Title: Breaking the Bank
Author: Yona Zeldis McDonough
Publisher: Downtown Press
Publishing Date: September 8, 2009
ISBN-10: 1439102538
Paperback: 368 pages
Genre: Fiction

From the Publisher’s Website:

MONEY ISN’T EVERYTHING

Mia Saul is down on her luck. Dumped by her husband, jettisoned from her job, and estranged from her adored older brother, she and her young daughter, Eden, have had to make a downscale move to a crummy apartment, where their neighbors include a tough young drug dealer and a widower who lets his dogs use the hallways as their own personal litter box. Juggling a series of temporary jobs, wrangling with her ex-husband over child support, and trying to keep pace with Eden’s increasingly erratic behavior have left Mia weary and worn out.

EXCEPT WHEN IT IS

So when a seemingly functional ATM starts handing Mia thousands and thousands of dollars — and not deducting the money from her account, because it sure isn’t in there — she isn’t about to give it back. Her newfound cash stash opens up a world of opportunity, and a whole lot of trouble. Worried friends, family, and in-laws start questioning her judgment about everything, and the cops really, really want to know where all that cash is coming from. And then there’s Patrick, a man Mia most definitely would never have met if things hadn’t spun out of control. Mia is beginning to think that maybe somebody, somewhere, is trying to teach her a lesson about what matters in life, and what doesn’t….

My Review:
Breaking the Bank by Yona Zeldis McDonough, was a novel I literally read in one sitting, so fully engrossed was I into Mia’s life. From Mia’s struggles as a single mother, trying to navigate life without a steady source of income, moving mechanically through each day just trying to make it without another conflict with her daughter Eden or her Ex-husband Lloyd, each turn or event made me feel as though I was there, wishing I could offer a hand, a word of advise, a shoulder to cry on. McDonough did an admirable job creating rather convincing characters in this novel and I was engrossed in each vignette of their respective lives. I found myself question some of the choices made by Mia, and wished I had others to discuss them with. Breaking the Bank, on the surface, is a light hearted novel, yet one is quick to learn it is a novel layered with complexities that need to be discussed, brought to life, and to make the reader sit back, digest what has been read and question what, if anything, the reader would have done differently from Mia. I believe Breaking the Bank makes for an extremely good stand-alone read, yet would make for an excellent book group read.

About the Author:
Yona Zeldis McDonough is the author of the novels The Four Temperaments and In Dahlia’s Wake. She is also the editor of the essay collections The Barbie Chronicels: A Living Doll Turns Forty and All The Available Light: A Marilyn Monroe Reader. Her short fiction, articles, and essays have been published in anthologies as well as in numerous national magazines, and newspapers. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

I would like to thank Simon & Schuster for allowing me to review this novel and to be a part of this book tour.