All That Life Can Afford: Reese's Book Club
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4.0 • 623 Ratings
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
A REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK
“An effervescent debut chock full of Austenian nods. Swoonworthy!” —Sarah McCoy, New York Times bestselling author of Mustique Island
“All That Life Can Afford is about love, ambition, and the cost of belonging, and I cannot stop thinking about it.” —Reese Witherspoon
A young American woman navigates class, lies, and love amid London’s jet-set elite.
I would arrive, blank like a sheet of notebook paper, and write myself new.
Anna first fell in love with London at her hometown library—its Jane Austen balls a far cry from her life of food stamps and hand-me-downs. But when she finally arrives after college, the real London is a moldy flat and the same paycheck-to-paycheck grind—that fairy-tale life still out of reach.
Then Anna meets the Wilders, who fly her to Saint-Tropez to tutor their teenage daughter. Swept up by the sphinxlike elder sister, Anna soon finds herself plunged into a heady whirlpool of parties and excess, a place where confidence is a birthright. There she meets two handsome young men—one who wants to whisk her into his world in a chauffeured car, the other who sees through Anna’s struggle to outrun her past. It’s like she’s stepped into the pages of a glittering new novel, but what will it cost her to play the part?
Sparkling with intelligence and insight, All That Life Can Afford peels back the glossy layers of class and privilege, exploring what it means to create a new life for yourself that still honors the one you’ve left behind.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
A flawed, ambitious, and utterly relatable woman tries to find her way in this sharp coming-of-age story. Anna, an American from an underprivileged background, moves to London to pursue a master’s degree and try to build the life she’s always fantasized about. After taking a job tutoring the daughter of a wealthy family, she’s suddenly thrust into a glittering world of luxury, parties, and quiet power, where she meets the incredibly handsome Callum and charming womanizer Theo. But it’s not all smooth sailing, and cracks quickly begin to appear. We loved the glamorous, ultra-rich depictions of life in London and the south of France and the fun references to classic British literature. The whole novel is like a modern retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, with the high-low juxtaposition of Anna’s situation and themes of class and privilege. If you love the incisive social commentary of Sally Rooney’s novels or the intoxicating hedonism of The Talented Mr. Ripley, Emily Everett’s observant debut novel is absolutely for you.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Everett debuts with an exquisite retelling of Pride and Prejudice, about an American tutor in contemporary Europe. Raised working-class in Northampton, Mass., Anna Byrne wins a full scholarship to the town's elite Smith College. Soon after graduating, her mother dies, and Anna, despite her father's disapproval, moves to London to pursue a master's in literature. Her job as an SAT prep tutor introduces her to 16-year-old Pippa, whose mother invites Anna to their Saint-Tropez home over the Christmas break. Among Pippa's older sister Faye's friends are the dashing and brooding Callum and the gallant and attentive Theo. In France, Faye's buddies treat Anna as "the help," but back in London, Theo introduces her to his cohort as a friend. This lie of omission, which Anna does nothing to correct, leads to serious trouble. Callum, who comes from humble Portuguese roots, is consistently kind and honest to Anna and, like Mr. D'Arcy, looks askance on her eventual romance with Theo, a two-timing cad. Much of the deceptively breezy narrative unfolds against a backdrop of lush scenery and lavish dinners and parties. Along the way, Everett sharply conveys Anna's acute and sometimes self-destructive longing for acceptance. This erudite romance is deeply satisfying.
Customer Reviews
Loved it
Nods to Jane Austen, a modern day retelling of Pride and Prejudice, in a way. Loved it.
Eye roll
Silly and predictable, a Jane Austin plot hiding in plain sight. Skip this one.
Great Read
Lovely book, couldn’t put it down because it checked all the boxes: Travel & adventure, friendship & romance, Jane Austen drama in modern day London (and other cities), etc. Loved it!