REVIEW: LANDLINE by RAINBOW ROWELL

Rainbow Rowell’s Landline is testament to her amazing talent for capturing the particulars along the spectrum between love and out-of-love. While her previous novels, Eleanorand Park and Fangirl, delved into the thunder and sunshine of teen relationships, Landline tells the story of Georgie McCool, a talented comedic writer who finds herself estranged from her own 15 year marriage.  

The brilliance of this book lies in instances when the plot line takes pause: when the reader forgets that they’re witnessing a character’s life and instead imagines themselves peeking through the words. As Georgie details the history of her relationship with Neil, you too will reminisce about the moment you chose your own partner: the colour of their concert T-shirt, the soundtrack in the coffee shop, the smell of familiarity… “the feeling of filling your lungs with fresh air.” 

As the story of the couple’s complacency develops, you will celebrate everyday kindnesses like refrigerator notes, and intimate smiles, against the shadow of insecurity cast by career pressures and competing priorities. You will feel the weight of worry and deliberation about your own relationships: who you were, who you are, who you are together, and how separating would feel akin to “unthread[ing] vascular systems.”

Landline is a quick summer read that will inspire gratitude for any chance you’ve had to “know what it really means to crawl into someone else’s life and stay there.”

Amie Willoughby is a high school teacher, fiction reader, runner, aspiring baker, avid tea drinker, and jelly bean lover.