Review by Booklist Review
Memoirist White makes her fiction debut in this complex and heartfelt novel. The small town of Radclyffe in upstate New York is populated by a tightly braided group of characters. Ruth and her wife, Wyn, have four children; Ruth's best friend, Caroline, has a son with her husband Mike; and Mike's cousin Tobi and her wife, Evie, have a set of twins. As the book opens, Ruth and Wyn are finally being introduced to Tobi and Evie, who own a well-known pottery studio in town. Soon, all the kids are playing together, and the adults' relationships transform and deepen. Ruth must contend with a tragedy that directly affects her and her oldest daughter, while Caroline and Evie process their simmering jealousy over their spouses' closeness. After meeting a nonbinary musician, Tobi questions her own gender identity. As part of queer families, the children also seek to understand their own origins. All of these changes bend and shape the story, and while there are many hardships, this close-knit family ultimately brings the reader a sense of joy.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
White's nuanced debut novel (after the memoir Give Up for You) concerns the complex relationships of three couples in Upstate New York. Ruth and Wyn Schwartz-Huntley are raising 16-year-old Sidda, Ruth's daughter from a previous relationship. When Sidda learns that her biological father, Elliot Jenkins, recently died, she lashes out at her mothers, upset that she missed the chance to get to know him. Ruth then enters into an emotional affair with realtor Florence Howe, whom she befriended during her time with Elliot and lost touch with until now. Meanwhile, Ruth is surprised not to have support from her best friend Caroline Caruso, who shames her for keeping a secret from Wyn. Caroline, in turn, is jealous of the close relationship her husband, Mike Byrnes, has with Tobi Fynch, whose wife, Evie Gold, got pregnant from Mike's sperm donation. Tobi, meanwhile, is newly uncomfortable in her body after she meets Wyn's new friend, Bex Devereux, who is nonbinary and the happy recipient of top surgery, something Tobi wants but isn't comfortable talking about with Evie. White handily explores how disloyalty and regret cloud the characters' otherwise cozy and hard-won family lives. Readers will find much to enjoy. Agent: Claudia Ballard, WME. (Nov.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
DEBUT This novel follows a group of friends and neighbors in rural upstate New York, bound by proximity and, in some cases, DNA. It explores attraction, middle age, long-term committed relationships, and found family. Among the town's residents are Ruth and her wife Wyn, who run a small farm and have four children. There's also Caroline, a pianist and music teacher married to Mike, whom she calls her "banisher of loneliness." Mike has donated sperm to his cousin Tobi and her wife, Evie, so they can have children. The death of someone connected to one of Ruth and Wyn's children brings the whole town together in unexpected ways as secrets come to the forefront. White does an excellent job of portraying each character's inner monologue and deeper feelings, limning the complicated dynamics between couples who have been together a long time. There are lots of characters to keep straight, but it's worth it for White's intimate, big-hearted writing and the novel's cozy, bucolic setting. VERDICT A well-written family drama that will satisfy readers.--Leah Shepherd
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Secrets, jealousies, flirtations, and suspicions test the love and friendship among six friends living overlapping lives in the Hudson Valley. Three couples--one straight and two lesbian--form the core of White's debut, which begins with a death but then dwells significantly in the interiority of her characters. Caroline Caruso, married to Mike Gallagher, has one child, Luca, and worries constantly that he's doomed to the loneliness that has marked her own existence. Caroline's best friend, Ruth Schwartz, is married to wealthy farmer Wyn Huntley. They have four children, the eldest of whom, 16-year-old Siddha, was fathered by Elliot Shepkins, who recently died. Ruth had not yet revealed to Siddha her father's identity, and as it emerges now, after any chance for the girl to know him, a family rift develops. The third couple is Tobi Fynch and Evie Gold, who run a wildly successful pottery business. Everyone lives in Radclyffe, "nestled between the Hudson River and the Catskill Mountains." Tobi is Mike's cousin and, having grown up in the same household, they are very close, so much so that Mike donated his sperm to the pair, resulting in their twins, Nina and Jules. This tangled scenario, with its various backstories, can confuse and takes some time to establish, after which events are few. Tobi is increasingly drawn to undergoing top surgery but doesn't tell Evie. Ruth reconnects with Florence, a mutual friend of hers and Elliot's, and a secret affair of sorts begins. Caroline has sessions with a therapist, supposedly for Luca's benefit but which expose her own issues. And Siddha begins a clandestine relationship with her father's family. White shifts capably among her characters, edging their concerns forward, but the book's navel-gazing can seem claustrophobic and repetitive. As a crucible for mature relationships, the book is tidily done, but easy resolutions compound a sense of small-scale domestic drama. A heartstring-strumming paean to family. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
