Sunday's on the Phone to Monday

December 7, 2015
Reilly’s debut novel explores how a love evolves as responsibilities mount for two parents with three very different daughters. The book starts with the courtship of Claudio and Mathilde in 1980s New York City, moves through their adult lives as they marry and settle into their careers—Claudio runs a record shop, Mathilde is an actress—and then in Part Two introduces their three daughters. For a first-time novelist, Reilly is deft in her characterizations; the main story lines, especially the daughters’—young Natasha, Lucy, and adopted Carly—are full of imaginative anecdotes and vibrant details. Ever-capitalized references to an abstraction known as Heart, representing the family’s love, and the constant presence of rock tunes punctuate moments of heightened emotion—at times too obviously. But Reilly’s tidy, whimsical prose balances the long lapses into sentimentality. Although New York and classic rock create a strong sense of time and place, the heart of the novel arises from the intimacy among the sisters. They, like their parents, keep secrets, fight to protect one another, and make mistakes, eventually discovering that life can’t be all YouTube videos and first kisses. Reilly’s first novel is touching and nostalgic.

April 1, 2016
Mathilde Spicer, a budding thespian, and Claudio Simone, a recent graduate, marry young after falling in love at a party at NYU. They are immediately simpatico, and the narrator states this isn't a story about love; instead, this will be a story about family. They soon become five, with two of their own, Natasha and Lucy, and an adopted daughter from China, Carly. They move to Long Island, where the girls have a picturesque childhoodeating peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches, laughing, writing, listening to the Beatles, and, eventually, playing spin the bottle. But when Lucy contracts a rare heart condition, the family struggles to remain strong in the face of impending tragedy. An intermittent subplot concerning Claudio's wayward, mentally ill sister, Jane, adds an additional sense of hardship. With clever chapter titles and an index of themes, Reilly's debut is structurally expressive, especially with the dialogue in italics, which creatively establishes a sense of interiority and intuitive communication between the Simones. A compelling family tale rich in vivid and relatable struggles.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)