Kauffman, Rebecca

This achingly beautiful audiobook is an essential purchase. Share with fans of Anne Tyler, Christina Baker Kline, and Elizabeth Strout, and anyone interested in reflective, character-driven family sagas.

Neither dark nor despairing, this work admirably expresses the satisfying comfort derived from the survival of such long-term friendships even as it evokes sadness about the losses and challenges that come with transitioning to adulthood. A successful sophomore effort after Kauffman's well-received first novel, Another Place You've Never Been.

While a series of stories don't always add up to a novel, this is an accomplished debut—at times emotionally gritty but always emotionally true. For all fiction collections. [Long-listed for the 2016 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize.—Ed.]