Leslie Carroll Spin Doctor

Spin Doctor

Leslie Carroll

Avon, Feb 2006, $12.95

ISBN: 0060596139

Amy the new mother, Meriel the bored West-Indian housekeeper, Naomi part of a different lifestyle couple with Claude (though they each clean the dirty linen), Faith the new widow, Talia the injured ballerina, and Susan the therapist, all live in the same Manhattan apartment house. At the laundry room Susan listens to their individual woes, and offers sage advice to help each one cope with their personal crisis.

However, no one is there for Susan. She believes her once picture perfect family is near collapse. Her spouse spends way too much time in the office, as if he needs to avoid her or has something better there to occupy his time; her daughter is a rebel with a fast food cause; finally her son is on the verge of puberty, but each step forward leads to two steps back, as she thinks he will be eligible for Medicare by the time his body changes. Susan needs a psychiatrist, but what she has is friends willing to listen to her woes and advise her now how to clean the dirty laundry.

SPIN DOCTOR contains an intriguing premise, as the audience sees the woes of the apartment six and a half (Naomi and Claude get one and a half) mostly through the eyes of Susan, the professional member of the rinse cycle club. The storyline shifts focus from one of the sextet to another, though Susan remains the glue that holds the plot together. Leslie Carroll deftly insures her ensemble have differing personalities and tzuras, but there are too many to keep score of, and that shrinks the shrinks effectiveness. Still this is a fine Manhattan character driven drama that uses laundry vernacular to clean away ones troubles.