The Adults

The title of this novel hints at the ironic humor that characterizes its unconventional coming-of-age story. At the age of 14, Emily realizes that the dysfunctional people in her family and upscale suburban community are not credible adults. It's clear that she will have to grow into maturity on her own. Narrator Tavia Gilbert deftly captures Emily's vulnerability, confusion, and wry analysis as she encounters people and experiences that make her journey unique. Gilbert's unaffected presentation avoids sensationalizing Emily's rough language or the occasional description of a sexual encounter. Subtle shifts of tone are all Gilbert needs to give Emily a convincing voice through her ten-year journey of transformation from troubled adolescent to her own version of successful adult. M.O.B. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

December 13, 2010
In Espach's charming coming-of-age debut, 14-year-old Emily Vidal's life begins to veer off course at her father's 50th birthday party when he announces that he and her mother are divorcing. The birthday night ends with dad kissing the neighbor, Mrs. Resnick, in the woods, where Emily and Mrs. Resnick's son, Mark, discover them. The disorienting discoveries continue: Mark's ailing father commits suicide, and Mrs. Resnick is pregnant with Emily's dad's baby. With dad off to Prague and her mother undone by the affair and hitting the bottle, Emily loses faith in all the adults around her, even as she is becoming one of them. Emily starts an affair with an English teacher 10 years her senior, mostly to see how far she can go, which turns out to be pretty far. She and the teacher, Jonathan, who leaves teaching to become a lawyer, return to each other again and again as Emily graduates from college and moves to Prague to be with her father. Espach perfects the snarky, postironic deadpan of the 1990s and teenagers everywhere, and her ear for modern speech and eye for fresh detail transform a familiar story into an education in what it means to be a grown-up.