Dora's life has changed so completely she could almost have be an entirely different person now from the ones she once was. As a child she had parents who were either absent, alcoholic or curiously odd, or sometimes all three. She grew up to marry an intellectually challenged jock, and then traded him in for a devilishly handsome successful Hollywood player. You could say her life was on the up, and she had managed to escape the legacy of her past, to do something good with her life. But, as the book begins, we find a different Dora from any of the ones described here. She's now separated from husband number two, unemployed and rapidly burning a huge hole in her trust fund as she wallows around her apartment, rarely venturing out. So far this could be the plot of half a dozen chick flicks or trashy novels, give or take a few details. What makes Dora different, however, is the books. The many, many books she surrounds herself with, fills her apartment with and uses as cheap therapy when the going gets tough. The whole story has a literary influence and it adds an unusual, quirky slant.