Friday, October 3, 2008 (SF Chronicle)
‘Lulu in Marrakech’ – worldly comic thriller
Martin Rubin
Lulu in Marrakech By Diane Johnson Dutton; 307 pages; $25.95
It should be a truth universally acknowledged that there is no better tonic for a writer in midcareer than a change of perspective. For San Francisco writer Diane Johnson, already an accomplished novelist and essayist, that came when her husband’s medical work took them to Paris in the 1990s. Immersion in another culture for part of each year broadened her horizons, and the result was three highly amusing novels taking a fond if wry look at French mores: “Le Mariage,” “Le Divorce” and “L’Affaire.” This departure into a frothier form of fiction, rather surprising from a hitherto serious writer with a doctorate, found her a much larger readership. Judging by her latest novel, “Lulu in Marrakech,” it also served to invigorate her as a novelist, for here she has blended her interest in heavier issues with a lightness of touch perfected in those more frivolous works.
For Martin’s full review, click here or visit www.sfgate.com.