Marriage | Book Chatter

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.

Small Hours
By Jennifer Kitses
Grand Central Publishing, Hardcover, 9781455598526, June 13, 2017, 288pp.

The Short of It:

Told in one single day, this story is both well written and heartfelt. What happens to a couple when secrets begin to take over their lives?

The Rest of It:

After moving to what Helen believes to be the ideal neighborhood, Tom and Helen raise their daughters and slowly realize that the everyday struggles of work and raising children have created a slight rift between the two of them. The neighborhood is not what it seems to be and Tom’s relationship with another woman, one that results in another daughter almost the same age as the two he has, forces him to keep the secret long after he intends to.

What an interesting story. It’s told hour-by-hour and all in one day so what we see as a reader is the breaking point, really. The point where Helen and Tom have to come to grips with their reality and it’s not pretty but it’s very honest and very real. As readers we get to share in their regret and their fears. I really enjoyed the writing and the deep looks into each of the main characters. There are no “bad guys” here. Each character is trying his or her best to be the best person they can be. It’s a struggle but not impossible.

Lovely. Small Hours is lovely read with deeply flawed characters and a story that’s told in a quiet but direct way. I recommend it.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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