Start Without Me
By Joshua Max Feldman
William Morrow & Company, 9780062668721, October 2017, 288pp.
The Short of It:
What happens when a recovering alcoholic returns home for Thanksgiving, only to abandon his family because he just can’t imagine being with them?
The Rest of It:
Adam is home for Thanksgiving and overwhelmed by his family. He’s a recovering alcoholic and being home is just too much for him to deal with.
Marissa is a flight attendant and pregnant with another man’s baby. Her husband, who senses that their relationship is strained, has no idea what he’s in for when she shows up for the Thanksgiving meal.
Marissa and Adam are strangers but when they meet at a restaurant, they lean on one another for support as they figure out this next step in their lives.
I love stories centered around the Thanksgiving meal. There is always so much tension to these gatherings, relatives you haven’t seen in forever, cousins that drive you absolutely mad, mothers who over-fuss about everything. DRAMA. Start Without Me is full of drama but not really AT the dinner table. It takes place all over as Adam abandons his family to take a breather from reality.
It took some time for me to get into this story but by the final pages, I was pretty into it and wanted to see how things would turn out for Marissa and Adam. The cover sort of makes it look like it could be a funny story but it’s not really funny. It’s not depressing but definitely not funny so I just wanted to put that out there.
Have you read this author before?
Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.
Book Chatter 
Oh yes, holiday meals can be full of drama. It sounds like this book is good but didn’t quite live up to its potential.
It was slow to start. That’s pretty much my main complaint.
Thanksgiving books usually have a pie mention. 😉
I do not remember a pie mention because he never actually GETS to his dinner.
And therein lies the reason why I am not a fan of holidays or families. It reminds me that I have problems with my own at holidays which make them no fun at all.
This sounds like a good premise. Holidays are so difficult for many families and this probably captures all of that well.
I’ve never had a holiday meal with drama. I’m assuming that’s a good thing.
This is the lead-up to the meal. In this story it doesn’t really happen.
I can relate to holiday family drama though. I had a parent who attempted suicide on Thanksgiving one year so that is another reason why I prefer to keep it very small. I’m glad to hear that you’ve not had any drama.
Oh my goodness! So sorry that happened!
this book is new to me. sounds good