The New York Times Book Review - Sigrid Nunez
Greathead's debut, which often has the feel of an updated version of Mrs. Bridge, Evan S. Connell's 1959 classic study of repressed WASP womanhood, is pleasantly readable and enlivened by flashes of sardonic humor…This carefully observed family story rings true to life…
Publishers Weekly
01/22/2018
In Greathead’s warmhearted debut novel, spanning 1980 to 1995, Laura, a quiet woman in her early 30s from Manhattan’s Upper East Side, attempts to balance her progressive ideals with the lavish lifestyle she lives thanks to a trust fund. After a one-night stand with her brother’s friend leads to pregnancy, Laura tries to forge a life for herself and her daughter, Emma, on her own terms—while also staying near home and accepting the help of her old-money family. The supporting characters who come in and out of Laura’s life over the years sparkle with idiosyncrasies, especially Laura’s mother, Bibs, and Emma’s devoted pediatrician. The novel is told in short scenes; major events can happen off the page, as with the death of a loved one, which is revealed by a scene set at the reception held after the funeral. Greathead is a talented writer of detail, particularly in her evocations of New York life—subway sobbing, could-be celebrity sightings, the joy of a favorite grocery store—and specifically of New York’s elite—board meetings, private preschool admissions, “the impermeable serenity of a Manhattan courtyard,” and the specific difference between an address on 96th and Park and 96th and Lexington. This is a thoughtful novel of trying to find oneself despite an assigned place in the world. Agent: Amy Williams, the Williams Company. (Mar.)
From the Publisher
PRAISE FOR LAURA & EMMA BY KATE GREATHEAD:
“Greathead’s debut, which often has the feel of an updated version of Mrs. Bridge...is enlivened by flashes of sardonic humor...[and] the surprising, poignant and beautifully composed final scene...This carefully observed family story rings true to life.”—New York Times Book Review
“[A] sly, charming debut...Laura and Emma’s struggles are real, and their saga makes for a beguiling, addictive read.”—People (Book of the Week)
“For a privileged Manhattan daughter who finds herself unexpectedly pregnant, raising a child alone is pearl-clutchingly radical in Kate Greathead’s wryly observed, 1980s-set first novel.” —Vogue
“A deft exploration of conflict, both class and interfamilial, in 1980s blue-blood New York.” —Marie Claire
"Greathead’s smart and original take on the mother-daughter novel impresses and charms.”—Booklist
“Kate Greathead’s debut novel gamely takes on class conflict, single motherhood, and the discreet pretension of the 1980s Upper East Side through the story of Laura, a daughter of privilege who finds herself unexpectedly pregnant after a one-night stand.” —New York Magazine
“[A] warmhearted debut novel...The supporting characters who come in and out of Laura’s life over the years sparkle with idiosyncrasies...Greathead is a talented writer of detail, particularly in her evocations of New York life—subway sobbing, could-be celebrity sightings, the joy of a favorite grocery store...This is a thoughtful novel of trying to find oneself despite an assigned place in the world.”—Publishers Weekly
"Who wouldn't want to get an inside peek into the rarefied world of New York City's elite in the 1980s and 90s? That's exactly what this smart, witty novel offers as it explores the strength of the bonds of family, class, weather, and privilege, leading many of its characters (to say nothing of its readers) wondering just how strong their own constructed identities are, and what it might take to make everything come crashing down."—Nylon
"If the title of Kate Greathead’s debut evokes a Jane Austen novel, well, it’s fitting for an incisive comedy of manners about class divides and the 'burdens' of being born privileged."—Esquire
“Kate Greathead classes it up with her debut, Laura & Emma.” —Vanity Fair
“Each restrained and understated sentence has been polished to glittering brightness... despite this novel’s enormous restraint and despite the surface pleasures of its comedy, Laura &Emma is a profoundly sad book. It’s loneliness in the form of a novel, and beneath its fierce quietness, there’s an ache that never stops.”—Vox
“A layered story about mothers and daughters and identity.”—Entertainment Weekly
“This debut from nine-time Moth StorySLAM winner Kate Greathead gives readers a behind-the-scenes peek at the lavish world of Upper East Side society through a series of vignettes.” —Bustle
