The Smash-Up

This is a superb, original story which satirises modern America and the life of western society. Admittedly, it’s a slow start - or it certainly was for me - but once you get past the slightly clumsy opening pages, Benjamin’s first novel for adults shows what it can be like to live in a small American town in our modern times.

‘The Smash-Up’ is loosely based on Edith Wharton’s ‘Ethan Frome’. Ethan, the protagonist, is living in western Massachusetts with Zo, his wife, and Alex, their hyperactive, challenging pre-teen. They are dealing with Zo’s involvement in protests, the bitchy nature of Alex’s private school (Rainbow Seed - a great name, indicative of so much about our lives today) and Ethan’s partnership with Randy, an old university friend and colleague. Throw Maddy onto the mix, a lodger-cum-babysitter-cum-love interest, and you have a funny, thought-provoking tale.

I was less keen on the change of perspective at the end but I think it is necessary. I won’t say more about the build-up to this but it’s pretty monumental - you’ll have to read it to find out.

I’ll miss this book - it’s one of those reads that you keep coming back to, wanting to travel the next stage of the journey with the characters, and that’s no bad thing. In fact, it’s very much the mark of a great read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Books for the complimentary advance review copy of this book.
I loved this book. It tells the story of Ethan and Zo, a married couple who moved from New York into the suburbs, and are navigating life with a young daughter. The story weaves in the #MeToo movement, protesting, the digital age, the outcome of the 2016 Presidential Election and the effect it had (and continues to have) on society, societal divides, parenthood, and the fall out from the past catching up with Zo and Ethan. It’s brilliantly written and really engrossing.

A sucker punch from the first page and impossible to put down, "The Smash-Up" is truly something special. It's a commentary for our times; the zeitgeist in book form. It's about the world and marriage, family and friendships, the state of politics. It's about activism and anger - a literary feminist firecracker. Brilliant, brave and current, Benjamin's book beautifully articulates what most of us are thinking. She also presents an unflinchingly honest depiction of living with a child with ADHD and the terror of watching them navigate the world. "The ones who" sections are extremely powerful. Every woman needs an All Them Witches group - a diverse bunch of women coming together for a common goal. I did not expect to end this book in tears yet here we are. And Zo's two book proposals? We need those too. "The Smash-Up" is a phenomenal debut. I read most of it without knowing anything of Edith Wharton's "Ethan Frome" which inspired this novel but it didn't diminish the experience. Read it and pass it on.

The Smash-Up is an intoxicating satirical novel that is sharply perceptive and follows a family that are upended when their small-town life becomes the latest battlefield in the culture wars in this of-the-moment adult debut. Inspired by Edith Wharton’s novella Ethan Frome, it offers the shock of recognition as it deftly illuminates some of the biggest issues of our time. Life for Ethan and Zo (Zenobia) Frome used to be simple; Ethan co-founded a lucrative media marketing start-up, Bränd, and Zo was well on her way to becoming a successful independent filmmaker. Then sixteen years ago they decided to leave the fast-paced lifestyle in Brooklyn, New York and move to the rural community of Starkfield, Massachusetts for a little more tranquility, or so they thought. It's 2018, two years after Donald Trump’s presidential election and the Fromes are now middle-aged; they are more than aware that their family is splintering. The Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings are being aired on television and Zo is barely home as she appears to be increasingly more consumed by political activism. The feminist protest group, All Them Witches, is run from her living room and she is irate over the hearings. Their marriage becomes strained as Zo becomes more distant and enraged and their finances are depleting rapidly yet she insists on rage buying furniture they don't need. This newfound political activism transforms Zo into a barely recognisable ball of outrage.

It isn't long before Ethan unwittingly becomes embroiled in the #MeToo movement when co-founder of his firm, Randy, asks him to help him ensure a Hollywood actress does not disclose her accusations against him else the company may be in jeopardy, which would ensure the residual cheques that the Fromes have been living on cease. Meanwhile, their 11-year-old daughter, Alex, continues to suffer from severe ADHD and coping with her is tough so they hired a live-in babysitter - 20-something Maddy - who Ethan begins lusting after, as if they didn't have enough problems already. The Smash-Up captures the zeitgeist of modern America accurately and with panache and just when you think you know the direction Benjamin is taking the plot she quickly flips the script and shocks you. This a captivating and realistic tale of middle-aged liberal anxiety in small town USA set against the backdrop of the divisive political climate of the time and the disintegration of a family who have grown apart from one another. It's richly described, full of wit and humorous moments, and thought provoking, and I found it is surprisingly rather suspenseful. Woven through the narrative is the sadness, rage and disillusionment of many people in the Trump era. This is a novel that packs a powerful emotional punch as the characters slowly begin to fall apart and the family sadly begins to fracture in a way that ensures they'll never be the same again. An intelligently plotted and compelling debut. Highly recommended.