This story is an intimate look into family life and the experience of family across multiple generations. Napolitano brings us into the world of the McLaughlins, a complicated Catholic family from New Jersey, and their journey as the family matriarch starts to show her age, the younger generations struggle to meet their family's unrealistic expectations, and a lot of catholic grief weighs down everyone.

I loved Dear Edward and Hello Beautiful so I was thrilled to get an ARC of the reissue of Ann Napolitano's first novel, Within Arm's Reach. It was another excellent family drama. The characters were all very real and their relationships with each other were very believable. I was disappointed in the ending - I wanted a little more closure for each of the characters. Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC.

While most people know the author by her books Hello Beautiful and Dear Edward, my favorite is A Good Hard Look, a biographic novel about Flannery O'Connor. Within Arms Reach, Napolitano's first novel centers on a large Catholic family and their day to day lives from 5 points of view. I often enjoy novels like this where this every life is a blend of the mundane and the extraordinary. There is a pregnancy, a death, coming to terms with old age and conflict between siblings. There is enough to keep the story moving and yet I wasn't fully engaged. I could see the seeds of Hello Beautiful in this novel. Even though this isn't my favorite, If you love this author it is worth giving this book a try.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy for review.

I was excited to read this book after learning that it seemed to be about complex family dynamics, but this is the second Ann Napolitano book I have tried, and respectfully, I just don’t think she’s for me. I got about 45% through this book, and I thought there were too many characters, and I was unable to really connect to any of them in order to feel like I really cared about where their stories were going. I’m sure plenty of people may really enjoy this book - just not really my favorite unfortunately.

Ann Napolitano has a distinct writing style that I really enjoy. Her characters are average people with average problems, but the way she writes their inner dialogue, their hopes and dreams, and their conflicts still makes the mundane so interesting. I think I prefer her writing in the third person a la Hello Beautiful. This is the second novel of hers I have read and I look forward to reading more!

Within Arm’s Reach is a painful and lovely story about family. The book is narrated by different family members so you get to see what each one is thinking and feeling. There’s a few surprises mixed in there and at times you’re left wondering what certain people are thinking. This book feels like real life. We don’t always make the right choices. Life is messy.
Family is tough.
I love Ann Napolitano and recommend her to everyone.

I didn’t realize this at first but this novel is a re-release of a previously published book, much earlier in the author’s career. I love Ann Napolitano’s writing and this book is no different. The writing is there, for sure, but the level of frustration with the characters who were vague, unknowable and made unfathomable decisions was extreme. The characters in Hello Beautiful were so much more deftly handled than in the book. So while the writing is lovely, I’m not sure I would recommend it to fans of her other work. I received a digital copy of the book from the publisher through NetGalley.

This is a a very multifaceted family drama with some absolutely strong characters. I sometimes struggled with the sheer number of people to keep track of but still loved seeing how far Ann’s writing has come, she really has flourished since this debut.

3.5 stars. I love Ann's writing and how we as readers get to know so many nuanced characters. They are like us - flawed, imperfect. These characters were particularly eccentric and handled an unexpected pregnancy, grief, and love in such fascinating ways. I love a good family drama and stories told in multiple perspectives! I would have rated higher if we weren't left with so many open-ended questions.

I love a good multi-generational family drama. I sympathized with the matriarch of this large Irish-Catholic family. She has endured so much during her life and invested so much in the well being of her family. She has the respect of her children and grandchildren, but just wants to make sure that she is still around to see her first great-grandchild come into the world and be taken care of well.

There are a lot of complex sibling relationships, parental regrets, and even infidelity. There were several situations that were left hanging at the abrupt end, but I understand the significant plot of at a climax and point of closure. The author let's us into the minds of so many various characters of all ages and genders and is truly talented at expressing interiority.

I think the reading of this book started off kind of slow to explain who everyone was and their backstories, but from the midpoint to the end, I was invested and much more intrigued and read much more quickly.

As I read this novel, I was so enchanted by the family central to the story. It is told from the point of views of multiple narrators over the course of about a year in their lives. After I finished it, I learned it was Ann Napolitano's debut novel which first appeared 20 years ago...my guess is it went through some rewrites and editing. There were moments where I could see the close knit sister relationships you find in Hello Beautiful. I also took a shine to the novel as it takes place in Ramsey, NJ which is a few towns away from where I grew up and I know the town quite well. I am so glad I got to read this one!

