Edgy Manhattan shutterbug Rachel Solomon can't wait to escape her difficult Midwestern Jewish family of doctors―and her crazy, condescending WASP friend and photography mentor, Elizabeth Mann. Not so easy when Elizabeth marries Rachel's surgeon-brother, moves to the Midwest, and becomes the daughter Rachel's mother always wanted―one who pops out four babies in a row, who are named after Rachel's dead Yiddish-speaking relatives. Although Rachel long ago rejected the suburban female role, she's shocked to find she's been replaced. With unsparing candor, sparkling emotional insights, and hilarity, the girl who cut herself out of old photographs now has to fight her way back into the Solomons' photo albums, homes, and hearts. From the author of the hilarious fictional debut Speed Shrinking ―which became an international phenomenon―and the acclaimed memoir of past passion Five Men Who Broke My Heart comes a new book that blows the lid off of the secrets of female friendship. Based on a true story, Susan Shapiro's darkly comic novel Overexposed chronicles the brilliantly twisted tale of two strong women who wind up switching lives. “Funny and original, with a soulfulness beneath the humor that makes it moving as well. Susan Shapiro is one of the funniest writers about love, marriage, and family that I know of today.” ―Ian Frazier, bestselling author of Dating Your Mom “Hip, hilarious, and heartbreaking” ―Erica Kennedy, author of the bestseller Bling and Feminista “As sharp, edgy, true-to-life, and poignant as an Annie Leibovitz photo. Shapiro gives us an intense prince-and-the-pauper friendship in a plot with freaky-Friday twists and turns, that, like your own friendship, you don't want to ever end.” ―Jennifer Belle, author of the bestseller Going Down and The Seven Year Bitch “Susan Shapiro's voice is so passionate and honest, it's bewitching.” ―Erica Jong, author of Fear of Flying on Susan Shapiro “An irresistible energy, winning humor and breathtakingly frank honesty.” ―Phillip Lopate, author of Two Marriages “Fierce, compelling, unputdownable.” ―Gael Greene, author of Insatiable on Susan Shapiro “Sly, funny, on the money” ―Rita Mae Brown, author of Rubyfruit Jungle SUSAN SHAPIRO is the author of Overexposed , Speed Shrinking , Five Men Who Broke My Heart , Lighting Up , and  Only as Good as Your Word . She lives with her husband, a TV/film writer, in Greenwich Village, where she teaches her popular “instant gratification takes too long” classes at The New School, NYU and private workshops. Overexposed A Novel By Susan Shapiro Thomas Dunne Books Copyright © 2010 Susan Shapiro All right reserved. ISBN: 9780312581572 part one chapter one new vision August 9, 2000 We met the day I replaced her. I was sitting at my newly assigned desk after hours, still psyched out of my mind to be an art assistant at Vision magazine, when she ran in, startling me. She was a tall, gangly brunette, older than I was. Taking off her raincoat, she draped it across a chair, along with her leather handbag, as if she owned the place. She was wearing a V-neck ash-colored sweater and gray pants. There was a rip on the bottom of her pant leg, and her flats were caked with mud. “Jane’s gone already?” she asked after my coworker. “Left a half hour ago,” I said. I couldn’t tell if she was a hotshot editor from upstairs or just a peon like me. “Damn. She said she’d loan me twenty bucks.” Her eyes were red; she’d been crying. “Nobody fucking warned me the unemployment checks take six weeks to start. I have to get to Boston.” She was half talking to me, half mumbling to herself. Then she picked up the phone, dialed, and said, “Right, like Dad can check himself in. There’s a train at seven. Call me back here, at 555-1394. I’ll wait.” She hung up, then looked me up and down as if just noticing I was there. “You must be Rachel.” I didn’t recognize her from anywhere. “I’m sorry . . .” “I’m Elizabeth Mann.” So this was the notorious hotheaded Elizabeth everyone couldn’t stop talking about all day! I’d been dying to meet her. Obviously the father she’d just mentioned was the famous Life photographer William Mann. Why couldn’t he check himself into a Boston hotel? Was it the Four Seasons or the Ritz Carlton? Jane said Elizabeth was launching her own career as a shutterbug with an upcoming solo exhibit. Aside from getting Cindy Sherman to sign her book Untitled Film Stills at Barnes & Noble, I’d never spoken to a famous female photographer before. I stared up at Elizabeth. She had an oval face and a slender Roman nose, with limp, shoulder-length chestnut hair the same shade as mine. My hair was longer and feathered on the sides with Cleopatra bangs; hers was parted down the middle. She was plainer than I’d pictured. No makeup or color in her cheeks. She looked about my weight—size eight on a good day. Taller than me, even without heels. “I bought your father’s book for my brother,” I blurted out. “It’s i