DAWNLAND

In Callahan’s novel, a 39-year-old woman tries to figure out her place in her husband’s family.

In 2018, as the story opens, April Simone and her two children travel from Upstate New York to her father-in-law’s house in Massachusetts on Cape Cod for a family reunion. There, she’s met by her husband, Al, a sportswriter, and an old flame—her brother-in-law, Oliver. She and Oliver have found ways to exist in each other’s presence since she married Al, who is the only family member aware of his wife and his brother’s romantic history: “Aside from holidays, their annual Cape Cod reunions were the only time April laid eyes on Oliver, each vacation a year farther from the man she was with in Ireland.” However, the week that follows brings up old questions about what she really wants and deserves. Al is an alcoholic and philanderer who, despite his flaws, truly loves April. Oliver is an accomplished musician who appears, at first, to be in a happy marriage. The story jumps back and forth in time to tell tales of a troubled youth, the aforementioned trip to Ireland, a love letter, and April and Al’s convenient wedding. For April, being with Oliver would mean breaking up a family that includes her beloved adopted niece, Phoebe. However, staying with Al means humiliation. Meanwhile, her adolescent children are also finding out more about themselves as they come of age in a family whose sense of peace is rocky at best. Many passages in Callahan’s novel read as if they were first written as a play, as the narrative drifts from room to room in the single Cape Cod house with a strong emphasis on dialogue; as a result, although the book is on the lengthy side, it proceeds at a fairly quick pace. The story falls into tropes of family-centered dramas that many readers will find familiar, but its treatment of issues such as infidelity has enough nuance to catch and keep the reader’s attention until the end. Overall, the novel’s straightforwardly dramatic aspects, and its clear sense of forward momentum, give it the feel of a diverting beach or vacation read.

An engaging novel that hooks readers in with a fast-paced story of forbidden love.