This one just made me love Ann Napolitano more than I already did! When I saw this beautiful cover and realized who the author was, I had to grab it from the bookstore too!

The story is told by three generations of an Irish American family. It is especially about motherhood and how we get so much wrong while trying to do the best thing for our children. We are all navigating our own past family traumas. Ann Napolitano is a master of writing complex families and I love complex families. The messier the better. This story was not quite as developed as Hello Beautiful. It was ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me and Hello Beautiful was ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. That's probably because she's had 20 years to grow as a person and writer between them. But don't get me wrong, I loved it. She is an auto buy author for me! This was a perfect Mother's Day read.

I've enjoyed other books by Napolitano but unfortunately, this was a DNF for me, despite a few attempts to read to give a full-read review. There were a lot of POVs -- 6 is too many to keep track of, especially when most are women -- and it just didn't keep my interest. A bit of a letdown, as I like her writing, but perhaps I'm just not the target audience. Thanks to NetGalley for the copy!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC for review.

I'm a huge fan of Napolitano's novels Dear Edward and Hello Beautiful. I didn't realize until AFTER I finished this novel, that it was actually her first published novel, written 20 years ago. I had a hard time getting invested in this story of a large Irish Catholic family. There were a lot of characters, and I didn't really like most of them. This is a novel about family dynamics, but I feel it ends so suddenly that I didn't feel much resolution.

This is about three generations of a large Catholic family jarred into by an unexpected pregnancy.. The author Ann Napolitano is a poignant reminder of how connected we are to those we love even when we cannot find the words to say it. She did a great job with this book. I highly recommend it. …I enjoyed reading Within Arms Reach. Thanks to NetGalley for the arc.

Reading this book was an immersive experience, rich with traditions and cultural nuances that I found deeply captivating. The author's writing style is nothing short of mesmerizing, weaving a tapestry of vivid imagery and emotional depth that kept me hooked from the first page to the last.

However, I have to admit, the open ending left me feeling a bit unsatisfied. While I understand that life is often ambiguous and people evolve and change, I yearned for a more conclusive resolution. The characters were complex and their actions sometimes baffling, which made it challenging to fully grasp their motivations and transformations. Despite this, I appreciated the realism in their development, acknowledging that people are multi-faceted and often unpredictable.

This book's strengths lie in its beautiful prose and the rich traditions it portrays. It was a journey worth taking, even if the destination was not as clear-cut as I would have liked. The experience of reading it was rewarding, and I look forward to exploring more works by this talented author.

Not my favorite of Napolitano's, and I am a major fan of her work. But I can see why they reissued it. It deals with such great themes and has great character development. If you're a fan of Ann you must read it to see her debut novel and how's she progressed overtime.

I struggled a bit with this one. I loved Hello Beautiful and the writing and prose were captivating. While reading Within Arms Reach, I kept waiting for something to happen, and it really never did. This one was a DNF for me, unfortunately. I really had high hopes for this one!

I loved Dear Edward and Hello Beautiful, so I was thrilled to read Napolitano's next book. The writing is beautiful, but the story is lacking. In the end, I found myself asking, what was the point?
Thank you, NetGalley, for an advanced copy of this novel.

Family dynamics are often complex and the family portrayed in this novel is most certainly not an exception to that . Inspired by stories of her mother’s “large Irish Catholic family”, Ann Napolitano’s debut novel has a big cast of characters . At times it felt like maybe too many . The first person narratives from six characters are intimate and telling not just about themselves, but about extended family and the people in their lives. Three generations as well as a sixth point of view from a person connected to them in the present and the past. An unwed pregnancy, an accidental death, infidelity, things we can understand and maybe relate to are some of the things the characters experience .

I loved her later novels:Dear Edward and Hello Beautiful, both 5 star reads for me, but I didn’t connect with this one. In all fairness, it is her debut novel which was published twenty years ago and the other novels are fine examples of an author’s growth. I liked this one, but didn’t love it.

In her notes, Napolitano says, “The publication of Within Arm's Reach felt like official permission for me to write another book, which was all I wanted to do.” Even though this is not my favorite of hers , I’m glad that her writing it moved her to write the two others I loved . My recommendation would be to read those.


I received a copy of this book from Dial Press through NetGalley

A bit underwhelming after reading Napolitano's more recent works. Ultimately the members of the family are just trying to find their own happiness as most of them are dissatisfied with their current trajectories. However, there are a lot of characters to keep track of and many make questionable and confusing decisions that seem to worsen their situation.

I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in the concept. I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not skim your book and write a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.

thank you netgalley for the free e-arc. i'm confused, why is this being marketed as a new book when it's a republicated version of the book that came out in 2004? her writing is very beautiful and well-done but i guess i don't like what napolitano writes about, because i also did not like dear edward.