Thank you Random House for the invitation to review Ann Napolitano's Within Arm's Reach (release of her first book). I love Napolitano's writing and that is what stands out here along with her ability to open up complicated, and at times messy and chaotic, family relationships (see Hello Beautiful). This first book works for those reasons, her writing always shines as does her ability to offer characters who aren't easy to love but are worthy of a good story in the hands of a talented writer. Within Arm's Reach is an examination of the messy love that is a part of big families and a lot of the themes on not diving into emotions, not really sharing true feelings, or putting the best face forward, yeah I get that. It's honest and I connected with a lot of those themes and I appreciated that Napolitano captured that kind of family dynamic without making it filled with unlovable or hard to connect with characters.

This was a re-release, it is a great family story. Most of the characters are unlikeable and each have issues. It was a good story, but at some points did not keep my attention.
3 star

The re-release of Napolitano’s debut novel Within Arm’s Reach originally published twenty years ago shows the origins of the author’s natural ability to tell the story of a family. In this instance the grandmother character is based on her own grandmother and the number of children she had. It is an Irish American family in which a single 29 year old granddaughter has become pregnant out of wedlock. While this may have been shame inducing in 1980s Ireland it didn’t quite fit the less strict society within the United States.

This novel features a fair amount of family members and a few extra characters but I was able to hold most of them in memory with the assistance of a family tree at the beginning. I found myself well engaged with the story for the most part while losing a bit of steam at the end.

Grandmother Catharine’s visions of people passed worked for me because of mumblings of my own father in his dying days.

Overall, I am happy to have read Napolitano’s debut and will continue to follow this author’s work after especially loving Dear Edward and Hello Beautiful. While it is clear that the author has grown in her ability to tell a story, it is also certain that she was developing a talent she has always had.

Thank you to @netgalley and @dialpress / @randomhouse for an ARC of this re-release in exchange for my honest opinions. Within Arm’s Reach returns to shelves on April 30, 2024.

Ann Napolitano has a gift of sharing the beautiful but sometimes difficult inter workings and relationships within families. Catharine is the aging matriarch of an Irish Catholic family of 9 kids since her husband recently died. . Their oldest also died while she was pregnant with the 2nd and she had a set of twins that were stillborn and both these losses left huge scars and holes in her heart. Catharine was largely a caretaker with that many kids and starts to feel that her family has fallen apart especially when one of her unwed granddaughters becomes pregnant until she sees that the baby might be the tie that binds them again.

I was always jealous of my friends who had large families even though they would tell me of the chaos, factions, and arguments that occur with a lot of siblings. Catharine’s family is no different - they are full of drama, resentments and words that should and should not have been spoken. Fictional drama based on real life lessons in love and the family ties that bind us.

Thank you to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC! #NetGalley #WithinARmsReach

Thoroughly engaging, you'll find yourself almost part of this large Irish family as they navigate a surprise pregnancy.

I've only read two other books by Ann Napolitano. I enjoyed the family exploration and the three generations of voices that this story is based on. It is also based on how an unexpected pregnancy affects different family members. Which I thought was an interesting concept. I don't usually read books like this, but it got me to enjoy it. Ann Napolitano's writing style had me engaged and didn't seem slow to me. The mix of emotions that you feel though out this book felt appropriate. If you are a reader that enjoys multi- generational stories this is right up your alley.

I fell in love with Ann Napolitano’s writing while reading Hello Beautiful. When I was offered the chance to read another novel by her, I jumped at the chance. When I first started reading Within Arm’s Reach, I kept thinking these characters were related to the characters in Hello Beautiful. They are not; they just have a similar feel.

I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I did Hello Beautiful. This is understandable because Within Arm’s Reach was Napolitano’s debut novel, written 20 years ago.

This novel is about three generations of an Irish American family told by six different people.
To me, the title is perfect because we all, at times, hope and yearn for something to make us happy, something to connect us all. I believe the grandmother, Catherine, thought that the newest baby coming into the McLaughlin family would bring the family together.

I suggest reading this book first or skipping it and going to later works. But remember, if you have read the author’s latest novels, this is her debut novel, and it’s an impressive first book.

My thanks go to NetGalley, Random House, and the author for my advanced reader’s copy.

Every family I have ever known has seemed somewhat dysfunctional. But the McLaughlins
bring new meaning to the term dysfunctional. Every one of them has issues. And not one of them seems to have any redeeming qualities.

I wanted to like this book. I wanted to like it as much as I did Ann Napolitano's last two books. But, alas, I just couldn't. It wasn't the writing because Ms. Napolitano is a very good writer. It was the story itself. There was so much whining! There were so many miserable people. And as for the story, well, I just kept waiting for something to happen. I wanted a twist or a turn that brought everything together. I wanted something to make me care about these people. But that never happened. The book just made me feel depressed from beginning to end.

This book is based on three generations of Irish American women .there is heartbreak , loss and secrets . It is full of believable characters and situations. I loved this author’s other Two novels and this was no exception