From my blog: Always With a Book

I was thrilled when Cindy from the Thoughts of a Page Podcast selected this book for her Patreon group to read early as I had already had my eye on it. I mean, let’s just look at the great cover – it certainly is eye-catching and I was so excited to know that I would have a group to discuss this with once I read it.

I am a huge fan of the book-within-a-book trope and I just loved how it played out here. Add in the NYC/Long Island settings and this reader was one happy gal. Even with characters that you aren’t quite sure if you should like or not, I found myself invested in this story, with that air of intrigue as to just what was really going on. Family dramas are always a huge win for me and this one was filled with just that. These characters we get to meet here are so flawed and messy that you can’t help but want to spend the time it takes to really get to know them and find what it is that motivates them to make the decisions they do, whether you agree with their decisions or not.

This is a layered story that delves into quite a few topics that just beg to be discussed, really making it a great book choice for book clubs. It’s not necessarily a fast-paced story, but if you like character-driven stories with a little scandal, some family drama and dysfunction, a bit of social commentary and characters that just beg to be picked apart, this one is for you! This is Leigh Abramson’s debut novel and I think she did remarkably well with it and will definitely be keeping an eye out for what comes next from her!

The Manning‘s are not your typical family or maybe they are. I come from a dysfunctional family of three too, but maybe just maybe I can be grateful that neither of my parents was a self absorbed writer.

Make no mistake Ward is that famous writer. People heap praise on him and his wife Claire knows that his writing and public adulation will always come first. Claire and their daughter Isabelle make a nice backdrop and paint a pretty picture of Ward’s home life. But they do say a picture is worth 1000 words and rest assured, Ward will indeed have his version preplanned to accompany every documented scene. If it sounds like I didn’t think much of him, you are 100% correct. The world according to Ward is one where is his family, fans, and the people who publish his work all rotate around him like planets around the sun. Claire is smart and kind but made the mistake of trusting and marrying someone who always has the words to spin a tale in ways that benefit him. I liked this character a lot, but I did feel that she made many,many flawed decisions.
Then there is Isabelle, their daughter. A little girl who was tried it out when it benefited ward and who grew up in titled with a skewed view of the world. When her dreams of being a successful author do not go as she planned, it becomes rather hard to like this character. She has been given every advantage But instead of using them she envies others. Secrets and lies are revealed throughout this book and her choices and decisions will define the rest of her life.
Ward,Claire,Isabelle, and Brian each share their POV. Brian is enamored with Isabelle even though she has never truly been a very good friend. I probably liked and rooted for his character the most and I had my fingers crossed the whole time I was reading A Likely Story that he would break free from Isabelle. Approaching spoiler territory so I’m not gonna say anymore about whether he does or does not.
This is the first book since I came home from the hospital that I managed to stay up past the extremely early bedtime reading,that’s been ruling my life. I was starting to think the doctors did more than fix my defective heart valve. I feared somehow they mistakenly removed my constant reader gene too( I’ve still got it!). This truly dysfunctional family had few redeeming qualities and I yelled at my Kindle more than once. But I cared about what would be revealed,and how the story would end,and that was a beautiful thing. A winner for me. Also, am I the only one who gets super excited when they find the title in the book? Especially when I go aha, that’s what it meant. 4.5 stars.

Ward Manning is a literary icon hailed by most as a writing genius and has the ego to back that up! A narcissist who thinks the world of himself. Absolutely unlikable! Ugh.
His wife (who I liked:) has died and he and his daughter, Isabelle (quite unlikable too) and an aspiring writer herself are left coping with all the changes that follow her death.
Alternating POV’s and time periods really kept my interest. An interesting novel within a novel that was skillfully written. I enjoyed how the secrets of the characters are revealed. Also an interesting look at the publishing world and the process of writing and how it can bring such angst and inner turmoil. Another novel that captivated me from the beginning and that I read through at top speed. Recommend!
4/5

*many thanks to @netgalley and @atriabooks for the advance copy of A Likely Story in exchange for an honest review.

The two characters that are real and likable are Glenda and Brian.
I didn’t care for either Ward or Isabelle. They both mooched off Claire’s talent and generosity while being self centered.
The narrative of the novel is very slow and the tempo never really picks up.

All of us aspiring writers want to make our way to the top of the best-sellers list, right? But for Isabelle Manning, whose father Ward Manning was a best-seller before she was even born, that is the only option; to simply be published with minor fanfare is not an option.

