Publishers Weekly
02/22/2021
In Greaves’s uneven sophomore effort (after The Silent Treatment), a London cub reporter gets personally invested in a human-interest story to the point of obsession. Alice Keaton observes Mary O’Connor standing nightly in the Ealing Broadway subway station with a sign imploring her erstwhile partner, depressed alcoholic Jim Whitnell, to come home after having left seven years earlier. Alice persists in trying to find Jim, even after Mary asks her to stop; it turns out Alice wants to give Mary the same sense of closure Alice found as a teen when she finally heard from her estranged father. Though she keeps her identity as a reporter secret, Alice also hopes the article she plans to write will save her job at the paper, which is facing budget cuts. Aiding her is Kit, Mary’s thoughtful—and attractive—co-worker at a telephone crisis center. Mary’s haunted by the fight she and Jim had the last time they spoke, and gradually the details emerge over what drove them apart. Greaves begins with a sense of mystery, but long, clunky passages of exposition keep the reader from getting invested in the characters, making the twists and turns fall flat. Despite its occasionally provocative sparks, this never really gets going. (Apr.)
From the Publisher
Abbie Greaves’s Anywhere for You is a gorgeous story about hope, healing, and human connection—one of those rare novels that is as elegantly written as it is emotionally raw. Greaves’s words will stay with me for a long time.” — Emily Henry, New York Times bestselling author of Beach Read
“Anywhere for You by Abbie Greaves will break your heart and then put it back together again . . . A love story full of mystery, heartbreak, and maybe, just maybe, a chance for happy ending.” — Popsugar
“Just as she did in her debut novel, The Silent Treatment, Abbie Greaves again demonstrates with Anywhere for You … that she has an incredible gift for delicately opening up interpersonal relationships and putting them on full display, for better or worse.” — The Nerd Daily
“If you like your mysteries with a whopping side of heart, and your characters intense and raw, Greaves is the writer for you. Readers of The Silent Treatment will be struck by the way she has enhanced her talent for plotting, and newcomers will marvel at the emotional intensity of her prose.” — BookReporter.com
“A remarkably assured debut which doesn’t go where you expect it to go. I very much look forward to seeing what she writes next.” — Jojo Moyes, New York Times bestselling author, on The Silent Treatment
"Greaves finds extraordinary in the ordinary, carefully pulling apart this seemingly happy marriage to reveal the guilt and desperation that lie beneath. Frank and Maggie’s struggle to define themselves when life doesn’t meet their expectations is full of intensity and emotion, their love for one another the only constant. With the sincerity and hope of Tayari Jones' An American Marriage (2018) and the thoughtful, circumspect snapshots of marriage in Lauren Groff's Fates and Furies (2015), Greaves' debut depicts the many joys and sorrows that make up a marriage." — Booklist on The Silent Treatment
"Abbie Greaves held me spellbound with this intimate, emotional story of the brutal power of silence and ostracism. Yet this deep dive into a troubled marriage is ultimately uplifting as Frank and Maggie make their way through the challenges of isolation, mental health, ageing, and the yearning for connection. Keep the tissues handy for this lovely read." — Susan Wiggs, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Oysterville Sewing Circle, on The Silent Treatment
“The premise alone had me, but The Silent Treatment itself is just heartrendingly lovely. It’s beautiful, so moving and clever. I truly adored it.” — Josie Silver, #1 New York Times bestselling author of One Day in December, on The Silent Treatment
"The Silent Treatment is a gorgeous heart-breaker of a novel—an intimate, unpretentious, precisely drawn and surprisingly suspenseful look at a decades-long marriage: how it soars and plummets and, gem-like, alters its appearance under different lights. Abbie Greaves has a bright future and I can’t wait to see what it brings." — Meg Mitchell Moore, author of Two Truths and a Lie and The Islanders, on The Silent Treatment
“An original and moving debut from a talented new voice.” — Santa Montefiore, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Secret Hours, on The Silent Treatment
“Not so much a case of ‘he said/she said’ as ‘he didn’t say/she didn’t say,’ this moving debut unpicks the secret selves of Maggie and Frank to reveal the tragic miscommunications of their broken family. It’s a pleasure to read such a stylish and confident new voice—readers are going to love discovering Abbie Greaves.” — Louise Candlish, internationally bestselling author of Our House and Those People, on The Silent Treatment
“In her tremendously moving debut, a novel that pulses with emotional tension, Abbie Greaves masterfully unpicks a history of ordinary lives facing extraordinary challenges. I found it impossible to look away from the relationship at the heart of this novel.” — Gilly Macmillan, New York Times bestselling author of What She Knew, on The Silent Treatment
"In an urgent race against the clock, the layers of Frank and Maggie's decades-long love story are peeled back to reveal the heartrending secrets that lurk below. But will the truth save Maggie's life, let alone their marriage? Greaves' gripping and poignant debut had me hooked from beginning to end." — Meg Donohue, USA Today Bestselling author of All the Summer Girls and You, Me, and the Sea, on The Silent Treatment
"Greaves writes their distinct voices expressively and assuredly, making both characters come alive. . . . A sometimes-hopeful, often heartbreaking look at the difficult and beautiful moments of parenting and marriage.” — Kirkus Reviews on The Silent Treatment
Booklist on The Silent Treatment
"Greaves finds extraordinary in the ordinary, carefully pulling apart this seemingly happy marriage to reveal the guilt and desperation that lie beneath. Frank and Maggie’s struggle to define themselves when life doesn’t meet their expectations is full of intensity and emotion, their love for one another the only constant. With the sincerity and hope of Tayari Jones' An American Marriage (2018) and the thoughtful, circumspect snapshots of marriage in Lauren Groff's Fates and Furies (2015), Greaves' debut depicts the many joys and sorrows that make up a marriage."
