Jane Green Writes About Westport; Tempts Fate

Jane Green — the prolific and much-admired author of women’s novels — was on the “Today Show” with Kathie Lee and Hoda yesterday.

She was promoting her 15th book, Tempting Fate. The protagonist has an affair with a younger man. And it did not take the hosts long to hone in on the Westport connection.

In her mid-40s here in town, Jane said, she noticed a trend of women suddenly getting very skinny, looking newly glamorous, and leaving their husbands. Tired of “feeling invisible” at home, they were having affairs.

This is not stop-the-presses news. It’s been happening here — in all of suburbia — for years. Entire forests have been sacrificed describing the “trend.”

But Green put it this way: “After a while, marriage is pots and pans.” Women need to feel desired again.

Green said she wrote about the human condition. “People are flawed,” she noted.

When the segment moved to audience questions, the 1st — from a woman in California — was about Green’s inspiration.

For years, the author said, she wrote about a fictional place: Highfield. This was her 1st novel explicitly about Westport.

It’s “a beautiful town,” she acknowledged. But, she added, “I write about what I know.”

Kathie Lee responded: “Please don’t come to Greenwich.”

As if it’s any different.

(To watch the full Jane Green interview, click here.)