From Publishers Weekly
Flaum ( Stardreams ) depicts the tempestuous lives of the clashing Sheridans and Stantons in this lackluster novel. During WW II, sisters Carlotta and Francesca (Frankie) Collings meet suave Bill Sheridan. Frankie adores Bill, but he cares solely for Carlotta, a sultry and reckless beauty who finally weds a gangster. Meanwhile, shrewish Judith Tyler Stanton, fabulously wealthy niece of the Collings sisters, uses her political influence on Bill's behalf in return for his grudgingly granted sexual attentions. In 1962, after Carlotta's accidental death and Frankie's marriage to Bill (now Florida's powerful governor and a presidential aspirant), the whole clan uneasily mixes at the 16th birthday gala of the Sheridans' daughter, D'Arcy. Problems quickly materialize: D'Arcy ill-advisedly falls for Rudyard, Judith's son (he's really Bill's illegitimate offspring); woebegone Abby, Carlotta's daughter, craves attention; widowed Judith, still calculating and vengeful, creates new antagonisms; Jade, Carlotta's younger daughter, vows to avenge her mother's death. These characters' complex familial and emotional interrelationships overwhelm the flimsy plot, whose political overtones seem shallow and gratuitious. The author's often sophomoric prose is another deterrent to the reader.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Take two sisters, one "nice," one "wild"; add a war hero with political ambitions and a manipulative rich witch; throw in a second generation whose convoluted relationships are worthy of "Who's on First?"; and mix with liberal doses of money, power, politics, revenge, and, of course, sex. The result is The President's Women . A predictable mixture of physically attractive but generally self-centered and morally deficient and/or confused characters will nevertheless keep the reader enthralled. A sprinkling of real-life politicos contributes verisimilitude while the win-at-all-costs attitude provides a disturbing commentary on the times. Budgets could be better spent, but this is likely to be requested. Judith A. Gifford, Salve Regina Coll. Lib., Newport, R.I.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
