The last book I read in 2015 was another book by Rainbow Rowell. This the third book I’ve read from this author after Fan Girl and then Attachments.
The Plot:
Georgie McCool knows her marriage is in trouble; it has been in trouble for a long time. She still loves her husband, Neal, and Neal still loves her, deeply — but that almost seems beside the point now.
Maybe that was always beside the point.
Two days before they’re supposed to visit Neal’s family in Omaha for Christmas, Georgie tells Neal that she can’t go. She’s a TV writer, and something’s come up on her show; she has to stay in Los Angeles. She knows that Neal will be upset with her — Neal is always a little upset with Georgie — but she doesn’t expect him to pack up the kids and go home without her.
When her husband and the kids leave for the airport, Georgie wonders if she’s finally done it. If she’s ruined everything.
That night, Georgie discovers a way to communicate with Neal in the past. It’s not time travel, not exactly, but she feels like she’s been given an opportunity to fix her marriage before it starts…
Is that what she’s supposed to do?
Or would Georgie and Neal be better off if their marriage never happened?
My 2 Cents:
I initially didn’t like the story of this book. Part of me was expecting there would be an answer as to why there was a magical landline – why Georgie’s old landline suddenly became magical. Mostly though I didn’t like the leading guy again – I seem to be noticing a pattern here! Ha! Ha! I thought Neal was such a miserable guy and it made me wonder what Georgie saw in him!
Well, I still wonder how she could have been so fascinated with him! But after some reflection on the story it dawned on me – the story is not meant to get readers all tickled pink with “kilig”. It’s all about choices and priorities.
Georgie was a strong woman who clearly had quite a successful career. She was also a wife and a mother to two kids. But as the story went, it became quite obvious that Georgie had been too wrapped up in her career that it ate up time that she should have been spending with her family and Neal ended up becoming the one who had to pick up the slack.
So I didn’t like Neal – at least not the College guy version. But the family man version? Well I thought he was endearing. He never said a word to Georgie about her shortcomings. He never asked her to choose between work and family. Instead, he just did things for his family. He took care of the kids, he did the grocery and he cooked for the kids and his wife. He did all the husband duties and the wife duties at home.
And while I still wonder how in the world Georgie ended up having a magical landline, I liked that through her conversations with the younger Neal, she realized what it was she was missing out on because she was too wrapped up with work and made the choice to rectify the situation – finally choosing her family.