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Modern Lovers by Emma Straub

Contemporary fiction

Modern Lovers

by Emma Straub

Excellent choice

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Quick take

"The fun in this family drama is watching their lives unspool and wondering if they can be knit back together."

Why I love it

I recently moved out of my mother's home, and it's impossible not to wonder about what she is doing now that my sister and I have left. Although this story is based in Brooklyn and my mother is in New Jersey, I felt immediately pulled into Straub's proposition: What happens when adults are left to focus on themselves while their children are trying to grow up and away? Adulthood is one hell of an experience and no one gets it "right."

The story revolves around three old college friends, now in their late 40s. Zoe and her wife have a restaurant, a home and a daughter together and once monotony sets in, they both wonder if those things are worth staying together for. Down the street, Elizabeth and Andrew, friends turned band mates turned spouses, reach a breaking point in their marriage when one of their band's cult classics may or may not mean new money and revived notoriety. Meanwhile, the daughter and son of these respective couples forge their own relationship, out from underneath the watchful eye of their parents. These characters' situations are special, but the characters themselves are still very accessible. I gravitated to them for their wit and most of all, their vulnerability.

Straub writes in a way that made me feel as though she were gossiping about other families in the neighborhood over a glass of wine and a cheese plate. The characters are relatable and funny, and Straub allowed me to eavesdrop on their lives, as she takes us along their journey, inside their bedrooms, cars, and restaurants. Their neuroses, fears, and coping mechanisms (kombucha and yoga, anyone?) are laughable, both for their absurdity and for their familiarity.

Modern Lovers had me cruising through the pages, diving deeper and deeper into these characters' interiorities. Each page is a delightful piece of the puzzle, and the fun in this family drama is watching their lives unspool and wondering if they can be knit back together. Straub creates a story that is Brooklyn-specific but manages to elegantly balance that with universal themes, like love, identity, and growing up. If you're eyeing this book for its lovely front and back covers, you will not be disappointed by what's in between.

Member ratings (1,436)

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Contemporary fiction
View all
The Last Love Note
What Does It Feel Like?
Anita de Monte Laughs Last
The Wedding People
Honey
The Leftover Woman
The Same Bright Stars
Bye, Baby
Definitely Better Now
Swan Song
The Days I Loved You Most
The Connellys of County Down
Joe Nuthin’s Guide to Life
Jackpot Summer
Adelaide
I Might Be in Trouble
The Collected Regrets of Clover
Again and Again
Evil Eye
Black Cake
Maame
Romantic Comedy
Someone Else’s Shoes
Once There Were Wolves
We Are the Brennans
The Bad Muslim Discount
What Comes After
Olga Dies Dreaming
Last Summer at the Golden Hotel
Monster in the Middle
Nine Perfect Strangers
The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany
The Girl with Stars in Her Eyes
Honey Girl
In Every Mirror She's Black
Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband?
Sankofa
The Unsinkable Greta James
The Love of My Life
The Five-Star Weekend
A Home for the Holidays
The Wishing Game
Behold the Dreamers
The Mothers
All the Ugly and Wonderful Things
Little Fires Everywhere
The Music Shop
Where’d You Go, Bernadette
The Reckless Oath We Made
When We Were Vikings
The Girl with the Louding Voice
A Good Neighborhood
Big Summer
All Adults Here
Happy & You Know It
Friends and Strangers
The Comeback
True Story
The Last Story of Mina Lee
Troubles in Paradise
White Ivy
This Close to Okay
The Chicken Sisters
The Prophets
In a Book Club Far Away
The Other Black Girl
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A Quiet Life
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When We Were Bright and Beautiful
The Hotel Nantucket