, Jun 2001, $21.95, 240 pp.

Juliet Applebaum studied extra hard and for long hours at Harvard to become a lawyer. However, to her own amazement and to the shock of her spouse, she quits her profession to stay home as a full time mother. On a good night, her youngest child Isaac sleeps perhaps for ten minutes all evening (a slight exaggeration except when you're the parent with no sleep). Her spouse is not home to provide Juliet with any help with the wide-awake child. Suffering from sleep depravation, Juliet accepts the services of Hasidic Jew Fraydle.

Fraydle's baby-sitting allows Juliet to obtain some decent sleep. However, when the girl fails to return Juliet tries to learn why only to find out Fraydle is missing. Worried as time passes with no word, Juliet visits New York where her baby-sitter's fiancé lives (as well as her own parents), but obtains nothing new. Juliet returns to Los Angeles where she realizes that Fraydle has a secret lover here in California who might have answers.

The trails and tribulations of a mother with a restless newborn and an older preschooler add a unique feel to a fascinating story line. Readers also obtain a glimpse into the social and cultural life of a Hasidic Jew, a group who isolate themselves from the rest of society. This adds an additional uniqueness to the entreating BIG NAP. Juliet is a modern heroine refusing to quit or take another snooze until she feels justice is properly served.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner