There are five friends and they are traversing their lives. They are millennials and they have crossed that hallowed threshold of age 30 to enter into mature adult existence. Still, they are not stable, settled or sure about their life. That’s the basic premise of this novel by Andrew Martin.
There are two couples in this story. First one really wants to be together despite the challenges involving addiction, emotional dependency and financial survival. They are Cassandra and Aaron where the later depends on the formal for the emotional security while Cassandra acting as an anchor to hold Aaron from drowning in his addiction. Then there are Malcolm and Violet, another couple in this book who are struggling with their feelings towards each other, the drama emanating from the world and their tangled romantic lives. Both of these couples are fluid and uncertain in the critical aspects of their lives- whether that’s money, career or love.
In the midst of all of them is Antonia who is related to each one of them directly or indirectly, and represents a typical spinster in her thirties. She is maintaining a distance from her family, she is searching for love and meaning for life. This chaos in personal life is engulfing her while she struggles to focus on a meaningful career.
So, the story hurtles along with these characters’ scattered lives, their continual search for finding home and laying roots and most of all, making sense of it all. Since the timeline of this story coincides with the global pandemic, it adds the veneer of uncertainty to every thought, every action and every decision taken by each character. That worldwide catastrophic event was definitely painful for people of all ages but it became another miserable occurrence for millennials in the long line of disastrous incidents throughout their existence.
For author’s credit, he tries to present this painfully exhausting period with self-deprecating humor. He makes intelligent and timely commentary on the social, cultural, physical and emotional changes occurring around all of us since those days of lockdown without any ridicule. Still, it feels like the storyline tries too hard to be relatable, modern and substantially funny with the help of these complicated characters. The vibes are quite similar to another successful author who managed to capture this unsettled generational angst quite perfectly.
Technically mid-thirties can not be called a mid-life crisis moment but it’s considered a significant milestone to tick your success check list in today’s youth driven environment. It is the central point of this novel from where each character starts their individual journeys. But it’s more drifting and ambling along the path than a decisive navigation towards a desired goal. That’s why I could not recommend it more than a one time read.