Mercury in Retrograde.(Brief article)(Book review)

Mercury in Retrograde Paula Froelich. Atria, $24 (260p)ISBN 978-1-4165-9893-0

Three down-on-their-luck Manhattan women form an unlikely fellowship in Page Six deputy editor Froelich's formulaic--though sometimes funny--debut. Anxious socialite Lena Lippencrass, small-town transplant-cum-intrepid reporter Penelope Mercury and high-powered lawyer Dana Gluck end up in the same former SoHo tenement building at low points in their lives: Lena, cut off by her wealthy parents, is slumming it on Sullivan Street; Penelope is out of a job after accidentally damaging her office's property; and Dana lives on Weight Watchers while obsessing over her divorce. …