I enjoyed this book. Maybe not as much as Napolitano's Hello Beautiful, but it was still a good solid read.

This revolves around a large Irish American family and all their dysfunctional messiness. Lots of issues to explore here...pregnancies, mental health, physical disabilities, alcoholism, abuse (both physical/emotional), sibling rivalries, sex and its meaning and use to individual family members, etc. But I found the overriding theme of an emotionally closed-off family to be the source of most of the dysfunction.

The matriarch, Catharine, is living in an assisted living facility and facing her final years. She decides that she would like to "fix" her family's emotional distance before she dies. But this distance is something she's been guilty of herself, and the reader is shown her past (alcoholic/controlling husband, constant pregnancies, heartbreaking losses) to shine a light on her fortitude if not always her emotional presence.

While this focuses mostly on Catharine, her oldest daughter and that daughter's two daughters, it is a melding of generations that is both loving but stunted, close but at a distance, hopeful but at a loss of how to find joy in their lives.

I found this story, while incredibly frustrating at times, to be both sad and uplifting at the same time. There was not a definitive ending, no epilogue to ease the reader's mind. But I felt with this family that was the right fit. I did not necessarily need to know what futures looked like as the author conveyed the sense that whatever would come, the family would muddle through together.

Well done.

My sincere thanks to the author, NetGalley and Random House/Dial Press for providing the free arc of Within Arm's Reach for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

Ann Napolitano’s novel, “Within Arms Reach” deals with generations of dysfunctional family dynamics. The matriarch of this Irish-Catholic clan is haunted by past loss and trauma as she comes to the end of her life, and her children and grandchildren are flailing in all kids of creative ways. The book is plagued by a meandering plot and an ensemble of unmemorable characters. In addition, the story is choppy and lacks focus. I found this book underwhelming — nothing like Napolitano’s wonderful “Dear Edward” and “Hello Beautiful."

A reissue of Ann Napolitano's first book, published in 2004, and it has wonderful connections with her most recent book, Hello Beautiful. I actually read these two books back-to-back, and both center on tight-knit families dealing with secrets and they make a beautiful pair of books to read together. I highly recommend Within Arm's Reach for any Ann Napolitano fan who hasn't read it yet.

I read nearly half of this book and decided not to finish it. It started very strong but then I just didn’t feel like it was going anywhere. I lost interest and started to feel like I was forcing myself to read it.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a review. I really enjoyed this family story. I think the author did a great job of building depth in all three generations of the McLaughlin family. This book at its core is about generational trauma and the ways that families are just individual people who don’t always have the strongest ties. I really enjoyed that each chapter was the perspective of a different family member. With a family this large I was worried it would be confusing, but the author pulled it off well. My only complaint would be that the ending was just a little too abrupt and while I think I understand what the author was going for it still felt slightly unfinished to me.

I didn’t realize this is Ann Napolitano’s earlier book as a re-release.

I love Dear Edward and enjoyed Hello Beautiful, but not sure how I feel about Within Arm’s Reach. I like a good multi-generational dysfunctional family story but this one felt a bit disjointed and kind of left me wondering what the point of the whole story was.

3.5 ⭐️

Ann Napolitano has a way of creating characters both endearing and flawed. This story of the McLaughlin family of New Jersey, told from six points of view, examines the way the strict Irish Catholic upbringing clashes with the actual way lives are lived. The characters love fiercely but have trouble understanding their love. Assisted by ghosts of their ancestors and a tight knit community, both the older generation and the youngest one explore what it means to be part of a family, and how they fit in.

This was actually Napolitano’s debut novel, re-released after the success of Dear Edward and Hello Beautiful. It’s heartbreaking and beautiful.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random house for the review copy. The novel was re-released on April 30, 2024

I didn’t realize this was Ann’s debut novel. A beautiful story of love and loss and life. You can see her growth when you compare it to her two later novels but overall a beautiful first book.

Three generations of Irish American women go through the ups and downs of relationships, motherhood, time and family drama. Love the conclusion giving a beautiful picture of motherhood, family, change and forgiveness.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. o one does family drama quite like Ann Napolitano. And to know this was her 1st book ever written rereleased made my heart so happy,

A treat for the many, many reades who loved Hello, Beautiful, this is apparently the author's first novel, and it has all the same appeal! Three generations of an Irish American family share their challenges, struggles and victories. Heartfelt and engaging, this is one you will be happy to hand to readers.

