A wry, sensitive portrayal of the roiling turbulence of youth in all its messiness.
In this novel, a young man muddles through tragedy and euphoria as he attempts to understand his place in the world.
It’s 1992 and Spencer Mazio has made a mess of things. As he tries to figure out how to wiggle out of his latest bout of trouble, the narrative jumps back to 1988, when he has arrived as a freshman at Yale University. Standing in line to sort out his overdue tuition payments, he meets Jonathon Vandershar III, an heir to a vast fortune who quickly takes Spencer under his wing and introduces him to drugs, booze, and the advantages of owning your own helicopter. Spencer was recruited by Yale to play on the baseball team but suffers from what he calls “the Dread,” a darkness that rears its head as either depression or uncontrollable anger: “The Dread is a shape-shifty thing made of shadow, so I never know what form it will take or what it might do to me.” After starting a brawl on the baseball field during practice, Spencer finds himself in the Yale infirmary, where he meets the idealistic and upbeat John Henry. The two become fast friends, even as Spencer starts an illegal sports gambling ring that threatens his future at Yale and his job offer at Goldman Sachs. As the chapters toggle between the past and present, readers catch a glimpse of both the quiet times and momentous shifts—along with a memorable cast of characters, including Jonathon and John Henry, who slip in and out of Spencer’s life—that help shape the protagonist. From a stay at the Widworth mental hospital and ill-fated affairs to a devastating betrayal and a tragic family history that he can’t bring himself to share, Spencer struggles to find what—and who—will bring him true happiness.
Spencer’s narration of his travails as a young man, veering between hopelessly depressing and delightfully sardonic moments, will likely remind some readers of a 1990s Holden Caulfield (complete with the occasional foul language). Spencer’s observations about those around him can be surprisingly insightful: “A few years ago Town & Country dubbed them American Royalty, but as far as I could tell, the Vandershars were all just completely unreliable.” But that kind of capacity makes it all the more frustrating in the frequent scenes in which he is unable to apply the gift to himself. Still, inability is what makes Spencer such a compelling narrator—his desperate attempt to escape childhood is one that will be familiar to many. The tale’s dialogue flows at an impressive pace, with lightning-quick conversations broken up by enough muted observations by Spencer to slow it all down: “The whole town seemed vertical, rising up from a small yacht-filled harbor into wooded hills, and the buildings were all colored like the sherbets Papa and I used to eat when I was a kid—orange Creamsicle stacked on top of pink lemonade stacked on top of pomegranate sunrise stacked on top of lemon meringue.” Lenain has crafted an emotional, well-balanced novel that ultimately reminds readers that everyone has an engaging story to tell.
A wry, sensitive portrayal of the roiling turbulence of youth in all its messiness.Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2023
ISBN: 9781737700074
Page Count: 328
Publisher: Christmas Lake Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A tender and moving portrait about the transcendent power of art and friendship.
An artwork’s value grows if you understand the stories of the people who inspired it.
Never in her wildest dreams would foster kid Louisa dream of meeting C. Jat, the famous painter of The One of the Sea, which depicts a group of young teens on a pier on a hot summer’s day. But in Backman’s latest, that’s just what happens—an unexpected (but not unbelievable) set of circumstances causes their paths to collide right before the dying 39-year-old artist’s departure from the world. One of his final acts is to bequeath that painting to Louisa, who has endured a string of violent foster homes since her mother abandoned her as a child. Selling the painting will change her life—but can she do it? Before deciding, she accompanies Ted, one of the artist’s close friends and one of the young teens captured in that celebrated painting, on a train journey to take the artist’s ashes to his hometown. She wants to know all about the painting, which launched Jat’s career at age 14, and the circle of beloved friends who inspired it. The bestselling author of A Man Called Ove (2014) and other novels, Backman gives us a heartwarming story about how these friends, set adrift by the violence and unhappiness of their homes, found each other and created a new definition of family. “You think you’re alone,” one character explains, “but there are others like you, people who stand in front of white walls and blank paper and only see magical things. One day one of them will recognize you and call out: ‘You’re one of us!’” As Ted tells stories about his friends—how Jat doubted his talents but found a champion in fiery Joar, who took on every bully to defend him; how Ali brought an excitement to their circle that was “like a blinding light, like a heart attack”—Louisa recognizes herself as a kindred soul and feels a calling to realize her own artistic gifts. What she decides to do with the painting is part of a caper worthy of the stories that Ted tells her. The novel is humorous, poignant, and always life-affirming, even when describing the bleakness of the teens’ early lives. “Art is a fragile magic, just like love,” as someone tells Louisa, “and that’s humanity’s only defense against death.”
A tender and moving portrait about the transcendent power of art and friendship.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9781982112820
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
Uneven but fitfully amusing.
Betrayed by her husband, a severely depressed young woman gets drawn into the over-the-top festivities at a lavish wedding.
Phoebe Stone, who teaches English literature at a St. Louis college, is plotting her own demise. Her husband, Matt, has left her for another woman, and Phoebe is taking it hard. Indeed, she's determined just where and how she will end it all: at an oceanfront hotel in Newport, where she will lie on a king-sized canopy bed and take a bottle of her cat’s painkillers. At the hotel, Phoebe meets bride-to-be Lila, a headstrong rich girl presiding over her own extravagant six-day wedding celebration. Lila thought she had booked every room in the hotel, and learning of Phoebe's suicidal intentions, she forbids this stray guest from disrupting the nuptials: “No. You definitely can’t kill yourself. This is my wedding week.” After the punchy opening, a grim flashback to the meltdown of Phoebe's marriage temporarily darkens the mood, but things pick up when spoiled Lila interrupts Phoebe's preparations and sweeps her up in the wedding juggernaut. The slide from earnest drama to broad farce is somewhat jarring, but from this point on, Espach crafts an enjoyable—if overstuffed—comedy of manners. When the original maid of honor drops out, Phoebe is persuaded, against her better judgment, to take her place. There’s some fun to be had here: The wedding party—including groom-to-be Gary, a widower, and his 11-year-old daughter—takes surfing lessons; the women in the group have a session with a Sex Woman. But it all goes on too long, and the humor can seem forced, reaching a low point when someone has sex with the vintage wedding car (you don’t want to know the details). Later, when two characters have a meet-cute in a hot tub, readers will guess exactly how the marriage plot resolves.
Uneven but fitfully amusing.Pub Date: July 30, 2024
ISBN: 9781250899576
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2024
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