Here's why I read Landline:
1) About a year ago my daughter asked me if I would take her to hear Rainbow Rowell read from her new novel Fangirl, and as books and authors are kind of my favourite things, I agreed to the hour drive and was incredibly impressed by the respect that Rowell showed to her fans as she answered questions and signed books forever.
2) We were in the Dominican Republic last week and on a shelf of free books (no doubt all left behind by former guests) that same daughter spied Landline and took it, telling me that I could read it too if I ran out of material of my own.
3) I did run out of reading material and made the easy choice between this adult novel by one of my daughter's favourite YA authors and the copy of Elvis and Ginger that my husband had just finished. It cost me nothing, I had nothing better to do, and my expectations weren't very high -- a perfect book to bring to the beach.
The back of the book gives away this much, so this plot synopsis isn't a spoiler: Georgie and her writing partner Seth have an opportunity to go from writing for a lame sitcom to creating their own dream show, but they have only the week over Christmas to develop the pilot and several episodes as a possible mid-season replacement. Tired of always coming second to her job, Georgie's husband Neal decides to proceed with the plan to take their two young daughters to his mother's home in Nebraska for the holidays. Nearly immediately, Georgie fears she made the wrong decision, and after not being able to get in touch with Neal on his cellphone, she calls his mother's landline from the old rotary phone in her own childhood bedroom. Magically, she reaches the Neal she knew in 1998 -- the last time he left her to spend Christmas in Nebraska without her; the time in college that they nearly broke up. Knowing that she hasn't made Neal very happy throughout their marriage, Georgie wonders if the kind thing to do would be to convince the Neal from the past to just stay away from her. (That's all on the back, honestly.)
Since Georgie is a writer, the situation is ironically self-aware as she compares her odd experience to It's a Wonderful Life and Back to the Future, looking at old Polaroids to see if she's disappearing like Marty McFly. She knows she's not a Time Lord and doesn't own a Time-Turner, and after referencing every other time travel plot she can think of, and considering whether or not it's a nervous breakdown, Georgie decides to just go with it and enjoy talking with Neal on the phone like they used to in their college days.
Other than being populated with adult characters, this still felt like a YA novel. The Magic Phone device -- especially when an author gets in front of the cheesiness by having the main character acknowledge the cheesiness -- needs a much bigger payoff than is found here to justify it. The romance (if this is considered a love story?) is totally PG, and really, not very romantic. Back in 1998, Neal won Georgie back with the line, "I love you more than I hate everything else". Here is Georgie talking with her teenaged sister about love and marriage in the present:
“How'd you know he was the one?"Another small complaint: while working on their sitcom (the pilot of which Georgie and Seth first wrote in college), they decided they need to add some gay characters or otherwise their "1995 was showing". It was then I realised that, out of the 9 speaking adult characters in Landline, 3 were gay, one black, and one Asian. It was like Rowell was ticking the elements of inclusivity off on her fingertips, and again, it was just very self-aware and unnatural.
"I didn't know. I don't think either of us knew."
Heather rolled her eyes. "Neal knew -- he proposed to you."
"It's not like that," Georgie said. "You'll see. It's more like you meet someone, and you fall in love, and you hope that that person is the one -- and then at some point, you have to put down your chips. You just have to make a commitment and hope that you're right.”
BUT, this cost me nothing, I had nothing better to do, and my expectations were low. If I had bought Landline and it was the only book I had brought for my vacation, I might have been disappointed (and rated it lower). As it was, it was a quick and easy read, suitable for the beach, and people should buy Rainbow Rowell's books -- even this one -- as she was really a lovely person.
Mallory didn't get a chance to finish Landline while we were away, and because she had schoolwork to catch up on since we got back, I still don't think she's finished it yet, but she wasn't really enjoying this book either. At one point she guessed how it would end and said she would be mad if she was right, and all I can say is, she's gonna be mad...
One thing that I like about Rainbow Rowell is how connected she is to her fans. Now, I realise that she's trying to sell books, but if she's just playing the game, she's doing it well. When Mal first discovered Rowell and was gushing about Eleanor & Park, she tweeted or emailed the author the following picture of me and her Dad, saying that it reminded her of the official art for Eleanor and Park:
Rowell responded positively to her and said that if Mal sent her her mailing address, Rowell would send her a personalised bookplate. Mal (who ended up getting the bookplate) was ecstatic to have made the connection, and after seeing Rowell interacting with her fans, I can only say that she seems like a really genuine person and I wish her continued success.