I was glad to be reading A Likely Story on my Kindle so that I could highlight all of the spot-on lines about writing and others about being a mother.

No one in my house has been sleeping well these past few weeks and I found myself reading this book a few pages at a time -- not the way I'd recommend reading it. The writing is so rich and the details so poignant, but the plot points take a while to develop. This is definitely a wonderful character study, and if you stick around long enough and you'll get a fair amount of scandal and family drama. 

I found so many of the characters unlikeable, but for realistic reasons, I found myself so angry at the things they did, but because it was so well-written. I think it would make for a good book club pick because there's a lot to discuss.

Many thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy!

A dysfunctional family with so many secrets they don't even know all of them. A magnificent debut with hopes of many more to come.

A dysfunctional family, and secrets…..the plot is solid and well written.
Many thanks to Atria Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This one (as several titles I have read recently do) falls into the "rich people behaving badly". The writing is great, but there is not really a likeable character in the bunch, leaving me wanting for something. Interestingly, a minor character seems to have been created to explain the lives of the elite as an outsider, and he is of course the most poorly treated of the bunch. And the biggest narcissists realize their flaws in the end - which makes a nice wrap up, but hardly seemed believable.

This was an intriguing debut! I really loved the book within a book plot and also enjoyed the multiple point of views. The book was a bit slow to start for me and one of the characters was incredibly unlikeable, but I enjoyed the themes of second chances and family secrets. I am looking forward to reading more from Leigh McMullan Abramson. If you love family drama I think you’ll like this one!

3.5 stars

Thank you @netgalley and @atria books for the early copy!

This enjoyable read has many multi-faceted characters. The author intertwines them in mostly humorous ways. I felt like I wanted to move next door to the brownstone that is the central setting of the story and sit downstairs for a drink or two. I love the way each character evolves. I would say it’s like an onion as the outer layers are peeled away and we find the core resilience of each one.
Each character is unique, yet very relevant to our modern times. Some of her nods to social media and television show , actually made me laugh out loud.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the copy of A Likely Story by Leigh McMullan Abramson. Isabelle is an aspiring writer living in the shadow of her father, a famous author. This would be fun for a book club because discussing the characters and what they did, and if they were justified would be interesting. I enjoyed the story within the story, and I’m not sure why that reveal took so long. I’m not sure all readers will be willing to wait for it. This isn’t a thriller that needed a ‘twist’. The story was intriguing, but it took too long to get to the point, and parts could have been omitted or edited down. I loved the writing and it carried me through the slow beginning. The very end felt like it was too easy, and really let the characters avoid growth. Still I enjoyed reading this book!This was a promising debut, and I look forward to more books by the author.

First, thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for my ARC.
Honesty is always the best policy, right? Ok, here goes.
This book started out rather boring, incredibly wordy, and completely all over the place. There were many times that I had to reread because what was happening was so incredibly random that I thought I had skipped a paragraph. The storyline got a touch better, but I found the “big secret” lacking in shock factor to be kept all the way until the last half of the book. This one fell pretty flat for me. I hated the book within a book concept, and thought there were too many tangents and unnecessary little stories or details.
Isabelle is the daughter of a famous writer who is trying to break off into her own career after losing her mother. The story follows Isabelle through her turbulent past, while she learns who she is as a person.

Thank goodness for Claire..one of the only really likable characters in the book. What is it like to live with someone who’s ego leaves virtually no oxygen in the room for anyone else? The author explores this in relation to famed literary writer Ward and his relationships with his wife and his daughter. The use of the book with the book added a depth to the story that was much appreciated. Lots of white privilege to explore here in all its ugliness. Good

A Likely Story is an intriguing debut novel from author Leigh McMullan Abramson. It tells the story of a family, spanning decades and moving seamlessly from present to past. The book is beautifully written, despite the main characters, a father and daughter, being decidedly unlikeable. Even in their shortcomings, you find yourself hoping for the best. From start to finish, this book is interesting and well-paced; it keeps wondering what will happen next, and how it will end. The struggle to find oneself in the shadow of someone else’s unearned and overblown ego is overpowering and raw, and while all is not completely well in the end, it all felt very real. This book is a must-read!

Special thanks to Net Galley and Atria Publishing for providing me an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest opinion!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Atria Books.