I had never heard of Ann Napolitano, but I am going to be looking into her other books. Wow! This one was incredible! The setting, the characters, and the storyline were so beautifully put together. I was engulfed from the beginning. It was such a beautifully written story.

Becky, once a respected police officer, sees her life crumble after exposing her husband, John, for a serious crime. However, John faces no repercussions and continues serving in the force. Determined to hold John accountable, Becky embarks on a journey to gather evidence, uncovering shocking truths about her former partner.

Reaching out for help from ex-colleagues Hannah and Charlie, Becky remains steadfast in her pursuit of justice, even in the face of skepticism. As the gripping story unravels, some might feel Becky's recounting of events becomes repetitive, leaving them longing for a swifter momentum.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC!

This was such a beautiful, complicated family story about what it means to be strong vs. weak and the toll it takes to keep emotions in check. I started reading this on Saturday and have not stopped thinking about it since, finding every spare moment I could to read and be with these characters. It ended with some things unresolved but I was happy to imagine my own (happy-ish) endings for the characters. This is the first book I've read by Ann Napolitano and I'm so excited to move to her later works after reading this republished debut. Absolutely read the author's note - it is extraordinary. Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC. This is the third book of Ann Napolitano I have read, I really like her writing and stories. Life is complicated and family is the one constant in our lives. Set in modern day the story is told from different characters point of view. A traditional family and how they rely on or avoid each other and their relationships. We are all molded by trying to live our lives by approval even when we don't realize we are doing it. Definitely recommend!!

I initially had some trouble getting into this book in print so I decided to listen to it on audio and I’m really glad I gave it a chance. Within Arm’s Reach is a reissue of Ann Napolitano’s debut novel that was originally written 20 years ago. It is a lovely story of an Irish American family in suburban New Jersey told from the perspectives of many of the family members. I especially enjoyed the perspectives of Catharine, the grandmother, her daughter Kelly and her son-in-law Louis. The characters of the younger generation, Gracie and Lila, worked less well.
If you like a family story (like The Most Fun we ever Had by Claire Lombardo or Hello Beautiful by Napolitano herself) than this book is definitely worth reading. Thank you to Dial Press and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

After the success of Ann Napolitano's books 'Hello Beautiful' and 'Dear Edward,' it only makes sense that the publishing world would endorse some of her earliest writing. 'Within Arm's Reach' was written over 20 years ago. I enjoyed reading the book from this perspective and seeing how Napolitano has evolved as an author. It did take me a while to get into the book. It dragged in the beginning, but about halfway through, I started to invest more in the characters. I found much of the family dynamics and dysfunction reminiscent of her later works. The ending was a bit disappointing (without revealing any spoilers!), not for what happens but for what remains unsaid. I felt there could have been another few chapters to fully complete each character's arc. Regardless, it is a wonderfully well-thought-out portrayal of the generational issues at play for women and how future generations perceive the past in making their own mark in their family's history.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book.

This is a story about an Irish Catholic American family who live in New Jersey. There are several people in the family and initially I had to revert to the family tree at the beginning of the book. The characters were all different and I found myself wanting to find out how they were going to handle certain situations that were moral or ethical dilemmas. An out of wedlock pregnancy, addiction, sex, and grief are some of the issues.
How each family member responded depended on how they viewed their religion and upbringing and whether or not they were aligned with these values or rebelling against them. This debut novel was very compelling and would be a great read for book clubs.

I love that 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡 𝗔𝗥𝗠'𝗦 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗖𝗛 has its own story outside the plot of the book. Ann Napolitano had huge success with her third and fourth books, 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗘𝗱𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 and 𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼 𝗕𝗲𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘂𝗹, so her publisher rereleased her first novel and I am so glad they did!

This multigenerational family drama about the Irish Catholic McLaughlins featured complicated characters and, as in Napolitano's other books, beautifully examines the challenging dynamics of family relationships. The alternating POVs reveal so much about each person and their experiences as a McLaughlin that you really come to care for them, giant flaws and all. Hearing in the author's note that the story was based on her family made it resonate with me even more.

Clearly I need to read more of my favorite writers' backlists!

Thank you to Dial Press for the copy to review.

Thank you Random House & NetGalley for the ARC!

I am a big fan of Ann Napolitano's work. That said, I think this book was extremely hard to read given where I am in my life. I have an 18 month old daughter with an incredibly rough pregnancy with many scares. This book affected me deeply and skewed my perspective of it. I think this book should come with a trigger warning; as someone with a healthy baby, it still bothered me so many times with the graphic detail.

Thank you again for the ARC!