“Greathead, a nine-time Moth StorySLAM champion, spins a complex tale of social class and family warfare that follows the quiet struggles of a single mother raising her daughter among the upper crust of New York society.” —The Millions
“Greathead has wrought a tale of subtle beauty more closely akin to the proud and obedient midwesterners of Evan S. Connell’s fiction...Greathead’s power as a prose stylist and storyteller converge to create scenes that will linger with you for days after reading them...The characters in this book live in a world few of us will relate to, but in Greathead’s hands, their humanity is deeply felt.”—ESME
“This novel makes a seemingly unlikable character sympathetic and interesting to the point that her story becomes unputdownable. Set against the backdrop of the 1980s to mid-1990s, this debut by a Moth StorySLAM champion will appeal to readers of character-driven women’s fiction.” —Library Journal
“This ultimately rather mysterious book, with its attenuated plot and restrained humor, is like a person who speaks so softly that you end up paying very close attention.”—Kirkus Reviews
"Few books can grapple with the weighty legacy of Mrs. Bridge and come out standing; this one does. Stylish and understated, with grace notes everywhere, ironic reversals at the ends of sections, and resonant lines of dialogue that quiver with multiple meanings. The tone is arch, contrapuntal, and the anthropology here is brilliant; Greathead is such a keen observer of this world of people laden by the customs of privilege, who struggle to express their feelings, or even have them in the first place, and she finds affect in unexpected corners. Objects return with talismanic power and we track their movements with great appreciation of the artistry involved. It’s devastating to watch these characters sabotage their own and others’ happiness, and Greathead sticks the landing with a remarkably moving ending. —Matthew Thomas, New York Times bestselling author of We Are Not Ourselves
"A big-hearted book, tenderly intelligent and mirthfully incisive in its exploration of family, class, and the difficulty of reconciling our own natures with the way we nurture others. In Greathead's capable hands, Laura & Emma become luminously real, a lens through which the rarefied, often contradictory world of elite New York comes charmingly alive."—Alexandra Kleeman, author of You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine
"I stayed up all night to finish Laura & Emma. Weeks later, I'm still thinking about Laura, still bothered by her troubles, and marveling at how Kate Greathead made these characters and this world so real to me. A brave, unassuming, wonderful first novel."—Rebecca Schiff, author of The Bed Moved
Kirkus Reviews
2017-12-12
Fifteen years in the life of a woman who is constitutionally out of step with her privileged New York family.We meet Laura in 1980, waking up from a nightmare, thinking it would be nice if she had a husband to discuss it with. The only other time she misses having a partner is if something breaks around the apartment after 9 p.m., too late to call the super. Laura is an odd duck in many ways. She has little interest in clothes, "but what people assumed was her absentminded ignorance of fashion" is actually ecological conscientiousness. Since everything she owns will one day end up in a landfill, she avoids acquisition as much as possible. In 1979, the fashion-on-the-street photographer Bill Cunningham took a picture of her in a Laura Ashley skirt, white turtleneck, and Frye boots; she is still talking about it, and wearing the same outfit, in 1995. Though she rejects her family's lifestyle in some respects, she does take their money and holds a job at the museum now located in her great-grandfather's mansion. Wedding coordination is a position for which she is quite unsuited, but because of the special allowances the library makes due to her connections, she will never leave. In this very quiet life of hers, one thunderbolt strikes. In her single experience of sexual intercourse, which occurs under conditions which are both very sad and very funny, she gets pregnant. Reproduction is certainly not part of her plan to save the planet, but on the day of her scheduled abortion, a sparrow gets into her room and changes her mind. So all-by-herself Laura becomes Laura and Emma, per the title of Greathead's debut. Although having a child should by all rights open the windows of Laura's life, it doesn't. Her daughter, on the other hand, turns out to be a totally different sort of person.This ultimately rather mysterious book, with its attenuated plot and restrained humor, is like a person who speaks so softly that you end up paying very close attention.
