Love All: A Novel by Callie Wright

(Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book!)

about book:


In the spring of 1994 in Cooperstown, New York, Joanie Cole, beloved matriarch of the Obermeyer family, unexpectedly dies in her sleep.  Her passing forces her husband, Bob, to move in with daughter Anne, her husband Hugh, and their two children, Teddy and Julia.  With three generations of the family under one roof for the first time—and each member hiding secrets from the others—tensions run high.  Adding to the family’s troubles, Anne cleans out her parent’s home and finds a battered copy of The Sex Cure, a thinly veiled roman à clef from the 1960s.  With the rediscovery of this scandalous book (the real life publication of which shook the small village of Cooperstown) the family’s secrets come rushing to the surface.  

Love All is an addictive and moving debut about love, fidelity, sports, and growing up when you least expect it.

my thoughts:

Get thee to a bookstore and pick up a copy of Callie Wright's fantastic debut novel, Love All.  Believe you me, you will be so happy you did.  I'm serious!  This book is EXCELLENT!!!  It is a compelling, character-driven novel about a dysfunctional family that you won't want to stop reading about.  Or at least, I didn't want to stop.  I found myself easily engaged with each character as I learned more and more about their worries, problems, and pasts.  It was hard to tear myself away at times (like when I had to eat, sleep, work), because I wanted to keep reading and find out what was going to happen to the Obermeyers - I was hooked!

Love All is the perfect book to escape into.  It is the story of an everyday family living their messy lives in a small town called Cooperstown. We have a workaholic mother, a cheating husband, a lovesick teenager, a moody grandfather, and a teenager afraid of leaving the comforts of home for college.  It pretty much resembles a typical family (well, except for the cheating spouse I would hope).  However, that is what makes this book so intriguing - you could be reading about your own family or your friends.  Of course, I doubt that any of us have to deal with a book being written about any of our sordid affairs, right?  Well, unfortunately for Anne's parents' they did.  You see, when Anne was a kid, her father was a bit of a ladies man and it wasn't a secret from his wife. And it just so happened that an author who knew the gossip of the town wrote a tell-all book titled, The Sex Cure.  Marriages were ruined, people left town, the author's house was vandalized, and mistrust ran amok as a result of this book.  However, Anne's dad was lucky, because none of his affairs were called out in the book.  Except that he wasn't that lucky.  This book instigated an uncomfortable time for him at home with his family and he hated the book for it.  So, when the book shows up nearly thirty years later in his granddaughter's hands, well, lets just say that things go from okay to worse mighty fast.

Now, I know that I didn't really divulge any major details about the story lines, but that's because I didn't want to ruin anything for you.  I just really think that this is the type of book you have to read for yourself to find out what happened - its such a worthwhile read.  And, believe me, you are going to love this book.  So, definitely go out and get yourself a copy of Callie Wright's novel, Love All.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this fantastic book!