- Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: Wildfire; 01 edition (9 July 2020)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1472267079
- ISBN-13: 978-1472267078
Synopsis
Finally free from his nightmare marriage, Toby Fleishman is ready for a life of online dating and weekend-only parental duties. But as he optimistically looks to a future that is wildly different from the one he imagined, his life turns upside-down as his ex-wife, Rachel, suddenly disappears. While Toby tries to find out what happened – juggling work, kids and his new, app-assisted sexual popularity – his tidy narrative of a spurned husband is his sole consolation. But if he ever wants to really understand where Rachel went and what really happened to his marriage, he is going to have to consider that he might not have seen it all that clearly in the first place .
Review
Fleishman is in Trouble is the stunning debut novel from Taffy Brodesser-Akner that has been longlisted and shortlisted for nearly every book award. The Fleischman in trouble is Toby, forty one, going through a divorce and loving what the single life has to offer, mainly on dating apps. However, this perfect life is halted when his ex wife suddenly disappears after dropping his children off at his apartment in the early hours without him knowing. As he reflects on his marriage, the good and the bad, he finds himself realising that his recollections may not all be true, that they are coloured by his anger. This honest look at marriage, divorce, parenthood and dating is witty, gritty and full of insight and wisdom.
It is hard to believe that this is Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s debut novel as it is beautifully written with insight, satire, and a rawness that really spoke to me. Toby Flieschman is the central character, but suprisingly not the narrator, his friend Elizabeth narrates in the first person. After reading this I am still not sure if I liked Toby or not, there are times when he really annoyed me with his hang ups and marriage reflections, but then again I loved his devotion to his children and how he realised that he wanted more than just sex from the women he met on the dating apps, he wanted to date them. Taffy Brodesser-Akner uses Toby and his marriage to Rachel to look at how gender roles have changed. Rachel was ambitious and the one who earns the most, who was always late home in the evening, while Toby, a doctor at the local hospital worked his hours so he was always home to relieve the nanny and cook the children’s tea, attend parents evening and any hobbies they had. Toby is resentful of this, feels emasculated, that he had no say in their marriage and didn’t like what the money brought them; the house at the Hamptons, the holidays and the rich friends. The women on the dating apps are also a demonstration of this idea, they are strong, in charage of their own lives and sexuality, comfortable with just having sex with no commitment, and having the self confidence to let men know what they want, an iidea has ususally appropriated to men. In contrast to this, Elizabeth the narrator, complains how hard it is to be a woman in a man’s world, she was a journalist on a men’s magazine and felt she had to work twice as hard. Her marriage is the opposite of Toby’s, she has given up work for the children whilst her husband works, but like Toby she feels she has sacrificed part of herself in the marriage. This certainly gives pause for thought, and an interesting internal debate for the reader about how we see ourself in terms of relationships.
Taffy Brodesser-Akner writes with wonderful wit and understanding of the world we live in. There were many instances that were familiar to my life, especially her observations of the moody teenage daughter,Hannah, what made her moody, the cutting remarks and look of disdain, it brought it all back and had me laughing. Social media is shown in it’s fun side for Toby, who is like a child in a sweet shop at first with all the available women, but there is also the dark side, the pressure on teenagers to do things they never usually would. There are so many anecdotes in this book of living in the modern world, and also a lot of introspection from Toby and Elizabeth, that at times could be annoying, but strangely still engrossing so much so that I still couldn’t put the book down. Interestingly there are no chapters only three parts with Rachel’s side of the story in part three; I was happy to see time given to her story, to even up the narrative.
Fleischmann is in Trouble is an impeccable and accomplished debut from Taffy Brodesser-Akner. The writing is sublime, her understanding of the current climate and the pyschology of her characters and the wit and irony make this such an entertaining and insightful read with pearls of wisdom along the way. After finishing this book I understood why it was put forward for so many awards, it really is magnificent on all levels and I can’t wait to read what she writes next, I think she is going to be an author to watch.
I’d like to thank Anne Cater and Headline Press for my copy of the book in return for my honest opinion.
