Everything Here Is under Control
A Novel
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4.4 • 22 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Amanda is a new mother, and she is breaking. After a fight with her partner, she puts the baby in the car and drives from Queens to her hometown in rural Ohio, where she shows up unannounced on the doorstep of her estranged childhood best friend. Amanda thought that she had left Carrie firmly in the past. After their friendship ended, their lives diverged radically: Carrie had a baby the summer after high school, became a successful tattoo artist, and never escaped Ohio’s conservative grid of close-cut grass. But the trauma of childbirth and shock of motherhood compel Amanda to go back to the beginning and to trace the tangled roots of friendship and family in her own life.
Compelling and engaging, Everything Here Is under Control is a raw, honest, occasionally hilarious portrait of the complexity, conflicting emotions, and physical trauma of both modern motherhood and the intense, intimate friendships that women forge in their youth.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Adrian's meticulous, wry adult debut (after the YA novel The Foreseeable Future) follows 31-year-old new mother Amanda through her insecurities and anxieties. Amanda's son, Jack, is two and a half months old, and Amanda is unable to think from sleep deprivation. She's overwhelmed by her new role, musing how pediatricians never ask her name because she's just "Mom." Though her partner, Gabe, is present, he never helps in the night and takes her sacrifices as a given. After another wakeful evening, Amanda leaves her and Gabe's apartment in Queens for her hometown of Deerling, Ohio. On the drive, Amanda is unnerved by Trump signs along the way. She decides to surprise her former best friend, Carrie, with a visit. Carrie gave birth to a daughter, Nina, when she and Amanda were 18, and Amanda was at Carrie's side for Nina's birth but left soon after. Now Carrie is a sought-after tattoo artist, and Nina is nearly 13. Carrie would like to leave Republican Ohio, but she has a thriving business and doesn't know where she would go. Meanwhile, Carrie helps Amanda rediscover herself, and after befriending Nina, Amanda begins to see she can handle being a mother. Adrian's portrayal of the ups and downs of motherhood will resonate with readers.
Customer Reviews
One boy, two girls
4 stars
Best friends. Inseparable. One boy. Both attracted to said boy. Only one ends up moving to New York and living with him. Carrie is left behind. Carrie who had a baby at 18 and has managed to become a sought after tattoo artist with a beautiful, but strongwilled almost-teenage girl. Amanda. Amanda gave up her hopes and dreams and moved into a dorm room with the boy. Living vicariously through his college years. Amanda, who now at 31 has had his baby.
Everything she ever wanted, right?
Until Amanda flees New York City one day with baby Jack and lands on Carrie’s doorstep. Carrie. Best friend. Somewhat estranged for a while now. Carrie is the only one whom Amanda thinks can help her get through this postpartum nightmare she is living. The boy, Gabe, was left behind in New York City. No idea where Amanda actually is, other than knowing she fled home to Ohio. The question is, will she ever return?
Fantastic story about three people who have been intertwined for years, but have never come to terms with some issues in their relationship. I absolutely loved Carrie. Tough. Determined. Resilient. For me, Amanda came off as rather whiny and difficult, even though I’ve been where she is. Gabe was kind of an enigma. Or maybe that’s just his carefree way of living. No matter, the story is one that links together people and brings a few surprises along the way.
Gotta say, I wish this story would go on. I want to know where all five of these people land in a few years. This is a good one!