Standard Deviation

March 20, 2017
This first novel from Heiny (Single, Carefree, Mellow) meanders cheerfully along, making up for its relative lack of action with its humor and insight into characters. Introverted, middle-aged Graham has been married for 12 years to his talkative, younger second wife Audra, and he’s beginning to wonder whether they’re really suited for each other, or if he should have stuck with his “tall and slim and regal” attorney ex-wife Elspeth, with whom he’s just begun speaking again. Graham and Audra have a 10-year-old son, Matthew, who is socially awkward and obsessed with origami, and about whom they spend a good deal of their mental energy worrying. They host Thanksgiving for an assortment of quirky characters, including the misfit adults from Matthew’s origami club; take their son and a friend they nickname “Derek Rottweiler” on an ill-fated fishing expedition; and attend an unexpected funeral. Heiny has a flair for peculiar but believable dialogue, and a generous attitude towards even the most inept characters, particularly Graham, whose befuddlement about his life choices and his longing to smooth things out for his son persist throughout the changes in his life. At the heart of the novel is a finely tuned awareness of the fragility of the most seemingly permanent connections and the ambivalence shot through even the hardiest forms of love.

Starred review from March 1, 2017
In her debut novel, the author of the charming short story collection Single, Carefree, Mellow (2015) matures into new (equally beguiling) terrain, exploring marriage, fidelity, friendship, and parenting.It's easy to see why Graham, one-half of the New York City couple at the center of Heiny's first novel, is enthralled by his wife of 12 years, Audra. While Graham, a medical-venture specialist at a venture capitalist firm, is steady, stable, and fond of "routine and order," Audra, a freelance graphic designer 15 years his junior, is an unrestrained force of good nature. Audra's vivacity offers a stark contrast to Graham's emotionally cool first wife, Elspeth, with whom the couple reconnects. Audra draws all manner of friends and random strangers into her orbit with her chatty sociability and almost unwavering cheer. She cannot make it through a trip to the grocery store without running into a million people she knows (Graham says it's like shopping with "a visiting dignity") and bonding big-time with the checkout guy, is constantly inviting people (a woman she barely knows from her book group whose husband has been unfaithful; their building's afternoon doorman, for a reason Graham cannot recall) to move into their den or eat at their table. Audra is forever on the phone, helping out with PTA activities at the school attended by their 10-year-old son, Matthew, who has Asperger's and is some kind of origami prodigy, or chatting with her best friend, Lorelei. Like Graham, the reader may be deeply enchanted with, if also somewhat mystified by, Audra. She's a wonderful character, as are many of those assembled around her, and the series of minor challenges she and Graham face (potential infidelities, possible pregnancy, challenging play dates, and other parental concerns)--she pluckily; he sheepishly--make for reading as delicious as the meals Graham is forever called into service to cook for whomever Audra happens to have invited by that night. To quibble, the episodic, somewhat attenuated plot lacks a degree of urgency and loses a bit of steam midway through, but it regains its footing by the end. And to spend 300-plus pages with Heiny's wry voice and colorful cast of characters is to love them, truly. An amusingly engaging take on long-term marriage with a lovably loopy character at its center.

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April 15, 2017
Heiny's first novel, following her story collection, Single, Carefree, Mellow (2015), offers an absorbing character study of modern-day relationships and parenthood. Graham lives in New York with his younger second wife, Audra, and their 10-year-old son, Matthew. Graham is the more reserved of the pair, while the loquacious Audra seems to makes friends with every person she meets. One day Graham unexpectedly runs into his ex-wife, Elspeth, whom he left for Audra. At Audra's urging, they set up a double date with Elspeth and her current boyfriend. Subsequent encounters between the two couples lead Graham to begin to examine and question the state of his current relationship as he ends up spending more time with Elspeth. Meanwhile, Graham and Audra struggle to find the best way to parent Andrew, whose unique social needs present all kinds of challenges. Heiny's characters are authentic, witty, and infused with life, and they hold their secrets close, whether to protect the ones they love or merely themselves. Heiny's novel offers a nuanced consideration of commitment, acceptance, and the desire for personal connection.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

December 1, 2016

Full of life, love, and projects, Graham's new wife, Audra, is the polar opposite of first wife Elspeth, which complicates things when Graham and Audra need to ask Elspeth for help. Heiny debuted big with the collection Single, Carefree, Mellow.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2017

Manhattan husband and father Graham Cavanaugh knows that he shouldn't compare his second wife, Audra, to first wife, Elspeth, but the contrast is too pronounced to ignore. Audra is always socializing and insisting that Graham participate even as he wistfully yearns for his more orderly existence with Elspeth. Yet, life with Graham and Audra's son, Matthew, a middle schooler with Asperger's, necessitates a wide social safety net, whether with Matthew's origami club members or with the few friends he makes at school. Graham simply can't revert to his Elspeth days but must jump on the crazy train with vivacious Audra and enjoy the ride. In this debut novel, (after the short story collection Single, Carefree, Mellow), Heiny handles the sensitive material with a deft, always humorous touch. VERDICT Contemporary fiction fans fond of urban settings and humor in the vein of Nora Ephron or Nick Hornsby should appreciate this tale of city life and marriage, while those searching for characters on the Asperger's spectrum could find young Matthew, portrayed as high functioning but challenging, authentic and recognizable as he navigates various connections with his parents and others. [See Prepub Alert, 11/14/16.]--Jennifer B. Stidham, Houston Community Coll. Northeast

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.