Ordinary People

July 15, 2018
A portrait of a relationship on the brink set in Great Recession-era London.British author Evans (26a, 2005), winner of the Orange Award for New Writers, has centered her new novel on a love in crisis. Black Londoners Melissa and Michael are on "the far side of youth, at a moment in their lives when the gradual descent into age was beginning to appear," and outwardly they seem to be a properly suited pair. Melissa's best friend, Hazel, even refers to them as "Chocolate"--playing off their initials, M&M--and what could be more perfect than that? Nonetheless, as can be expected in a novel dedicated to the underside of a long-term relationship, all is not well at 13 Paradise Row, the home Melissa and Michael share with their two children. Balancing dry humor, wit, and empathy, Evans expertly delineates her main characters' frustrations: The expectations of both motherhood and romantic partnership leave Melissa on the precipice of exploding in anger or having a breakdown, while Michael laments, mostly while drinking red wine, that his desire for Melissa is unrequited, a view steeped in nostalgia for the honeymoon phase of their relationship and explained through the music of John Legend, whose second single gives the book its title. Most of the time Evans' writing is accurate as she moves from the small details of domestic life to larger ideas--feminism, urban life, black identity. Here she is describing the doldrums of monogamy: "Passion, at its truest and most fierce, does not liaise with toothpaste. It does not wait around for toning and exfoliation. It wants spontaneity. It wants recklessness. Passion is dirty, and they were too clean." At other moments, Evans' narrative choices seem perplexing, such as her use of the slang phrase "off the hizzle" as a refrain; it seems dated and less cool on the page than when emanating from the mouth of Snoop Dogg circa 2005. In fact, the biggest weakness of an otherwise astute novel is Evans' occasional overreliance on pop culture. For instance, the story is bookended by the first election of Barack Obama and the death of Michael Jackson, two culturally significant moments that are, at best, tangential to the story.Evans frankly and unflinchingly depicts a romance overwhelmed by the ennui of everyday life.

COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

July 23, 2018
Evans’s striking novel (following 26A) investigates the relationships of two sets of friends as they navigate pivotal moments during 2008. Melissa and Michael remain engaged after 13 years; Melissa misses her former job as a magazine’s fashion editor, which she left to care for her seven-year-old, Ria, and infant, Blake, while Michael longs for the passionate relationship they used to have. Continually feeling rebuffed at home, Michael searches for attention from others and notices a younger woman in his office. Hesitant to be unfaithful, Michael plans an outing to connect with Melissa, but the evening falls short of expectations and Melissa withdraws further. Meanwhile, in the second narrative, Michael’s friend Damian is frustrated with Stephanie, his wife of nearly 16 years, because she refuses to live in London like their friends, opting instead to raise their children in the suburbs, thereby squelching his dream of city life and ambition of being a writer. Along with coping with the recent loss of his activist father, Damian believes his wife and her family don’t share his values, and instead measure their success by the size of their home and the private lessons they provide their children. With penetrating emotional and psychological observations, Evans creates a realistic portrayal of the couples as they struggle to redefine commitment. Readers looking for careful studies of relationship dynamics will find much to contemplate.

Starred review from August 1, 2018
Two couples navigating the mostly quiet varieties of domestic terror are at the heart of Evans' (26A, 2005) deep and addictive third novel. Though Damian doesn't feel he belongs there, he lives with his wife and their three children in the London suburb of Dorking. Their friends Michael and Melissa have the trappings of marriage?two kids and an old house in South London?without the rings and paperwork. Historical and pop-culture details enrich the story: the novel opens at a party celebrating the first election of Barack Obama, a John Legend album lends the book its title and gives it a sort of heartbeat soundtrack, and Evans brings to literary life the burned-down Crystal Palace that Michael and Melissa live in the shadows of. Although Michael would marry Melissa without hesitation, he's also the first to force the couple's private turmoil to the surface. Damian, meanwhile, isn't sure that he grieves his father's recent death, and he secretly pines for Melissa. Evans zooms out to build her characters' culturally rich backstories as they struggle to recognize their older selves and the relationships that have aged along with them. A probing, entertaining, and self-affirming novel of men and women getting relatably lost in the crises and hauntings of early midlife.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

Starred review from July 1, 2018

Bookended by President Obama's 2008 election victory and Michael Jackson's death, this new novel from Evans (26a) tells the story of a group of young, mostly black Londoners searching for equanimity in their personal and professional lives, with the music of John Legend, Jill Scott, and Amy Winehouse providing the soundtrack as they navigate the rocky roads from dating to mating and parenting. Michael and Melissa ("M & M" to their friends) are parents to seven-year-old Ria and baby Blake. While Michael works long hours in the city, Melissa resentfully juggles children, work deadlines, and a house suffering from mice and mold. Michael remains deeply committed to their relationship (together for 13 years, they have never married) and to their multicultural community, but Melissa has become disenchanted with both him and the drugs and gangs that have entered and endangered the neighborhood. Meanwhile, their friends, including Stephanie, whose white, middle-class upbringing is beginning to clash with partner Damian's activist urges, face similar work and relationship challenges and look to Melissa and Michael as an ideal, unbreakable force. VERDICT With astute observations on marriage and parenthood, sublime descriptions of sex, and an accompanying playlist to boot, this novel is anything but ordinary. It's a sparkling gem. [See Prepub Alert, 3/12/18.]--Barbara Love, formerly with Kingston Frontenac P.L., Ont.

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2018

Bookended by President Obama's 2008 election victory and Michael Jackson's death, this new novel from Evans (26a) tells the story of a group of young, mostly black Londoners searching for equanimity in their personal and professional lives, with the music of John Legend, Jill Scott, and Amy Winehouse providing the soundtrack as they navigate the rocky roads from dating to mating and parenting. Michael and Melissa ("M & M" to their friends) are parents to seven-year-old Ria and baby Blake. While Michael works long hours in the city, Melissa resentfully juggles children, work deadlines, and a house suffering from mice and mold. Michael remains deeply committed to their relationship (together for 13 years, they have never married) and to their multicultural community, but Melissa has become disenchanted with both him and the drugs and gangs that have entered and endangered the neighborhood. Meanwhile, their friends, including Stephanie, whose white, middle-class upbringing is beginning to clash with partner Damian's activist urges, face similar work and relationship challenges and look to Melissa and Michael as an ideal, unbreakable force. VERDICT With astute observations on marriage and parenthood, sublime descriptions of sex, and an accompanying playlist to boot, this novel is anything but ordinary. It's a sparkling gem. [See Prepub Alert, 3/12/18.]--Barbara Love, formerly with Kingston Frontenac P.L., Ont.

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.