Evelynn Cole nailed the good mail. She tells of the down and dirty adventures of her protagonist of whom the reader gets to know as well as a good sister or maybe a bad sister. Ms. Cole writes about small and even large as life stuff. Who would conceive of such a big thing as a real cow preserved by taxidermy. She takes us on a trip away from the mundane and far outside the box. A great read for all who dare to go there.

This book is not just about Felicia Wood's obsession with buying everything from catalogues in the hopes of winning the big prize, but also about family. Felicia is a five time divorced woman whose naivety doesn't help her. But when her niece, Caitland Thorpe reenters her life, then the roller coaster ride begins. Caitland is a young confused woman, whose suicide attempt landed her into a psychiatric hospital. Can these two help one another with their individual idiosyncrasies? When I began reading the first few chapters I hated Felicia and her obsession with catalogue buying. I wasn't sure if I could continue, but when Caitland was introduced I felt a kinship to this young woman who had problems with her father and life itself. I read more and when the two of them shared Felicia's condo, I was rooting for them both. I think they were good for one another and help each other. I don't want to ruin the ending but I was somewhat saddened to the otherwise light hearted feel of the rest of the book.

Reading this book I was reminded of why I live in Northern California in the Sierras. Ever watch the reality show on TV Housewives of Orange County CA, and you get a hint of what this book is like. This book unlike the reality series, is GREAT! It has humor. The author has hit the nail on the head,

GAMBLING FOR GOOD MAIL is a compelling story of one woman's search for her true identity and the strength needed to live an authentic life. You could call it a coming-of-age story, but the heroine, Felicia Wood, has long passed the age of reason: she's a ripe 43.

Felicia has had a sad and difficult childhood, to the point where she'll do anything to avoid the possibility of pain. She seems stuck in her self-image as a cheerleader and remains marooned emotionally in her high-school persona when she was cute and loved. She's just a "girl who wants to have fun" and be rewarded with pleasant surprises. A naïve, sexually uninhibited air-head, she trusts that something will turn up to rescue her from her difficulties. She finds lame excuses to avoid introspection, to feel sorrow, to discover why it is that her fourth husband just left her, as did the three before him.

We follow Felicia as she tries to justify her addiction to "good mail": cheap junk from catalogs which have taken over her house and cleaned out her bank account. Faced with the necessity of making it financially on her own, Felicia refuses to return to nursing because it is too depressing when your patients die. She enjoys a stint selling time-shares because it's so jolly when she makes a sale, but she cannot make a living doing it.

Her luck and her life change with the arrival of her niece, Caitland, who pays rent so Felicia, in turn, can pay her mortgage. Caitland has her own deep emotional problems and struggles to hold on to a fragile equilibrium. Felicia admires her maturity. The two women are good for each other, but then everything falls apart after an unjustified, impulsive outburst from Felicia sends Caitland back into therapy.

At that point, Felicia begins to learn that living on the surface and in denial brings only more pain. Her struggle toward self-knowledge and self-acceptance is anything but smooth, tribulations abound, but in the end, she finds happiness.

You would think that such a serious theme would be written in a serious tone. Such is not the case: the book is a comic, hearty, joyful romp through the New-Age culture of Southern California, serving up a mix of religion, self-help groups, artsy snobs, an Italian Count gigolo and, incredibly, soft-sculpture dolls which lead to Felicia's redemption.

Evelyn Cole is a master of dialog. She sprinkles her book with comparisons that take your breath away, such as this description of a screechy woman: "her voice was worse than the sound of two Styrofoam cups doing it". Gambling for Good Mail is a pleasure to read. The serious lessons it teaches go down easy sprinkled with the sugar of rollicking good humor.

This book is not just about Felicia Wood's obsession with buying everything from catalogues in the hopes of winning the big prize, but also about family. Felicia is a five time divorced woman whose naivety doesn't help her. But when her niece, Caitland Thorpe reenters her life, then the roller coaster ride begins. Caitland is a young confused woman, whose suicide attempt landed her into a psychiatric hospital. Can these two help one another with their individual idiosyncrasies? When I began reading the first few chapters I hated Felicia and her obsession with catalogue buying. I wasn't sure if I could continue, but when Caitland was introduced I felt a kinship to this young woman who had problems with her father and life itself. I read more and when the two of them shared Felicia's condo, I was rooting for them both. I think they were good for one another and help each other. I don't want to ruin the ending but I was somewhat saddened to the otherwise light hearted feel of the rest of the book.