Thank you to my Goodreads Friends for providing such wonderful reviews for this book - it is because of those reviews that I added this to my "TBR" list.
The 3 first-person narratives in the book make it so authentic, plausible, and very readable especially due to the varied backgrounds of the narrators. These narratives also allow for 3 very strong plots with several interwoven subplots that are tightly concluded in the epilogue. The settings of San Francisco and New York's Harlem and The Village are beautifully depicted in the late 1950's with their gender, race, sexual, and social class tensions. The publishing world of New York is the theme that ties everything together. ( )

What a terrific book! Ms. Rindell has got to be about the best young novelist going. I can't wait to read whatever else she publishes going forward. I know that all sounds a bit hyperbolic. But Three Martini Lunch really is that good.

Alternating between the viewpoints and of three vivid and distinct characters, Three Martini lunch brings the New York of the late 1950's vividly to life. There is a pervasive film noirish fatalistic sense that This Will Not End Well in the novel, and it was compelling to see how the bad stuff was going to occur, because you just knew that there would be bad stuff. Rindell slowly, inexorably turns the screws on the characters and the reader alike. Reading over this paragraph, I am making it seem more dark than it actually is. Dark stuff happens, but there is a humanity to the writing, as well as perhaps a smidgen of hope and/or redemption for at least some of the characters.

The novel is "literary" in the best sense of the world, yet is also plotted a lot more precisely that many similar novels. Seemingly small coincidences occurred that set off unpredictable sequences of events - just like real life. There was a lot of authorial control exhibited in terms of the plot, tone, and especially characters. The characters never once acted out of character, and yet changed and evolved (or just as likely, devolved) over the course of the book. I experienced that all too rare feeling upon completion of having been on an epic journey with characters that were all too real.

This book sort of reminded me of The Goldfinch in that regard and in terms of tone, and I am comfortable mentioning Rindell in the same breath as the great Donna Tartt, quality-wise. Luckily for readers, it appears that Rindell is much more prolific than the novel-per-decade-maybe pace of Ms Tartt! ( )

Three woven stories, same group of acquaintances. 1950s in the publishing world, Greenwich village. I liked Eden's story the most, then Miles', but not Cliff's. For the most part, it is all rather predictable. The only part I was surprised about is who tipped the FBI about Joey (however I knew it was not who it was assumed to be ). Straightforward, but interesting enough for a look at what life may have been like for that crowd in that era. ( )

It’s 1958 in New York and change is in the air. In the shabby streets of Greenwich Village, hipsters listen to jazz, argue about politics, experiment with performance art and dream of changing the world. Into this feverish place come three young people, seeking lives that’ll allow them to become their true inner selves. Privileged Cliff Nelson is running away from a life of upper-class bourgeoisie, confident of astonishing the world with the brilliant novels he’ll produce. Eden Katz comes east from Indiana, dreaming of being an editor in a publishing industry which has little place for women. And Miles Tillman tries to find a world that accepts all his facets, as a young black man from Harlem with a top-flight education and a passion for words. By the end of the story, these three young lives will have intertwined in a compelling story of love, ambition, tragedy and betrayal...

For the full review, please see my blog:
https://theidlewoman.net/2019/01/02/three-martini-lunch-suzanne-rindell/ ( )

This book starts very slow, and seems a dim rehash of much better books, until you're just about to give up — and then it turns into an engaging, and ultimately, deeply satisfying novel. ( )