Staff Pick
Linda Holmes has managed to bottle the acuity and camaraderie of her podcast — Pop Culture Happy Hour — and infuse it into an endearing group of characters who use it to bear real challenges with grace. Even in this generous novel, there are problems that can’t be solved with witty banter and trenchant observations, but they are mercifully few. Recommended By Keith M., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
From the host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast comes a heartfelt debut about the unlikely relationship between a young woman who’s lost her husband and a major league pitcher who’s lost his game.
“A quirky, sweet, and splendid story of a woman coming into her own.” — Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times bestselling author of Daisy Jones and the Six
In a sleepy seaside town in Maine, recently widowed Eveleth “Evvie” Drake rarely leaves her large, painfully empty house nearly a year after her husband’s death in a car crash. Everyone in town, even her best friend, Andy, thinks grief keeps her locked inside, and Evvie doesn’t correct them.
Meanwhile, in New York City, Dean Tenney, former Major League pitcher and Andy’s childhood best friend, is wrestling with what miserable athletes living out their worst nightmares call the “yips”: he can’t throw straight anymore, and, even worse, he can’t figure out why. As the media storm heats up, an invitation from Andy to stay in Maine seems like the perfect chance to hit the reset button on Dean’s future.
When he moves into an apartment at the back of Evvie’s house, the two make a deal: Dean won’t ask about Evvie’s late husband, and Evvie won’t ask about Dean’s baseball career. Rules, though, have a funny way of being broken — and what starts as an unexpected friendship soon turns into something more. To move forward, Evvie and Dean will have to reckon with their pasts — the friendships they’ve damaged, the secrets they’ve kept — but in life, as in baseball, there’s always a chance — up until the last out.
A joyful, hilarious, and hope-filled debut, Evvie Drake Starts Over will have you cheering for the two most unlikely comebacks of the year — and will leave you wanting more from Linda Holmes.
Review
“The charm of Holmes’s novel comes not only from...watching amiable Evvie stumble through the process of finding herself in a realistic way. A warm and funny book that will utterly captivate fans of Abbi Waxman and Taylor Jenkins Reid.” Booklist (Starred Review)
Review
“Despite the kernel of sadness rooted at the novel’s core, Evvie Drake Starts Over is a feel-good read that radiates warmth. Holmes nails the balance between romance and humor, with Evvie and Dean’s effortless and truly funny dialogue being a particular strength….Uplifting and life-affirming, Evvie Drake Starts Over is a perfect choice for fans of Rainbow Rowell and Marian Keyes.” BookPage (Starred Review)
Review
"At times deeply emotional yet sometimes extremely humorous, this is a satisfying crowd-pleaser.” Publishers Weekly
Review
"Evvie Drake Starts Over is what happens when great writing, complex and charming characters, and a not-quite-what-you-expect ending collide....Much more than just another romantic comedy.” Karen White, New York Times bestselling author of Dreams of Falling
About the Author
Linda Holmes is a pop culture correspondent for National Public Radio and the host of the podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour, which has held sold-out live shows in New York, Los Angeles, Washington, and elsewhere. She appears regularly on NPR’s radio shows including Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition. Before NPR, she wrote for New York magazine online and for TV Guide, as well as for the influential website Television Without Pity. In her free time, she watches far too many romantic comedies, bakes bread, watches her nephews get taller, and recently knitted her first hat.
Linda Holmes on PowellsBooks.Blog
Evvie Drake Starts Over is steeped in my love of Maine’s MidCoast region, my love of baseball, my love of weird entertainment that happens between innings of baseball — and, more than anything, my love of romantic comedy...
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