Isabelle wants nothing more than to be a published author worthy of her father’s attention. He is Ward Manning, after all. A famed writer, surrounded by the glamour of success, Isabelle has dreamed of being like him. But after her mother Claire dies, she struggles to find herself amidst her previous failings. And behind the facade, Ward himself is not all he’s cracked up to be either.

I’ll be totally honest, I struggled with this one. There are four different POVs - Isabelle, Ward, her best friend Brian, and Claire’s past backstory. Plus there are interspersed sections of an unknown book draft. I just kept thinking, there has to be a reason for all of this. It just wasn’t holding my attention, and I thought about DNFing, but I had to believe that there was a point.

However, the point came far too late, and was very lackluster for me. Ward and Isabelle were both really unlikeable, in a very “I’m rich but you should pity me” kind of way. Brian as a POV never really made sense to me. If that was supposed to be a focal point, I feel like either Brian or Ward should’ve been more developed and the other one cut as a narrator.

Ward is the hottest literary author in the country. He’s now almost 80, trying to write what is likely his final book. And he’s struggling. Isabelle, his daughter, longs to follow in the footsteps of her famous father, but she’s having a tough time getting her manuscript out in the world. After her mother passes away, Isabelle uncovers secrets about her revered parents. Has everything she’s known been a lie?

Some readers may find the novel-within-a-novel plot and the multiple perspectives confusing. I found the clever structure interesting and unique. The characters are not all likable, but they reminded me of real people.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and plan to recommend it to my community.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and Net Galley for a digital review copy of this novel.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC

I actually enjoyed this book. It's an interesting take on "behing every good man is a better woman", although the man in question is absolutely vile and he absolutey own his entire life to the woman behind him.

This book is told from multiple perspectives across multiple timelines and genres, and ends up giving the idea of art imitating life interesting meaning. I enjoyed the story and the characters, although the ending seemed a little rushed and too neat. I'm looking forward to seeing what else this author comes out with.

3 1/2 stars

Sigh. So promising but a miss for me. I love books about writers and the wealthy and characters with secrets … but this was a miss. I don’t get it. I don’t get the characters - shallow and unexplained doing things that didn’t make sense. The author didn’t create any compassion or even interest in any of them. Story lines came and went without resolving. The plot was ridiculous. Unbelievable. Silly. What a mess. I hate writing this review. I had HIGH HOPES. Thanks to Atria for sending me an advanced arc.

This book seemed super promising, but I could not get through it. The main characters were terrible people. It flipped flopped between timelines AND a draft of a story Claire writes and eventually Isabelle writes, that I got lost what I was actually reading and forgot what happened previously. DNF. I honestly don’t recommend this book to anyone.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC of this book.

I love a) books about books/writers, b) novels set in New York, and c), character-driven stories involving family drama, so when I heard A LIKELY STORY by Leigh McMullan Abramson had d) all of the above, I knew there was a pretty good chance I was going to love it. 

Isabelle Manning, daughter of beloved author Ward Manning, wants nothing more than to publish her own novel, and make a name for herself in the literary world her father has dominated for decades. Meanwhile, Ward is crippled with fear that he’s at the end of his career, and is grappling with the worry that he’s soon to become irrelevant after declining sales. When Claire, Isabelle’s mother and Ward’s wife, suddenly dies, Isabelle learns some shocking truths about her parents. 

Given that this book hits on so many of the things I love in a novel, I had pretty lofty expectations. Luckily, this novel largely lived up to those high hopes! I particularly liked the way the novel plays with form: there are 4 separate POVs, alternating timelines, and a book-within-a-book. For someone who loves books about books and writers, the book-within-a-book format often gives me pause, but I have to say, this might be the best use of it I’ve read in a while. It’s hard to talk about exactly why it was so effective without spoiling the entire story, and it really comes into its own in the second half of the novel.

Onto the characters! Most of them (except for my girl Claire!) are pretty awful. Ward is equal parts pompous and insecure, but you're meant to hate him, so it works. Isabelle is also frustrating, but Abramson tactfully explores how her relationship with her father turned her into someone so desperate for notoriety and literary fame. 

This book is a bit slow to start. The plot takes some time to ramp up, and, although I’m fine with unlikable characters, they certainly requires some patience. Otherwise, I thought this was a very strong debut that I’d recommend to anyone who loves family dramas and books about the literary world (all of those details really made this book SING for me).