Title: Landline
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication Date: July 2014
Genre: Adult Fiction/Contemporary
Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone
Synopsis can be found here.
I purchased this book.
You can read my interview with Rainbow Rowell here. (When E&P came out)
Review:
Georgie McCool loves her husband Neal, and Neal loves her. But she still knows her marriage is in trouble when Neal takes the kids to his mother’s house for Christmas, leaving Georgie behind to work on her “big break”. Suddenly alone, Georgie is surprised to discover her mother’s old landline phone is a way to communicate with Neal- Neal in the past that is.
Is she supposed to change her future and fix her and Neal? Or maybe stop them from ever getting together in the first place?
Love. Rainbow Rowell does it again- writing a gripping, emotional and truthful story about life, love and all of the grey area between. Georgie is a sweet if not confused character, focused on her career and her job, ambitious and maybe having slightly gone off the rails. Neal is sweet and lovable, trying very hard to be supportive while taking care of their children. He’s also quiet, neglected.
I love their relationship because it seems so real. How after so many years, even loving someone takes work. Marriage takes work. And the sacrifices people make on a daily basis can become assumed and taken for granted. I love how love wasn’t the issue; it’s clear Georgie loves her family and Neal and he loves her. The challenges are from the outside world, from their own ambitions, from time.
The story unfolds slowly, sweetly. Rowell does a magnificent job of choosing the exact words, clear and perfect, to get her characters’ emotions across in a clean and direct to the heart way. I love the way Georgie speaks to past Neal, how she changes into her younger self, and how we can hear a younger, braver Neal. It’s easy to see how these two fell in love, wanted to conquer the world together. It’s easy to see how even the strongest bonds can grow apart. There are many funny, quirky and clever dialogue lines between these two. I felt like I was listening in on a conversation in secret.
Overall, Landline is a stellar novel that I tend to open up again and again, reading favorite lines or whole chapters, revisiting Georgie and Neal. It’s one of my favorite reads this year. But really, it’s from Rainbow Rowell. So I didn’t expect any less.
Rating 9 Ridiculously Awesome like Cookies and Ice Cream
Kimberly majored in Songwriting and currently works full time in the music industry. When she's not listening to music, knitting or writing, you can find her outside reading her favorite genres: Young Adult, Adult Fiction, Mystery, and Romance.
I’m glad that everyone thinks that Rowell does just as good of a job in Landline as the rest of her books. I can’t wait to read this.
I haven’t read anything by Rainbow Rowell. I know, I must live under a rock or something. We just haven’t crossed paths yet, but I think this one, Landline, is really the one that will force our paths to cross. It sounds amazing. Thanks for the fantastic review!
Woah almost a 10! I hear that pretty much everything is awesome from this author & have read a bit of Eleanor & Park, but I may just have to purchase this one first!
Eep! So glad to hear that you liked this one! The only book I’ve read by Rainbow so far is Fangirl and I absolutely loved it. I really want to and need to read Landline because it sounds amazing and everyone seems to love it. Awesome review.