You Could Be Home By Now

by Tracy Manaster

Overview

In her debut novel, Tracy Manaster approaches many social issues through the intelligent and entertaining story of two young professionals that begin working at a luxury retirement community to deal with their personal struggles.

An hour and a half outside Tucson, Arizona, The Commons is a luxury retirement community where no full-time resident under the age of fifty-five is permitted. Young professionals Seth and Alison Collier accept jobs there as a means of dealing (badly) with a recent loss.

When a struggling resident, underwater on her mortgage and unable to relocate due to the nation’s ongoing housing crisis, is discovered to be raising her grandson in secret, the story--with the help of a well-meaning teenaged beauty blogger and a retiree with reasons of his own to seek the spotlight--goes viral.

You Could Be Home By Now explores the fallout for all involved, taking on the themes of grief and memory, aspiration and social class, self-deception, and the drive in all of us to find a place to belong.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781440583131
Publisher:	Gallery Books
Publication date:	11/07/2014
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	673 KB

About the Author

Tracy Manaster is a graduate of Wesleyan University and The Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her earliest ambition was to be a balloon seller in Central Park, followed by dreams of being a whitewater guide on the Green River, and then an archaeologist; now, she writes. Her family plays an elaborate, ritualized card game involving maracas, she will share the secret to a perfect blueberry pie with anyone who asks, and she spends way too much time trying to map a road trip that hits each National Park during its most beautiful season. She is the author of the novels You Could Be Home By Now and The Done Thing. Tracy lives in Portland, OR with her husband and twin daughters.

Editorial Reviews

10/06/2014
Manaster’s debut novel revolves around Seth and Alison Collier, young teachers whose newborn dies. Seeking a change of pace, they uproot from their Vermont home and move to Arizona. They take over roles at a retirement community, the Commons, where no residents under 55 are permitted, and soon they drift apart as they deal with their grief. Other residents have their own trials to face. Sadie, a recent widow, is visited by her teenage granddaughter, Lily, a disgraced blogger. When Lily saves the life of a young boy who secretly lives next door with his grandmother, Mona, his unlawful residence comes to light, making Mona eligible for eviction. However, Mona can’t afford to leave her home because of the housing market. Complicating matters further are the antics of the recently divorced neighbor Ben, who acts out on television to call attention to his own plight: a long-missing daughter. Manaster weaves these disparate tales of strife and grief eloquently, impressively depicting an adolescent girl and an aging man with equal fullness and depth. She also resists the urge for easy resolution, denying her readers the simple feel-good solutions and instead offering small amounts of emotional satisfaction that feel realistic and earned. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

"Manaster weaves...disparate tales of strife and grief eloquently, impressively depicting an adolescent girl and an aging man with equal fullness and depth. She also resists the urge for easy resolution...instead offering small amounts of emotional satisfaction that feel realistic and earned." —Publishers Weekly

"The setting is the only thing sleepy about Manaster's debut. Complex, interweaving stories tangle inside The Commons, a retirement community outside Tucson, Arizona.... A scintillating drama that's touching, funny and impossible to put down." —Kirkus Reviews

"Manaster's debut is an adventurous undertaking, both light and insightful. The wide range of characters...is well depicted and appealing. For fans of realistically written, flawed-human narratives—with a flair for fun." —Library Journal

"Poignant, funny debut.... A hoot that will touch your heart!" —People Magazine

"Each character has quirks that can be entertaining, saddening and harrowing.... Manaster weaves an entertaining tale of retirees and youthful souls who are living with circumstances that challenge their personal expectations of life.... The experiences of the characters in the story are...delightful." —The Deseret News

"Tracy Manaster's debut novel You Could Be Home by Now is a book for the New Year if ever there was one." —BookTrib

"Manaster creates vivid characters who come alive on the page, characters the reader can feel for and identify with even as they often seem to go over the edge.... In her retirement community there is humor and heartbreak, but most of all there is the poignancy of people, old and young, finding ways to go on living, and perhaps finding happiness." —Blogcritics.org/SeattlePI.com

"Some books you just don't want to end; Tracy Manaster's You Could Be Home By Now is one of those books. The story moves at a good clip, and Manaster is the rare author that finds the almost always elusive balance between plot and character. There's a sense of hope that these characters will find what they are looking for. It's just hard not to close this book with a bit of a sigh and a wish that we could be there when they do." —Pop Matters

"This book is so much more than readers could possibly anticipate. It explores the twisted emotions of loss and grief in depth, talks about the way we deceive ourselves in order to keep going, and touches on our innate need to belong somewhere, among other things. This novel is a fantastic read, and one that will stay with readers long after they've finished the final page." —San Francisco Book Review

From the Publisher

11/15/2014
Seth and Alison are a couple with a recent devastating loss, adrift in their marriage. Lily is a teen-blogging sensation, doling out fashion and beauty tips until a scandal shuts her website down and she is sent to stay with her widowed grandmother. Ben is dealing—badly—with both the longtime loss of his daughter and the breakup of his marriage. All of these characters converge in the Commons, an upscale retirement community in southern Arizona created strictly for the over-55 crowd. When Lily inadvertently uncovers a neighbor's housing infraction, the community's chain-reaction responses expose the innumerable ways in which we suffer, survive, hold fast to what is most dear, and protect what we love. VERDICT Manaster's debut is an adventurous undertaking, both light and insightful. The wide range of characters (teen, young couple, retiree) is well depicted and appealing. For fans of realistically written, flawed-human narratives—with a flair for fun.—Julie Kane, Sweet Briar Coll. Lib., VA

Library Journal

2014-10-23
The setting is the only thing sleepy about Manaster's debut.Complex, interweaving stories tangle inside The Commons, a retirement community outside Tucson, Arizona, where Mona Rosko is caught raising her grandson, which is against the rules. The neighbors maintain a tenuous, casserole-bringing civility while they assess Mona's situation, but her plight quickly becomes a prop for their personal dramas when the story goes viral online. Ben Thales hijacks a news segment about Mona to advocate for missing children after years of searching in vain for his runaway daughter. Lily Birnam, a teenage blogger whose vitriolic fashion reviews have earned her a visit to her grandmother's retirement home, where she can't access her electronic devices, rallies her readers to sympathize with Mona whenever she can sneak a moment on her grandmother's computer. As Mona's fate hangs in the balance, her neighbors also struggle to keep up appearances. Distinct personalities create lasting impressions as each character tells his or her version of the same events, resulting in fully formed, compelling characters whose perspectives change over time. Bratty Lily misses her best friend at home, but she's starting to see the cracks in their relationship when Sierra gets a new boyfriend. Creepy Ben enjoys flirting with Lily's grandmother Sadie but shows his vulnerable side when his ex-wife comes to visit. The two new employees, Seth and Alison Collier, are only pretending to fit in to escape their grief after their baby dies. Alison copes with healthy pursuits like running but is hiding a secret. Seth is unhinged, railing against his friends who post pictures of their healthy babies on Facebook. Readers may need to reread entire passages to believe their eyes because the characters' reactions are so startlingly candid and over-the-top. A scintillating drama that's touching, funny and impossible to put down.

Kirkus Reviews