BookReporter.com
If you like your mysteries with a whopping side of heart, and your characters intense and raw, Greaves is the writer for you. Readers of The Silent Treatment will be struck by the way she has enhanced her talent for plotting, and newcomers will marvel at the emotional intensity of her prose.
Jojo Moyes
A remarkably assured debut which doesn’t go where you expect it to go. I very much look forward to seeing what she writes next.
Josie Silver
The premise alone had me, but The Silent Treatment itself is just heartrendingly lovely. It’s beautiful, so moving and clever. I truly adored it.
The Nerd Daily
Just as she did in her debut novel, The Silent Treatment, Abbie Greaves again demonstrates with Anywhere for You … that she has an incredible gift for delicately opening up interpersonal relationships and putting them on full display, for better or worse.
Emily Henry
Abbie Greaves’s Anywhere for You is a gorgeous story about hope, healing, and human connection—one of those rare novels that is as elegantly written as it is emotionally raw. Greaves’s words will stay with me for a long time.
Susan Wiggs
"Abbie Greaves held me spellbound with this intimate, emotional story of the brutal power of silence and ostracism. Yet this deep dive into a troubled marriage is ultimately uplifting as Frank and Maggie make their way through the challenges of isolation, mental health, ageing, and the yearning for connection. Keep the tissues handy for this lovely read."
Meg Mitchell Moore
"The Silent Treatment is a gorgeous heart-breaker of a novel—an intimate, unpretentious, precisely drawn and surprisingly suspenseful look at a decades-long marriage: how it soars and plummets and, gem-like, alters its appearance under different lights. Abbie Greaves has a bright future and I can’t wait to see what it brings."
Popsugar
Anywhere for You by Abbie Greaves will break your heart and then put it back together again . . . A love story full of mystery, heartbreak, and maybe, just maybe, a chance for happy ending.
Santa Montefiore
An original and moving debut from a talented new voice.”
Louise Candlish
Not so much a case of ‘he said/she said’ as ‘he didn’t say/she didn’t say,’ this moving debut unpicks the secret selves of Maggie and Frank to reveal the tragic miscommunications of their broken family. It’s a pleasure to read such a stylish and confident new voice—readers are going to love discovering Abbie Greaves.
Meg Donohue
"In an urgent race against the clock, the layers of Frank and Maggie's decades-long love story are peeled back to reveal the heartrending secrets that lurk below. But will the truth save Maggie's life, let alone their marriage? Greaves' gripping and poignant debut had me hooked from beginning to end."
Gilly Macmillan
In her tremendously moving debut, a novel that pulses with emotional tension, Abbie Greaves masterfully unpicks a history of ordinary lives facing extraordinary challenges. I found it impossible to look away from the relationship at the heart of this novel.
Popsugar on Anywhere for You
Anywhere for You by Abbie Greaves will break your heart and then put it back together again . . . A love story full of mystery, heartbreak, and maybe, just maybe, a chance for happy ending.
null Booklist on The Silent Treatment
"Greaves finds extraordinary in the ordinary, carefully pulling apart this seemingly happy marriage to reveal the guilt and desperation that lie beneath. Frank and Maggie’s struggle to define themselves when life doesn’t meet their expectations is full of intensity and emotion, their love for one another the only constant. With the sincerity and hope of Tayari Jones' An American Marriage (2018) and the thoughtful, circumspect snapshots of marriage in Lauren Groff's Fates and Furies (2015), Greaves' debut depicts the many joys and sorrows that make up a marriage."
