emmkayt 's review for:

The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy

4.0

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It’s Paris in the 1950s, and Sally Jay Gorce is an American therein, enjoying her time abroad on a sojourn funded by a generous uncle. She thinks she’s rather more sophisticated than she is, having lost her virginity to a married diplomat and having been bumping around enjoying late nights, parties, and liquor. Entertaining and witty, but beneath the levity, there’s some nastiness and things that scurry away from the light, whether it’s the date who slaps her and calls her a little slut early on or other revelations later in the book. Wit and chin up,sure, but jaunty adventures with a dark side. The ending was a bit of 50s wish fulfillment. 3.5.