Landline by Rainbow Rowell ~Contemporary September Day 2

Georgie McCool is in a marriage that is breaking apart at the seams, despite the fact that both Neal, her husband, and Georgie still love each other. Georgie has a tendency to put work before her family and just before christmas, when they are supposed to leave for Omaha to visit Neal’s family. When the opportunity of a lifetime comes up at work, that she can’t afford to miss, Georgie decides to skip the trip. She knows that Neal will be upset with her; she doesn’t however, think that Neal would pack up and go on the trip with their daughters, leaving her behind alone. She feels as though not coming along on the trip is the last straw in their marriage breaking down. She is desperate to find a way to connect to Neal, and finally she does through the old landline she has in her old room. However, she realizes this landline has actually connected her to Neal in the past; Neal from 19 then she finds a way to talk to him, except it’s Neal from the past due to a very special Landline.

Neal often left me feeling conflicted. At times I thought he was so sweet; behind the scenes he did so much for Georgie, their daughters, and the family in general. At other times he seemed rather bland. I realized I liked the cute, past Neal better; the one who was in Georgie’s flashbacks and phone calls. I also often felt bad for Georgie as a result of Neal’s actions. Georgie was such an outgoing and open character, and I felt like she needed that openness in response. However Neil always came across as rather closed off and slightly cold. As a person who can relate to Georgie’s personality, I feel like trying so hard to get through to someone, and trying get something out of them, only to have them be so unresponsive, must have been extremely hard. I understand that we can’t change Neal’s personality or who he is, but I feel that he still could have put in the extra effort for Georgie once in a while. It doesn’t take much to show you care, especially to someone who is trying so hard to make things work. In general, I feel like Georgie was the only one trying to make their marriage work out, while Neal had practically given up. Watching Georgie suffer like this, with Neil being so unresponsive, left me really frustrated. I think it would have been interesting to know Neil’s thoughts on their relationship and marriage as well. However in general present-day Neil did not play a large part in a majority of the book.

The ending of Landline left me wanting more, just as most of Rowell’s books do. She tends to end them at points in the story that leave you wanting more, especially as seen in Eleanor and Park. There is no definite closure and the reader is unsure of the direction in which the story will go, and if that ending will truly be happy.

The landline concept added a touch of magic, which I think is really original and interesting to read about, especially in a contemporary novel. However, the reason for this was never explained and I would’ve liked an explanation.  The dialogue in the book was cute, quirky and funny, just like our character Georgie.  The fact that she was a comedy writer made itself quite evident through her inner thoughts and in her interactions with other characters. It was a fun read, as Rainbow Rowell’s books always are.

4/5

Tagged: Book, book review, contemporary, contemporary September, landline, Rainbow Rowell, romance