Publishers Weekly
04/20/2020
A volcano grounds a pair of 29-year-old New Yorkers at the end of their 2017 Barcelona vacation in Riley’s emotionally grinding latest (after Fly Me). Whitney, a rising television producer, suggests that she and her fiancé, Will, each sow their wild oats over the two months she’ll spend working in L.A., before their planned trip to Barcelona. They agree to three sexual encounters with strangers, and in Barcelona, they disclose the details of their hookups in light-hearted banter. The next morning, an ash cloud from Iceland indefinitely postpones their return flight, and the fallout of their experiment begins to strain the relationship. At a party, they bump into Jack Pickle, the star of their alma mater’s basketball team, and Jenna Leonard, a quirky college student from Southern California. Then Will and Jenna attend a concert together, ramping up Whitney’s jealousy as she goes back to Jack’s apartment. The next morning, both accuse the other of cheating, and their argument upends the already fractured relationship. While Riley’s cool, sensuous prose evokes the “promise of being trapped in the city forever,” pages of acrimony between Will and Whitney and a lurid backstory involving Jenna throttle the tale’s momentum. There are better stories of love on the rocks. Agent: Kirby Kim, Janklow & Nesbit. (June)
From the Publisher
PRAISE FOR BARCELONA DAYS
"Reading it felt like watching a movie about good friends from college having a life-changing few days in a beautiful city. Dan has such a gift for capturing everything both clever and mundane in his scenes and dialogue."
—Silvia Killingsworth, The Millions
"Come for the couple drama, stay for the descriptions that will make you feel like you're in Spain."—Emily Laurence, Well + Good
"Great concept."—Kevin Nguyen
"From beginning to end, the reader walks with Whitney and Will along the precipice marking an edge they may or may not have crossed. With dry humor and involving dialogue, Riley steps boldly into territory other authors have only tentatively approached."—Enobong Tommelleo
"A funny, strange, propulsive novel, pleasurable from start to finish."—Joshua Henkin
PRAISE FOR FLY ME
"Riley conjures a Technicolor vision of seventies California and casts Suzy's ambition as a feminist quest for self-determination. Her exploits build to a climax that suggests the book's title is not so much an invitation as a challenge."
—The New Yorker
"Riley has a stylish grasp of setting as the axis of place and time, writing about the era with captivating authority, palpable texture, and a sure-footed knack for rebuilding a moment out of its pop detritus."
—The New York Times Book Review
"Daniel Riley... knocked my shoes off. I wasn't expecting any of it."
—Michael Silverblatt, National Public Radio
"A vibrant, pitch-perfect rendering of decadent beachside youth culture, with its surfing, drugs, rock 'n' roll, and all-day parties... It's a well-plotted, tension-filled novel... Riley keenly portrays the confusion and frustration of youth."
—The Los Angeles Review of Books
