A cacophonous but compelling new voice.
A Russian-Jewish immigrant has a tempestuous and life-altering fling with an American investment banker in Fishbeyn’s debut.
Russian native Elena “Lenochka” Kabelmacher changed her name to Emma Kaulfield because it sounded more American. Her parents and grandmother, Russian Jews who, after a struggle with the KGB, were able to emigrate with Emma and her sister to the U.S., are now, in the late 1990s, wealthy Chicago suburbanites. Emma’s grandmother, the undisputed family tyrant and sage, has decreed that 20-something Emma will pursue a high-achievement career track, studying statistics at N.Y.U. rather than following her true passion, painting. Emma is terrible at statistics, both in academe (she’s flunking) and real life, where she fails to appreciate the odds against finding true love in the ladies’ room of La Cote Basque. Ineffably drawn to a complete stranger with whom she makes out in that very bathroom, Emma assumes that will be the end of it. Then, on an outing with her fiance, fellow émigré Alex (a match made by Grandmother), she re-encounters the stranger: he is Eddie, Alex’s colleague. As she and Alex plan an elaborate Chicago wedding, she and Eddie fall inexorably back into one another’s arms. What’s a girl to do? Eddie promises to support her and let her paint to her heart’s content, but Emma wants to be financially independent; she just isn’t sure how. The most interesting sections of the novel depict family encounters, both in Moscow flashbacks and in '90s Winnetka, wherein the Kabelmachers and their friends one-up each other, overshare, and squabble in two languages, never failing to demonstrate fierce loyalty and unconditional if domineering love. Contrast this with Eddie’s family, which is dysfunctional in a different way (à la Tolstoy?), withholding, undermining, and uncommunicative. What elevates this above the standard rom-com is the language, idiosyncratic, inventive, and ornate, although Fishbeyn's word choices, overworked and/or a little off, often read like a slightly out-of-kilter translation.
A cacophonous but compelling new voice.Pub Date: May 23, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-62872-758-6
Page Count: 484
Publisher: Arcade
Review Posted Online: March 6, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2017
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an...
True love flares between two people, but they find that circumstances always impede it.
On a winter day in London, Laurie spots Jack from her bus home and he sparks a feeling in her so deep that she spends the next year searching for him. Her roommate and best friend, Sarah, is the perfect wing-woman but ultimately—and unknowingly—ends the search by finding Jack and falling for him herself. Laurie’s hasty decision not to tell Sarah is the second painful missed opportunity (after not getting off the bus), but Sarah’s happiness is so important to Laurie that she dedicates ample energy into retraining her heart not to love Jack. Laurie is misguided, but her effort and loyalty spring from a true heart, and she considers her project mostly successful. Perhaps she would have total success, but the fact of the matter is that Jack feels the same deep connection to Laurie. His reasons for not acting on them are less admirable: He likes Sarah and she’s the total package; why would he give that up just because every time he and Laurie have enough time together (and just enough alcohol) they nearly fall into each other’s arms? Laurie finally begins to move on, creating a mostly satisfying life for herself, whereas Jack’s inability to be genuine tortures him and turns him into an ever bigger jerk. Patriarchy—it hurts men, too! There’s no question where the book is going, but the pacing is just right, the tone warm, and the characters sympathetic, even when making dumb decisions.
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an emotional, satisfying read.Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-57468-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
Heartfelt and funny, this enemies-to-lovers romance shows that the best things in life are all-inclusive and nontransferable...
An unlucky woman finally gets lucky in love on an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii.
From getting her hand stuck in a claw machine at age 6 to losing her job, Olive Torres has never felt that luck was on her side. But her fortune changes when she scores a free vacation after her identical twin sister and new brother-in-law get food poisoning at their wedding buffet and are too sick to go on their honeymoon. The only catch is that she’ll have to share the honeymoon suite with her least favorite person—Ethan Thomas, the brother of the groom. To make matters worse, Olive’s new boss and Ethan’s ex-girlfriend show up in Hawaii, forcing them both to pretend to be newlyweds so they don’t blow their cover, as their all-inclusive vacation package is nontransferable and in her sister’s name. Plus, Ethan really wants to save face in front of his ex. The story is told almost exclusively from Olive’s point of view, filtering all communication through her cynical lens until Ethan can win her over (and finally have his say in the epilogue). To get to the happily-ever-after, Ethan doesn’t have to prove to Olive that he can be a better man, only that he was never the jerk she thought he was—for instance, when she thought he was judging her for eating cheese curds, maybe he was actually thinking of asking her out. Blending witty banter with healthy adult communication, the fake newlyweds have real chemistry as they talk it out over snorkeling trips, couples massages, and a few too many tropical drinks to get to the truth—that they’re crazy about each other.
Heartfelt and funny, this enemies-to-lovers romance shows that the best things in life are all-inclusive and nontransferable as well as free.Pub Date: May 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5011-2803-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019
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