This Was Not the Plan

November 16, 2015
Alger’s (The Darlings) new novel of love, loss, and parenthood is readable and relatable. Charlie Goldwyn, the widowed father of Caleb, his idiosyncratic five-year-old, works hellish hours in hopes of making partner at his powerful Manhattan law firm. Instead, he is fired after a drunken rant turns him into an unwitting YouTube sensation. When his twin sister, Zadie—who took over Caleb’s care after Charlie’s wife died in a plane crash—takes a vacation, he becomes his son’s primary caregiver. Still grief-stricken and hyper-focused on winning back his job, he is overwhelmed by fatherhood. His struggles to become the father that his free-spirited wife wanted him to be are by turns funny and moving, as are his musings about his job. That said, there are some issues: Charlie’s mother’s part in Charlie’s estrangement from his father strikes a sour, unresolved note. And after Zadie involves their father in her wedding plans, the story becomes overly sentimental. The story’s sweetness isn’t always to its detriment, though; Charlie’s growing relationship with Caleb is uplifting and memorable. Agent: Pilar Queen, McCormick Literary.

January 1, 2016

Charlie has just wrapped up 72 hours working on a huge class-action lawsuit that has been pending for four years. Finally, it's time to see his five-year-old son, Caleb, and get some sleep. Going home isn't as much fun as it used to be; his wife died in a plane crash, and it was because of Charlie that she was even on the flight. Preparing to leave the office, Charlie encounters a senior partner who reminds him of the firm's cocktail party; attendance is essentially mandatory. Charlie finds his friend and fellow lawyer Moose and promptly throws back a few shots of vodka. The ensuing lapse in judgment leaves him a full-time dad and unemployed attorney. This was not the life plan Charlie had in mind: no income, parenting a quirky young son, and facing his own estranged father. VERDICT Alger's (The Darlings) darkly comic novel offers an engaging take on single parenthood from a man's viewpoint. Modern life has changed who takes the kids to summer camp and who arranges the playdates. Fans of Emma Straub's The Vacationers or works by Erin Duffy should enjoy this tale.--Robin Nesbitt, Columbus Metropolitan Lib., OH

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