Jennifer Close Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Jennifer Close is an American author of romance and general fiction novels best known for “Girls in White Dresses,” the debut she wrote in 2011.
The author was born in Chicago Illinois and went to Boston College where she earned her bachelor’s degree. She would then go to The New School in New York from where she got her creative writing MFA.

Close has said that she used to write in a male voice while in college so that she would not be too revelatory. She would then go on to work for “The New Yorker,” “Vogue,” and finally ended up at “Portfolio,” which was a subsidiary of “Conde Nast.”

It was while she was working for “Portfolio” as an editor that she began writing stories about the lives of her friends and her own life.

She wrote about the endless bachelorette parties, showers, and weddings that left all of them broke and exhausted. It was these writings that would eventually evolve into “Girls in White Dresses.”

When Tim Hartz her then-boyfriend that would become her husband was hired by the Obama White House, she moved to Washington, where she got even more material for her novels.

The best thing about being let go by “Portfolio” was that Jennifer Close got a very good severance package. This made it possible for Jennifer to move with her boyfriend to Washington, where she continued writing her novel.

In Washington, Close got an agent and within about four months she sold the manuscript. While at the time it did not seem that things were moving fast enough, they were.

After getting settled in Washington, she started teaching creative writing at George Washington University. She has said that she loves to teach creative writing at workshops and there is nothing better than reading the short stories of aspiring authors.

While it has been a long time since she attended a workshop, she has saidthat the one thing that makes her love teaching workshops is to see just how good and promising some of the writings of her students are.

Jennifer Close’s novel “Girls in White Dresses” is a beautiful exploration of the lives of three women. Lauren, Mary, and Isabella have always felt like everyone getting married is known to them.

It seemed like for weeks on end they have to eat doll-sized cakes, and minuscule sandwiches, collect wrapping paper and ribbons and coo over toasters at all manner of bridal showers across the city.

Over the past few months, they have drunk champagne by the case and worn pastel dresses, but amid it all, they have to deal with things happening in their own lives.

Isabella is an employee of a mailing list company where she has been clashing with her boss. The latter claims she is on a diet but if Isabella does not bring her a chocolate muffin in the morning, she often banishes her to the filing room.

Mary could not be happier when she meets a man who loves his mother so much. But she realizes she will never get that much love from the nice guy.
Lauren works at a Midtown bar as a waitress and has sworn never to fall for the sleazy bartender. However, given his perfect vodka sodas and dirty blond curls, she is finding her promise almost impossible to keep.

Writing with a witty wryness, Jennifer takes readers through a bewildering and thrilling exploration of early adulthood years as seen through the three lead characters.

“The Hopefuls” by Jennifer Close is the story of Beth Kelly, a native of Wisconsin who moves from New York to move to Washington DC with her husband. The latter had just been offered a job with the Inauguration Committee for President Obama.

Having lived in New York, moving to Washington DC the nation’s capital was somewhat strange. Unlike New York City where one could be anonymous, Washington felt like a small town that moved at a very slow pace.

Moreover, unlike in New York where people were more lively and engaged in the art, business, and culture among other things, in Washington, it was all politics. With no friends to speak of and no real career prospects, Beth has a very lonely existence.

Another disadvantage of life in Washington is that she is too close to her husband’s family. The de facto head of the family is her husband’s mother who treats Beth and her fellow daughters-in-law like outsiders.

Still, Beth does her best to get accustomed to her new life and the city even if her efforts do not seem to be bearing fruit.

Her salvation comes from the unlikely meeting of charismatic White House staffer Jimmy Dillon and Matt. It is not long before Beth is best friends with Jimmy’s wife, even though the two could not have been more dissimilar.

Jennifer Close’s novel “The Smart One” is the story of Weezy Coffey.

Her parents had always praised her smarts while praising the beauty of Maureen her sister. Her mother believed Maureen would get a very good husband but it was Weezy who landed the good father and very kind man for a husband.

Weezy has always wondered if she got the good man just to prove everyone wrong by thwarting their positions.

A few years later, Weezy’s children are all grown and most have been falling short of her expectations.

Martha is a thirty-something-year-old woman that is still living at home following a spectacular meltdown in her career. She now works folding pants at J. Crew and is always complaining.

Claire her middle child had broken up with her fiance and lived like a hermit while she left her mother to deal with angry florists and caterers.
Max who is her youngest is dating a beautiful and confident girl named Cleo that is so conceited she often leaves people stammering and blushing when she wears her swimsuit to dinner.

As her children’s missteps force them back home, their mother suddenly fills herself with a full and very crowded nest with regressing children.