My rating: 1.5 of 5 starsA copy of Gossip was provided to me by William Morrow for review purposes.'Interesting how things change: the people you thought would be friends forever disappear, and others become more and more important to you over time.'Lovie French is a sixty year old boutique owner living in Manhattan and is the narrator of the story. She is still close to her two best friends, Avis and Dinah, that she went to school with when they were young and over time their families have become family to her. Lovie details how their lives unfolded over time and who they loved and lost and the ongoing gossip that prevailed.There was a strange detachment in the writing that made Gossip feel very lackluster which in turn made it hard to connect to any of the characters. It's written as a retelling of past events and I couldn't help but think it would have been more interesting and easier to connect to if it was written in present tense and as a form of flashback rather than a long series of recollections which would have lessened the 'info-dump' feel. I felt Lovie was a strange narrator choice even though she was a part of the story she didn't seem to have as much relevance. The story being told from Nicky or maybe even Grace (or both?) would have been a better choice as their story became the main feature in the end. The focus on the rest of the family formed the story as a whole but I would have liked to see more focus on Nicky and Grace to get a better idea of what led them up to the end events. There were some beautiful moments of writing and I felt that the story had a lot of potential if not for the loose stitching that bound the multiple characters story lines together. Lacking in depth and a true connection to the characters, this was ultimately quite forgettable.
