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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
This book had me hooked from the very first page. This author writes using such honest, raw language particularly about what women think.
This book follows the lives of two women: Elisabeth, a new mom and published writer who has recently moved from Brooklyn to small town, USA and Sam, Elisabeth's nanny and a college senior who is trying to find her place in the world.
From the front cover: A job opportunity for her husband, and the chance to live closer to his financially struggling parents, convinced Elisabeth to move. But alone in the new house with their infant son all day (and awake with him much of the night), she feels uneasy, adrift. She neglects her work, losing untold hours to her Brooklyn moms' Facebook group, her "influencer" sister's Instagram feed, and text chains with the best friend she never sees anymore. Enter Sam, a senior at the local women's college, who is hired by Elisabeth to babysit. Sam is struggling to decide between the path she's always planned on and a romantic entanglement [with an older man] that threatens her ambition. She's worried about her student loan debt and what the future holds. In short order, Sam and Elisabeth grow close. Sam becomes Elisabeth's confidante, a repository for all the secrets Elisabeth is too ashamed to tell even her husband. Elisabeth, in turn, offers guidance, allaying Sam's fears.
A masterly exploration of modern motherhood, power dynamics within friendships, and privilege in it's many forms...reveals how a single year can shape the course of a life.
This book follows the lives of two women: Elisabeth, a new mom and published writer who has recently moved from Brooklyn to small town, USA and Sam, Elisabeth's nanny and a college senior who is trying to find her place in the world.
From the front cover: A job opportunity for her husband, and the chance to live closer to his financially struggling parents, convinced Elisabeth to move. But alone in the new house with their infant son all day (and awake with him much of the night), she feels uneasy, adrift. She neglects her work, losing untold hours to her Brooklyn moms' Facebook group, her "influencer" sister's Instagram feed, and text chains with the best friend she never sees anymore. Enter Sam, a senior at the local women's college, who is hired by Elisabeth to babysit. Sam is struggling to decide between the path she's always planned on and a romantic entanglement [with an older man] that threatens her ambition. She's worried about her student loan debt and what the future holds. In short order, Sam and Elisabeth grow close. Sam becomes Elisabeth's confidante, a repository for all the secrets Elisabeth is too ashamed to tell even her husband. Elisabeth, in turn, offers guidance, allaying Sam's fears.
A masterly exploration of modern motherhood, power dynamics within friendships, and privilege in it's many forms...reveals how a single year can shape the course of a life.
The relationship between Sam and Elisabeth was fascinating. Gave me “Such a Fun Age” vibes but with both parties obsessing. I was so invested in Sam’s life and choices; for a book without a lot of action, I was thoroughly entrenched.
I really enjoyed this! Makes me want to go back and read all of her other books.
Some of the early reviews I saw about this book made it sound like something I would really not enjoy, so I was pleasantly surprised at how much I did. Excellent storyline that I had to know the end of.
2.5, rounded up. The writing flows well, but it was tough to connect to the main characters (Sam, an idealistic college senior; and Elisabeth, a new mother in her thirties). As other reviewers have noted, there was less a plot and more a reflection on ideas that Sullivan has been thinking about--infidelity, lying in relationships, IVF, inequality in both wealth and ideals. There was also a lack of realism; Sam, who notes that she has taken out lots of loans for school, somehow manages to go to London multiple weekends to see Clive, her British boyfriend. Elisabeth and her husband's relationship also seemed unrealistic.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
I have a really hard time rating this book. Technically, it was a slow burn with a whole lot of nothing happening. (A friend of mine says that she loves books where "everything and nothing happens" and this book is exactly that!) I did relate so much to both of the main characters, even though they couldn't be more different. At the end of the book, I closed it and thought "Huh." I'd recommend this book to people who: 1) Are parents, especially to small babies 2) Have struggled with fertility 3) Who often feel like they don't quite know their place among their friendship circles. For what it's worth, it's not my normal genre, and not at all what I expected, but I did enjoy it!
Spoiler
The book jacket summary promises that "a betrayal has devastating consequences", but I didn't exactly find that to be true, and the devastating betrayal occurs with about 20 pages left in the book.Spoiler
another instalment in my new favourite genre: extremely flawed white women in the city who are just Doing Their Best; they kind of suck but at the same time they are Making Some Points
if you liked Beautiful World, Where Are You — read this!
if you liked Beautiful World, Where Are You — read this!
One of my favorite reads of the year so far! I was interested in how both Elisabeth's and Sam's stories would play out. I also appreciated Elisabeth's internal monologue of snark.