My monthly secondhand book subscription with the Old Curiosity Bookshop (see here for their website) often exposes me to books that I wouldn’t have purchased for myself – which is, of course, the point of the subscription. One of those is Landline by Rainbow Rowell. It’s a book that I had seen discussed on social media but hadn’t been interested enough to buy, although it has been very popular. It did look interesting, however, so I have included it in this challenge.
Georgie is a TV writer. She writes sitcoms for American TV and because of that she lives in Los Angeles and has a writing partner, Seth. She is married to Neal who comes from Nebraska and who has given up work to bring up their two daughters. Their marriage has been rocky, and it looks like it might be finished when Georgie stays at home to spend Christmas with Seth writing a new sitcom and Neal returns to Nebraska with the children to see his parents.
Georgie starts falling apart and returns to her mother’s home. Because her mobile isn’t working well she plugs in an old telephone she finds in a wardrobe to the landline. On this phone, however, she doesn’t connect with Neal as he is now but a past Neal when they split up for a few weeks at Christmas before they were engaged. She becomes obsessed with this reconnection, hoping that she can find a way to save her marriage.
This is a clever, although not unique, plot, as I have seen books do much the same thing in other ways. It’s handled well and the author has thought through the technicalities of what would happen, if, of course, it could happen. My problem with this book is, however, that I really disliked Georgie. I know that she is supposed to be depressed but she seems to me to be very selfish. She lets Seth down very badly by not helping him with these important scripts, and sitting around waiting for the telephone to ring. They live in Los Angeles, even though Neal hates it. Neal brings up their children because she doesn’t want to put them into childcare and won’t give up her job. She ignores Seth’s love for her but lives in such a way that it is continually obvious to Neal. And, even when she declares her love for Neal and a willingness to start again, she doesn’t intend to change any of these things.
There are two messages in this book. The first is that women who have jobs cannot also bring up children well. The second is that love will conquer all problems and make everything alright. I don’t subscribe to either of them and suspect that, if this were real life, Neal and Georgie’s marriage wouldn’t survive much longer. Maybe I am too cynical or too old for this type of light, romantic comedy.
I didn’t hate this book but it didn’t work for me, and I also failed to get many of the references to American TV programmes and popular culture which didn’t help matters. The book goes off to Oxfam to find another reader.
Anne Is Reading 