Better Luck Next Time, Julia Claiborne Johnson
Better Luck Next Time, Julia Claiborne Johnson
List: $23.99 | Sale: $16.79
Club: $11.99

Better Luck Next Time
A Novel

Author: Julia Claiborne Johnson

Narrator: David Aaron Baker

Unabridged: 8 hr 52 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 01/05/2021


Synopsis

""Do you want to read something funny?  Let’s say, a novel set at a divorce ranch in Reno in the 1930s?  A book with memorably eccentric characters, sparkling dialogue, a satisfying plot twist, and some romance and sex?  A feel-good literary comedy/western?  Here it is, then, the book you've been looking for: Julia Claiborne Johnson’s Better Luck Next Time.""—Julie Schumacher, author of Dear Committee Members and The Shakespeare RequirementThe long anticipated second novel from the bestselling author of Be Frank with Me, a charming story of endings, new beginnings, and the complexities and complications of friendship and love, set in late 1930s Reno.It’s 1938 and women seeking a quick, no-questions split from their husbands head to the “divorce capital of the world,” Reno, Nevada. There’s one catch: they have to wait six-weeks to become “residents.” Many of these wealthy, soon-to-be divorcees flock to the Flying Leap, a dude ranch that caters to their every need. Twenty-four-year-old Ward spent one year at Yale before his family lost everything in the Great Depression; now he’s earning an honest living as a ranch hand at the Flying Leap. Admired for his dashing good looks—“Cary Grant in cowboy boots”—Ward thinks he’s got the Flying Leap’s clients all figured out. But two new guests are about to upend everything he thinks he knows: Nina, a St Louis heiress and amateur pilot back for her third divorce, and Emily, whose bravest moment in life was leaving her cheating husband back in San Francisco and driving herself to Reno.A novel about divorce, marriage, and everything that comes in between (money, class, ambition, and opportunity), Better Luck Next Time is a hilarious yet poignant examination of the ways friendship can save us, love can destroy us, and the family we create can be stronger than the family we come from.

About Julia Claiborne Johnson

Julia Claiborne Johnson is the author of the bestselling Be Frank with Me, a finalist for the American Bookseller’s Association Best Debut Novel Award. She grew up on a farm in Tennessee before moving to New York City, where she worked at Mademoiselle and Glamour magazines. She now lives in Los Angeles with her comedy-writer husband and their two children.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jennifer ~ TarHeelReader on January 22, 2021

Do you know about the divorce ranches in Reno, Nevada? This is the second or third book I’ve read in the last couple years that focuses on the “Reno Cure,” in the “divorce capital of the world, where women would travel to Nevada for a quickie divorce. Better Luck Next Time is such a fun blend of a b......more

Goodreads review by Katie on December 15, 2020

I always welcome the opportunity to read a historical fiction book that does not take place during World War 2 as that seems to dominate the genre. A story revolving around a 1930s dude ranch in Nevada where wealthy women come to stay as they await their divorce paperwork to be finalized was certain......more

Goodreads review by Jenny on January 06, 2021

I wasn't sure I'd like this as it looked a bit too romancey for me but I really loved it. Perhaps because my grandmother was a black-jack dealer in Reno and was divorced during this same time period? For whatever reason it worked for me in a comforting way...like watching an old black and white film......more

Goodreads review by Diana on January 18, 2021

2.5 Stars — Set in 1938, BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME gives a snap shot of life on a Nevada dude ranch for out-of-state wealthy women seeking a quickie divorce. They simply live there for six weeks to establish residency, and then they’re free. The story is told through Ward’s eyes, a young man working as a......more

Goodreads review by Robinne on February 06, 2021

First book I've read from beginning to end in over 12 months. And what a lovely welcome back to the world of fiction! I was transported to Reno circa 1938, far far away from Covid and the insurrection and everything going on in our world right now. And I thoroughly enjoyed the diversion. Julia craft......more