Hello! I’m here to talk about my second April 6th release, this time an adult contemporary novel. *And every day we are reminded that discrimination against marginalized communities is still a serious problem, so click here to find a compilation of resources where you can donate your time, money, or whatever you can to support these communities. I still encourage you to research these causes on your own to educate yourself and find the best way to lend your support.*
When searching for books on NetGalley a few months ago, I came across In a Book Club Far Away, an adult fiction / contemporary story by Tif Marcelo. I’m always interested in books about books, or stories centered around book clubs. This has also been an early release pick for the book subscription service Book of the Month, which usually has some solid suggestions. I wasn’t sure what I would find when I started reading – the story reminded me a bit of All the Right Mistakes by Laura Jamison, another adult contemporary following the perspectives of a few women who have different experinces but were brought together earlier in life. In this case, the three leads are partners of military men, so they bond while their significant others are deployed and one starts a book club off base. From her site, I found that both author Tif Marcelo and her husband both served in the military, so I found the culture surrounding the base setting to be quite interesting to read about.
Eight years ago, Adelaide Wilson-Chang, Regina Castro, and Sophie Walden were inseperable. Stationed at Fort East, they bonded when their partners were deployed and helped each other through every struggle those few months. Then something happened that caused a rift in their relationship, and the group hadn’t been the same since. Now, these three women find themselves together again – Adelaide requires emergency surgery, so she tricks Sophie and Regina into both coming to assist during her recovery, and with care for her daughter, while her husband is stationed abroad. Lines were crossed in the past, and faith and trust has been broken and destroyed, but is one week enough time to rebuild some of the time lost to betrayal?
*content warning for discussion of miscarriage*
As mentioned before, I really didn’t know what to expect going into this book. We are settled into present day, but when the three reunite we are blast into the past to relive what happened on that military base eight years ago. I really enjoyed the structure of this book – typically with dual timeline, it will alternate every other chapter, during seven of the eight parts, we are allowed to explore each perspective in the present first, while then reliving the past with each of the women (part eight is the only section told entirely in the present). I have to appreciate the care that went into exploring each of the three women – Adelaide, Sophie, and Regina all have their individual issues and concerns they are trying to address and overcome throughout the novel, and I never felt confused as to whose perspective I was following (I will say sometimes I mixed up their partners, but they are off page for most of the book so that may have been my fault). Regina, the only single mother of the bunch, is struggling to figure out what to do with her catering business that she loves but isn’t bringing in enough money – Sophie, mother to twins, is feeling more and more like she is a single mother trying to take care of everything while her partner is constantly traveling for work – Adelaide, who brought the three together once more, has been harboring guilt over the rift in their friendship, and is scared to allow people she trusts to help her in a time of need. There is a large focus on holding a grudge and misplaced anger in this novel – Regina hasn’t spoken to Sophie ever since the incident that caused her to lose trust in her friend all those years ago. It highlights just how much that anger, even if it is misplaced, can harm a frienship and harbor resentment, even unintentionally. The women lost almost eight years of their lives to this feud, years that could have been spent supporting each other through tough times like they had in the past. It was honest and real, and I really liked the conversation it started about evaluating those grudges to see if they truly are worth the resentment.
While I did overall enjoy my experience reading this book, I did have my issues. I found the ending to be a bit rushed – in part eight, an extremely important piece of information is revealed to the reader (that I personally did not see coming, and am not sure others have picked up on it earlier or not), and that leaves only a few chapters for the issue to be resolved and the book to end. I feel like for the importance of that information, and the impact that it ultimately had on our main leads, I would have liked their internal monologues and thought processes to be explored a little more. And I think my main critique of the book is the book club aspect itself. I know it was primarily established as a way for the main characters to be introduced, and that first session garnered great discussion, I found the book club meetings sprinkled throughout the rest of the novel to be a bit underwhelming. I wasn’t sure exactly why one wanted an entire trip to New York City, or an escape game, and sometimes the meeting were cancelled and nothing was disccused anyway. I understand that it wasn’t the focus of the book, but it at least should have felt important, and for me it didn’t. Or at least I would have liked the final “book club,” the one Adelaide makes Sophie promise her and Regina will participate in during the present timeline, would have been better explored or explained. It is mentioned a few times when the women pick up to read the book, and they compare how much they’ve read in comparison to the others, and then at the end it’s all wrapped up in just a few paragraphs. The book was chosen specifically because it mirrored what was going on in their lives, so I just wish that parallel could have been better established throughout the course of the entire book, instead of rushed at the end.
In conclusion, I found myself charmed by Tif Marcerlo’s writing and connecting with each of the characters in different ways. From her website, I see that she also has a YA title, The Holiday Switch, coming out later this year, so I might check that one out as well as it seems a bit more up my alley. In a Book Club Far Away released this week, on April 6th, 2021, so please join me in wishing it a [slightly belated] book birthday, and cinsider picking up a copy for yourself if you’re at all interested. *Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Gallery Books, for the e-copy, all thoughts and opinions are my own.*
Where to find In a Book Club Far Away:
Bookshop
Amazon
Goodreads
Tif Marcelo’s site
Simon & Schuster
Thoughts About Things 