Goodman, Joanna 1969-

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Goodman, Joanna 1969-

PERSONAL:

Born 1969.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Agent—Beverley Slopen Literary Agency, 131 Bloor St. W. #711, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1S3, Canada.

CAREER:

Author, 1998—. Also owner of Toronto linen store, Au Lit Fine Linens.

WRITINGS:

Belle of the Bayou, Porcupine's Quill (Erin, Ontario, Canada), 1998.

You Made Me Love You, NAL Accent (New York, NY), 2006.

Harmony, NAL Accent (New York, NY), 2007.

Contributor of stories to periodicals, including Fiddlehead, Ottawa Citizen, B & A Fiction, Event, New Quarterly, and White Wall Review.

SIDELIGHTS:

In You Made Me Love You, Joanna Goodman tells the story of three Jewish sisters who, in the aftermath of a family reunion, begin to redefine their own lives. Estelle, the oldest daughter, is pursuing a career in film in Los Angeles, but is beginning to doubt her ability to win a husband (not helped by relentless parental pressure). Jessie, the middle child, got married early to a successful doctor and author of a best-selling diet book; she has two children. As she approaches middle age, however, she begins to question her decisions and plots to begin reforming her life. Erica, the youngest, is living in New York where she is learning to be a creative writer, with an older man who serves as her mentor. "The family dynamics Goodman portrays will be familiar to almost every woman," declared Cherie Thiessen in January Magazine. "The controlling mother who has given up one kind of life (career) for another (living for her children and family), the maternal manipulation that comes along with that: the compromises, the sibling rivalry, … and the guilty desire to be free of it all." However, "as the family members search for love and meaning," explained Patty Engelmann in her Booklist review of the novel, "they strengthen their family connection." You Made Me Love You, a Publishers Weekly critic concluded, "offers a generously imagined panorama of life crises."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, July 1, 2006, Patty Engelmann, review of You Made Me Love You, p. 30.

Books in Canada, November 1, 1998, review of Belle of the Bayou, p. 47; November 1, 2006, Ann Diamond, review of You Made Me Love You, p. 9.

Canadian Book Review Annual, January 1, 1998, review of Belle of the Bayou, p. 182; January 1, 2005, Lynne Perras, review of You Made Me Love You, p. 170.

Publishers Weekly, June 5, 2006, review of You Made Me Love You, p. 33.

Quill & Quire, August 1, 1998, review of Belle of the Bayou, p. 29.