Hugo & Rose

June 1, 2015
Foley's debut is an inventive, cinematic domestic novel filled with Wizard of Ozâlike dreams. Unhappy protagonist Rose is married to Josh, a trauma surgeon, with three small children: Isaac, Adam, and toddler Penny. Rose and her family live in "a shitty small town in eastern Colorado" where she drives a minivan, takes her kids to soccer games, and bemoans Josh's long hours at work. As a six-year-old, she suffered a serious bicycle mishap that precipitated her lifelong dreams of an imaginary play companion she calls Hugo, and of their quest to reach the Crystal City (Ã la Emerald City). By strange happenstance, she bumps into the real-life Hugo, who goes by the name David. Something of a loser, he works at a fast food chain restaurant called Orange Tastee and is divorced, with his ex and daughter, Rosalie, now residing in Fort Lauderdale. Rose obsesses over Hugo both in her dreams and her daily life, and the plot takes a more sinister turn when she suspects he intends to do harm to her and her family. Desperate to rescue his distressed wife, Josh gives her a variety of sleep medications. The old Hugo-and-Rose dreams continue to besiege her as she tries to come to grips with her inner turmoil. Foley's novel is interesting enough for its strange premise, but readers may have trouble discerning just how all the pieces fit together.

March 15, 2015
A debut novel that uses the world of dreams to upend the life of an otherwise ordinary housewife. Since Rose was 6 years old she has dreamed every night of the same place: a magical island on which the only other person is a boy named Hugo. In her dreams, Hugo and Rose grow into adults at the same rate that Rose grows in real life, but everything else on the island stays much the same, and they adventure blissfully together each time she sleeps. But by the time Rose is a mother with three small children and a surgeon husband who is rarely home, she starts to resent her waking life. On the island, she's still svelte, energetic, and happy-her best self. At home, she's overweight, overworked, and overtired. On a particularly rough day, when nothing is going well, she chances upon Hugo in the real world. Like Rose, this version of Hugo bears the markings of real life-he is older, paunchy, and has glasses. But Rose knows it's him and soon he knows it's her, as well. The two discover that the dreams have been shared all along. A more pastoral-minded author might take this twist in its obvious, romantic direction, but Foley makes it clear that there will be no easy way out of this surprising clash of lives; both Rose's dreams and her waking life take on dark, unsettling elements. None of the adults in this book-Hugo, Rose, or Rose's husband, Josh-behave particularly thoughtfully or well, which contributes high drama but makes them difficult to root for. Rose, especially, is a character that things happen to, even on the island, and her lack of agency is frustrating. But the island itself is a strikingly believable dreamscape, and the passages that take place there have a satisfying flavor. Despite a tendency to dwell on emotional explanations, Foley delivers a compelling tale.

Starred review from April 15, 2015
In her waking life, Rose is a put-upon suburban housewife and mother of three whose surgeon-husband is loving but overworked. In her vivid dreams, she is a brave young girl on a deserted island who battles dangerous creatures alongside her dashing best friend, Hugo. Rose has visited this dream world each night ever since a traumatic childhood accident put her in a coma. Now on yet another dreary weekend outing with her children, she encounters a grown-up version of Hugo. This chance meeting reveals the bizarre fact that these strangers have shared the same dreams for years. As Rose and Hugo explore this unlikely connection, their mysterious bond puts everything in their real lives in jeopardy. Debut-novelist Foley, a screenwriter, brings a cinematic sensibility to both fantastical descriptions of the dream island and depictions of the mundane real world. The contrast can be jarring as it underscores Rose's persistent ennui. Foley's imaginative and insightful novel will hold readers spellbound as it builds to a stunning conclusion.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)