All Adults Here

This month's Barnes & Noble Book Club selection was All Adults Here by Emma Straub and, while I didn't absolutely love it, I enjoyed it much more than I did Straub's previous novel, The Vacationers. Astrid Strick is a retired widow living in the small town of Clapham with three grown children and three grandchildren. She has been conducting a relationship with her hairdresser Birdie in secret for years. When she witnesses an accident that kills a former friend, she realizes that life is short and that she needs to reveal her secret to her children and make amends for her perceived shortcomings as a mother. All three of her children are also struggling with their own lives. Her oldest son Elliott, who has felt disapproval from her his whole life, struggles to make a name for himself in business and to form a bond with his own twin sons. Her daughter Porter, about to have a child on her own, worries that she will make the same mistakes her mother made. Her youngest son Nicky, a free-spirited former actor, ships his teenage daughter Cecelia off to live with her at the first hint of trouble. Astrid sees Cecelia as a second chance to get motherhood right and it is Cecelia's problems at school that bring the whole family together. There is a lot to unpack in this novel (maybe too much) with themes of motherhood, parental responsibility, sibling relationships, birth order, mortality, drug abuse, infidelity, friendship, bullying, sexuality, gender, and even gentrification which are explored superficially, almost as if Straub was ticking boxes for every social issue without giving any of them much development. However, I really loved the message that parents are just doing the best they can and that children will survive because everyone is ultimately responsible for their own happiness. There are a lot of quirky characters behaving badly, much like in The Vacationers, but I found them to be much more sympathetic and I enjoyed their antics. It is also very interesting the role the small town of Clapham plays in the narrative (Straub mentioned in an interview that her inspiration for Clapham was Stars Hollow) because everyone knows everyone else and people can't really escape their childhoods. It is a light and easy read without consequence that I wouldn't have picked for myself but I found it entertaining.

Note:  Next month's selection is The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. There will be a virtual discussion with the author via Facebook on July 7. Go here for more information.