Book Review: Landline by Rainbow Rowell

Landline

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Date of Publication: July 8, 2014

Pages: 320

     Landline is a pleasant read.  This is not the kind of book I usually read, but it was the quarterly recommendation on Riot Read, so I read it.  The premise of the story is pretty routine:  a thirty something working woman named Georgie McCool has trouble balancing work and home life.  She makes an egregious error in sending her husband and two children to his home in Omaha for Christmas while she stays in L.A. and tries to make a script deadline for a new situation comedy.

     What ensues is a poignant and often humorous self-examination of Georgie's life choices and whether it is too late to rescue a floundering marriage.  The plot device here is an old-fashioned landline in her childhood bedroom that enables her to call her husband in the past.  The landline conversations lead to flashbacks of college and the early days of their relationship.  Serious second thoughts and self doubts ensue.
 
     The book handles the new social dynamic of the working Mom and stay at home Dad with all of its ramifications.  The main characters are well developed and the plot moves along quickly, mainly through the use of dialogue.  The secondary  characters are superficial and are mainly props for the main story line.  The resolution of the couple's dilemma, although predictable, makes the reader happy for all involved.   

     This is a quick read which raises some interesting family dynamic questions in this rapidly changing world in which we live.  Landline by Rainbow Rowell is a perfect beach read.  Enjoy.