This article was written for Annabel & Grace, which is now part of Rest Less.
This book, Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner, is one of those very hyped novels. It has been called the Summer Read for 2019 and has been in the Sunday Times Top Ten Bestsellers list for some weeks now. I was going away for a week’s holiday and wanted a novel to read so having read all the literary critics’ reviews I decided to buy it.
For the first 50 pages I actually hated the story but as I was away, with no book shop close by, I ploughed on. And then it turned a corner and I became engaged or even obsessed and could not put it down.
‘This is the novel of the summer . . . There is no one that this book isn’t for. I can’t believe it’s a first novel. Pure brilliance’
INDIA KNIGHT, THE SUNDAY TIMES
Toby and Rachel Fleishman, a Manhattan couple with two children, have recently separated. Toby is a liver specialist, 5′ 5″ tall and Rachel appears to be a disinterested mother and totally self-indulgent.
Toby hits the dating apps with remarkable and unexpected success albeit resulting in sex but not a relationship. Meanwhile Rachel disappears. This is where the book takes a turn and develops into something much more interesting.
Sharp and wicked, insightful and funny, and then suddenly so touching
DAVID NICHOLLS, author of One Day
This book is about life, what happens and how we deal with it. It is very funny and is a frighteningly honest insight into modern marriage. I found it hard to relate to as this is and has never been my style of marriage. However I battled on as this is the marriage world that my children are now entering. It was different in our time as was so much else. However we need to understand the trials and tribulations of life for our kids. This book is insightful and hilarious
From the reviews on Amazon this book is like Marmite – you either love it or hate it. I loved it, in the end but not in the beginning. I enjoyed reading another genre from a debut writer and it did make me laugh. Maybe the characters are not so endearing but this is life. We meet people like Toby Fleishman, Rachel, Seth and Elizabeth throughout our lives but it is how we deal with them that matters.
‘The most astonishingly brilliant Trojan horse of a novel’
DOLLY ALDERTON
So go on read it and ignore the bad reviews!
Click HERE to purchase, Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner, from Amazon.
For more book reviews click HERE.