I really enjoyed this.

It was actually my first Ann Napolitiano book and I must say I'm eager to read Dear Edward next. Without spoiling anything, I found this book sweet and sad. A complex story that navigates family dynamics from a range of narrative viewpoints.

4/5

It’s interesting to see an authors growth, here is an early novel by a beloved writer that has risen in the ranks as a thoughtful, interpretative scribe. The story’s center is an unplanned pregnancy in a large Catholic family. There are four girls in early womanhood who are learning to deal with life and all the bumps in the road. Gracie is the sister who’s pregnancy is the catalyst for a whirlpool of emotions and resolutions that drive this exercise in human drama.

I’ll admit right from the start that I really struggled with this one. Normally, I love Ann Napolitano’s work, but this book is my least favorite. I had a hard time connecting with the characters because they were all very annoying, and I couldn’t find one with any redeeming qualities. But the worst part for me was the ending because it felt rushed, and it ended in kind of a cliffhanger. We never find out what happened to any of the characters and there’s no definite conclusion. No explanation. No epilogue. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Did any of the relationships survive? Did Gracie have a boy or girl? Did Katherine die? These were just some of the questions left bouncing around my brain after such an abrupt ending. I rarely give books three star ratings because I normally don’t finish a book I can’t get interested in after the first few chapters, but I love Ann Napolitano so I hung in there to the very end. If you love stories about dysfunctional families then you might enjoy this one, but I can’t in good conscience recommend it.

I liked this book, I liked the characters I liked the writing. I really liked going back in time with an established writer to an earlier time in her art. It felt more raw but not less in any way. The only thing that kept it from being 5 stars for me is how abruptly it stopped. I actually might have preferred some tragic symmetry of like maybe Catherine actually dying right after she meets the baby or less tragic a big confrontation in the hospital where everyone speaks their truth and finds a little healing. Even an epilogue from Catherine's funeral or something from the future adult Gracie's baby. Just a little more. I like my books tied up neatly.

Ann Napolitano's characters are so beautifully portrayed and seem so real to me. This early book was re-released, and I'm glad it was. At the heart of the story is three generations of the Mclaughlin family. The plot is told by several characters and includes back stories and the now of their interactions, conflicts, and relationships. I found the characters compelling and heartfelt., uniquely flawed and very human. This is the third of Napolitano's books I have read, and it won't be the last. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Ann Napolitano has become one of my favorite authors. I really enjoyed this book and will recommend it often.

Narrated by 6 different members of the intergenerational McLaughlin family, this story grabbed me from its opening, "My grandmother gave birth often" and held me captivated to the very end. This is the third book I've read by this impressive author, and I can't believe it was her first. As Irish-American as this family is, I'm sure readers of many different backgrounds can relate to their psychological struggle on some level. I certainly did.

Gracie and Lila are sisters in their 20s, unwilling housemates at odds. Their parents Kelly and Louis, unbeknownst to their daughters, are also co-residing in unresolved silence. The "nervous, awkward, quiet" McLaughlins of Ramsey, NJ may pride themselves on "being polite, mannerly, and tough"; but their isolation and years of emotional avoidance has rendered them incapable of communicating effectively. As Catherine the 79-yr old matriarch's health declines, years of strife, compartmentalization, long-held resentments and extreme personality traits, all come to a head at a family gathering. But as ugly secrets and imperfections are revealed, rather than leading to earth-shattering disaster and hellfire, might it be that tolerance and acceptance and inner peace could prevail?

This is a re-issue of Ann’s book, first published in 2004. Ann’s two recent major blockbusters have spoiled us readers- Hello Beautiful and Dear Edward. Please consider that she could write something this good so early in her career, twenty years before she became so popular.
The plot of this story is one she writes so well: generations of family going through life, but told with a microscopic eye on emotions and unsaid words. Where does she get the ideas for the various families she’s peeled open and revealed to us in all their pain and honesty?
Gracie, who was my favorite character, is unmarried and pregnant with no plans to marry. The only family member who seems to understand is the one everyone was afraid to tell- her grandmother, Catherine. Gram is dying, but with the new pregnancy, no one seems to remember.
Gracie’s parents and the rest of the McLaughlin family are a beehive of emotions, especially Lila, the sister, who's forced to move in with Gracie for strictly financial reasons.
Ann Napolitano takes a fairly normal family and shows the reader that we all, no matter how calm our lives appear, have binding secrets, blind faith, and good in each of us.
Thanks so much to Dial Press Trade Paperback, for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. The publishing date was April 30, 2024.