Piece of Work

36-year-old Julia Einstein, a Connecticut housewife who has been relishing her life as a stay-at-home mom to toddler son Leo. When her husband, Peter, loses his job, Julia is thrust back into the world she left behind. After calling on a savvy and successful friend for advice, Julia ends up at John Glom Public Relations, a "firm that handles desperate has-beens," where she must work with actress Mary Ford, billed as a "client, paying for the right to suck the life out of us." That Julia finds an antidote for Mary's dwindling fame is predictable, but the process generates its share of chuckles. Ford is ceaselessly cruel, but her vulnerability flickers tellingly beneath her veneer of icy disgust. Julia's portrait of motherhood is overly sentimental, and her references to Leo as "The Scoob" are doggedly cute. Julia's swift handling of potential PR disasters make for an amusing read, and the ending is just as happy as can be.