About the Author

The deputy editor for the New York Post's Page Six column, Paula lives in New York City. Mercury in Retrograde is her first novel.

Reviews

Three down-on-their-luck Manhattan women form an unlikely fellowship in Page Six deputy editor Froelich's formulaic-though sometimes funny-debut. Anxious socialite Lena Lippencrass, smalltown transplant-cum-intrepid reporter Penelope Mercury and high-powered lawyer Dana Gluck end up in the same former SoHo tenement building at low points in their lives: Lena, cut off by her wealthy parents, is slumming it on Sullivan Street; Penelope is out of a job after accidentally damaging her office's property; and Dana lives on Weight Watchers while obsessing over her divorce. But once they band together, they right themselves while helping each other. After an initial barrage of New York names and places (and an abundance of parenthetical asides), the novel eventually finds a breezy groove as it traipses through TV newsrooms, high-stakes partnership meetings and a fashion gala at the Met, leading to comically fitting results-and new love interests-for each. Froelich takes a few light shots at socialite Web sites, politicians in prostitution scandals, fashion magazines and drug-addled young celebrities, and the book's message of rejecting gossip and hierarchy is sweetly unexpected, even if everything else is by the numbers. (June) Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.

"Written with humor, charm, and heart...readers will love the hilarious misadventures of Penelope Mercury." -- Candace Bushnell, author of One Fifth Avenue
"A zippy, relatable romp, told with style and sincerity." -- Jennifer Weiner, author of Certain Girls
"Mercury in Retrograde marks the emergence of a very entertaining storyteller." -- Sloane Crosley, author of I Was Told There'd Be Cake
"A delicious romp -- our horoscope-addicted heroine will make you laugh and cry. Great fun!" -- Erica Jong, author of Fear of Flying
"Move over, Dorothy Parker...funny, clever and engaging...gives the reader the ultimate insider's view into the looking-glass world of a working girl's Manhattan." -- Gigi Levangie Grazer, author of The Starter Wife
"Funny. Breezy. The book's message is sweetly unexpected." -- Publishers Weekly
"Breezy and sunny, Mercury in Retrograde is the perfect summer reading getaway." -- Miami Herald
"A delicious romp through the world of Gotham women-about-town. Comparisons to Sex and the City are inevitable, but Froelich, a former reporter for the New York Post gossip register Page Six, puts her knowing spin on the genre. It's the perfect frothy accompaniment to a beachside repast." -- Los Angeles Times Magazine