manhattan mother to the rescue

Pop stars. Broadway. And Upper East Sider Kevin Kline. If those weren’t enough reasons to devour Amy Poeppel’s new Manhattan mommy-lit novel, “Limelight” (on sale May 1), how about the fact that it DOES NOT include momzillas or an errant hedge fund hubby who leaves the protagonist for another woman.

Although the book does borrow from the common theme of starting over, it’s more about how when the going gets tough, it takes a Manhattan mother to get things going.

Allison Brinkley’s lawyer husband Michael transfers to NYC, and her dream of living here finally comes true. It is an adjustment for her and their three children, especially when the teaching job she had lined up dissipates and her tutoring side hustle falls flat.

But this is a city where things change in a New York minute and you never know who you might run into — literally. When Allison accidentaly sideswipes a parked BMW and leaves her contact info, she never imagines the call to exchange insurance info would come from Bieber-esque pop singer, Carter Reid.

What begins as a momentary pity party for an eighteen-year-old guy with no direction or family, who exhibits enough self-destructive behavior to fill a year’s worth of tabloids, turns into a full-time gig as caretaker.

Allison’s job is to literally and figuratively get Carter’s house in order. His penthouse overlooking Central Park is in dire need of a good cleaning, and his poor eating habits combined with a drug/alcohol habit require the celebrity’s body and mind to be cleansed, too.

The newly-minted assistant has only a small window to get the job done, because the wayward teen idol is about to start rehearsals for a Broadway musical, which also stars Tony-winner Kline, as well as Hollywood star, Melissa McCarthy.

Another refreshing thing about this read is that there’s no us vs. them, (a la “The Devil Wears Prada,” “I Don’t Know How She Does It,” et al.) where loved ones get on the main character’s case for abandoning them for her career.

Taking care of Carter actually becomes a family affair with Michael reading contracts and teen daughter Charlotte running lines with the learning-challenged singer. Allison’s publicist BFF Sara steps up with image-changing ideas: a law enforcement officer, whom Allison tutors in writing, agrees to act as bodyguard, and the more NYC-connected moms from son Jack’s school come through with recommendations for a chef, chauffeur and much-needed concierge doctor.

As I read this work of fiction, I couldn’t understand why situations like this are not more of a reality, as in: why isn’t the parent skill set considered a valuable asset — especially for mothers returning to work after a stint of stay-at-home childcare?

A couple of years ago, I interviewed for a position at a Broadway show-focused website. My pitch highlighted that the Great White Way was a go-to destination for my daughter and me; my two decades as a promotions writer for major entertainment networks; and my management skills, which came from both my family experience as well as volunteering at both my children’s schools, where I spearheaded committees, organized events and fund-raised persuasively.

The guy looked at me and all he could come up with was: “But besides the ‘mom stuff,’ when you were on staff, you weren’t a manager?”

And right there it was clear that the fact that I did not supervise anyone at my 9-to-5 eclipsed all the managerial work I’d done over the past twenty years because it was associated with the apparently irrelevant triad: mother/school/volunteer.

I don’t want to lay this behavior solely at the doorstep of men. I’ve had a number of professional women roll their eyes at my pro-bono positions, that, pardon me, I took seriously and thought were significant.

Perhaps those who hire should consider the phrase “transferable skills.” If they really want to bring someone on board to get the job done, they’ll hire the Allisons of the world who can walk in, survey the situation and take charge.

For anyone who needs a reminder, “Limelight” is a great place to start.

Amy Poeppel discusses “Limelight” on Wednesday, May 2 at 7 p.m. at Book Culture On Columbus, 450 Columbus Ave.

Lorraine Duffy Merkl is the author of the novel “Back to Work She Goes,” about a 50+ stay-at-home-mother who tries to re-enter the workforce.