Bartolomeo, Christina 1962(?)-

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BARTOLOMEO, Christina 1962(?)-

PERSONAL: Born c. 1962, in Washington, DC. Education: Dickinson College, graduated 1983.

ADDRESSES: Home—Washington, DC. Agent—Henry Dunow Literary Agency, 22 W. 23rd St., New York, NY 10023.

CAREER: Writer. Worked as a secretary; inspector of trade school accreditation; American Federation of Teachers, associate director of Organizing Department.

WRITINGS:

Cupid and Diana (novel), Scribner (New York, NY), 1998.

The Side of the Angels (novel), Scribner (New York, NY), 2002.

Contributor of short stories to Cosmopolitan.

ADAPTATIONS: Cupid and Diana was adapted for the Hallmark Home Entertainment television movie Cupid and Cate, 2000.

SIDELIGHTS: Christina Bartolomeo writes novels about women who learn to balance career and love, who in fact find love when and where it is least expected. Bartolomeo's heroines, often young Catholic women, have family history driving them, and parents or siblings who want a traditional lifestyle for their modern daughters and sisters. Bartolomeo, who grew up in Maryland close to the boundaries of the District of Columbia, attended Catholic schools, studied art in college, and found her writing voice only after a career with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) helping to organize union members. Her first novel, Cupid and Diana, concerns a contemporary woman caught in two triangles—one involving her love life and one involving her family. Diana, who is passionate about her failing consignment business, has been engaged for several years to a well-off but not too stimulating lawyer. The couple has settled into marriage-like doldrums, even though they've yet to take vows—Philip, the lawyer, is decidedly noncommittal. Into Diana's life comes Harry, the very antithesis of Philip, and an instant attraction is formed. Harry is poorer and advocates for liberal causes, but Diana finds him much more interesting than Philip. At the same time, Diana must serve as mediator between her two sisters, one a lingerie model, the other a pious Catholic homemaker preoccupied with raising three sons. As Philip finally buckles down to commit and suggests a wedding date, Diana falls for Harry. But Harry decides to return to his separated wife in New York and have another go at righting that relationship. In the meantime, Diana's failing consignment business has finally begun to take off with the help of her sister the model.

Critics responded warmly to Bartolomeo's first novel. A Kirkus Reviews contributor called it a light but "amusing" debut, while a reviewer for Entertainment Weekly found it "fetching." Library Journal contributor Kathy Ingels Helmond similarly felt the story was "funny [and] touching," further observing that it "captures the dilemmas of many modern women." Also writing in Library Journal, Nancy Pearl termed the novel a "feel-good book [that] is a pleasure to read from start to finish." Though Booklist's Mary Carroll found "nothing startlingly original" about the novel, she did feel that "thirtysomething women readers will relate" to it. Valerie Frankel, assessing the novel in the New York Times Book Review, thought it refreshing that the protagonist was an intelligent and "fully realized" woman who seems likely to achieve happiness no matter what turn of events take place. Writing in the Washingtonian Online, Courtney Rubin observed that this debut was "filled with gentle humor and sharp insights." Bartolomeo's first book was also adapted for a television movie, affording her the luxury of quitting her job for the AFT and concentrating on writing full time.

In 2002 Bartolomeo brought out her second novel, The Side of the Angels, which again deals with a single woman and her adventures and misadventures in career and love. Bartolomeo's Italian-Irish-Catholic protagonist, Domenica "Nicky" Malone, is in public relations, working for a small, liberal firm. Nicky leaves her home in Washington, DC, to help out at a nurse's strike in Rhode Island. For Nicky, such a departure has mixed blessings. She is leaving behind a failed relationship with Jeremy, who has recently cheated on her, and her widowed mother, a devout Catholic whose fondest wish is that Nicky will settle down and marry. She is also leaving behind attempts at partnering two of her cousins: Louise, a "Miss Lonelyhearts cousin," as Rubin described her, and Johnny, a down-to-earth mechanic who Nicky feels would be perfect for Louise. Unfortunately for Louise, Johnny has just gotten engaged to another woman. Nicky throws herself into the Rhode Island strike, working up a media campaign for these nurses who are doing battle against a hospital chain. Nicky quickly discovers that she has left one set of problems behind only to become embroiled in others. The major strike organizer, Tony Boltanski, happens to be her old lover, a man she finally abandoned when it became painfully aware that she came in second to his union organizing. Working together now, however, the two find that old sparks are re-ignited, but Nicky is unsure of where this is leading; her confusion is redoubled when another female organizer begins to lay claim to Tony. Meanwhile, further complications ensue with Nicky's old boyfriend, who enlists her mother to try and win her back, and with her on-again off-again attempts at pairing her cousins.

Writing from personal experience regarding the strategies and techniques of a strike, Bartolomeo "has a way of making the reader feel a part of the story," noted Helmond in Library Journal. Helmond further praised Bartolomeo on the manner in which she "captures all the nuances" of a thirtysomething woman's relationship with her mother. Other critics had problems with the plot complications, however. Rubin felt that there was "excruciating detail" about the nurse's strike, but did find the subplot about Louise a "gripping story." A contributor for Publishers Weekly similarly found an "engaging cast" who at times were "muddling through an unfocused plot." The same reviewer did note, though, that "sarcastic wit … and abundant charm propel the novel." A critic for Kirkus Reviews, however, was more positive, commending this novel as a "fine, funny, and deft blue-collar valentine from Bartolomeo."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

periodicals

Booklist, May 15, 1998, Mary Carroll, review of Cupid and Diana, pp. 1592-1593.

Entertainment Weekly, June 26, 1998, review of Cupid and Diana, p. 90.

Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 1998, review of Cupid and Diana, p. 416; February 15, 2002, review of The Side of the Angels, p. 203.

Library Journal, April 1, 1998, Kathy Ingels Helmond, review of Cupid and Diana, p. 120; May 1, 2001, Nancy Pearl, review of Cupid and Diana, p. 156; March 15, 2002, Kathy Helmond, review of The Side of the Angels, p. 106.

New York Times Book Review, July 12, 1998, Valerie Frankel, review of Cupid and Diana, p. 19.

Publishers Weekly, April 15, 2002, review of The Side of the Angels, p. 41.

Washingtonian, April, 1998, Robyn Gearey, review of Cupid and Diana, pp. 54-55.