One Old, One New features two books – one old, one new, which are connected in some way. Today I am featuring two books by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney.
Published by Ecco on March 3, 2026
Age/Genres: Adult, Fiction
Rating:
Goodreads
It’s 1977 and an air of restlessness has settled on the residents of Cambridge Road in Rochester, New York. When Nina Larkin is given a copy of The Joy of Sex by her newly divorced friend, she can no longer dismiss the nearly non-existent intimacy of her marriage. Just as her oldest child, Clara, is falling in love for the first time, Nina finds herself longing for the a midlife awakening. An intoxicating fling with a neighbour brings Nina a freedom she never thought possible—but also risks the reputations of both families and unravels Clara’s world, just as she stands on the threshold of adulthood.
Years later, Clara, now a successful food stylist in New York City, has never been able to move past the long-ago scandal. Drawn back home by the pull of a family wedding and wrestling with her own demons, she makes a pivotal decision that turns her life upside down.
Written with Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney’s signature humor and insight, LAKE EFFECT is a wise and probing look at love and desire, mothers and daughters, loss and grief, and what we owe the people we love most.
When an affair between neighbors turns into more, two families find themselves broken, reformed, and intertwined in each other's lives.
I know people draw this hard line on cheating in books, but I found myself wholly engrossed in this story. Sweeney did an incredible job exploring the whos, whys, and whats of this situation. I witnessed the fallout right after everyone learned of the indiscretion, as well as 15 years later, when all the children were grown with lives of their own. This event sent ripples through these families with some not fully recovering. Hearts were broken, plans were changed, and though they all seemed to land on their feet, there were damages that still needed to be repaired.
I was alive during the time periods featured in this story and was fascinated with the way Sweeney worked some of that pop culture and history into this tale. These bits were selected and used thoughtfully, and I will admit I had a few nostalgic moments of my own as I read.
Lake Effect was quite emotional with the BIG emotions coming at the end. I appreciated the way these families were able to evolve, and in the end, they chose each other.
Published by Ecco on April 6, 2021
Age/Genres: Adult, Fiction
Rating:
Goodreads
A warm, incisive new novel about the enduring bonds of marriage and friendship.
Flora Mancini has been happily married for more than twenty years. But everything she thought she knew about herself, her marriage, and her relationship with her best friend, Margot, is upended when she stumbles upon an envelope containing her husband’s wedding ring—the one he claimed he lost one summer when their daughter, Ruby, was five.
Flora and Julian struggled for years, scraping together just enough acting work to raise Ruby in Manhattan and keep Julian’s small theater company—Good Company—afloat. A move to Los Angeles brought their first real career successes, a chance to breathe easier, and a reunion with Margot, now a bona fide television star. But has their new life been built on lies? What happened that summer all those years ago? And what happens now?
With Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney’s signature tenderness, humor, and insight, Good Company tells a bighearted story of the lifelong relationships that both wound and heal us.
After more than twenty years of marriage, Flora unearths her husband's "lost" wedding ring which results in her reflecting on her life, her future, and what she thought was true.
This is my second book by Sweeney, and she creates messy characters as she throughly mines their emotions. In Good Company, they were all flawed and messy, but I was able to empathize with almost all of them. The storytelling really worked for me as well. The way the POVs slid from one to another and held connections gave the story this flow that I enjoyed.
My heart broke for Flora. She finally thought her family was in a good place. She and her husband had been working steadily, their daughter was graduating from high school and preparing for new adventures. They were happy, but apparently there were skeletons in the closet which she discovered while searching for a picture from one of her favorite summers. It must be devastating to think you had this great life, when in reality, you were betrayed by the two people you loved most.
The final trip to the lake turned into a more interesting choice than I thought it would be. There was this "moment" that was very meaningful and I must admit, was very moving. Upon reading the final page, I do feel like I missed something with David and Margot, but I was satisfied. It was an interesting journey watching how these people, their lives, and their relationships changed and grew.
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