American Fantasy

I love Straub’s crisp prose, bubbling with understated wit. In this charming novel, Annie, still reeling from her divorce, goes on a fan cruise for the boyband she loved as a teenager. A spark ignites with one of its members, Keith – who, at 50, is going through his own personal crises, not to mention the seasickness. Below Deck meets romcom in this smart, compassionate story about midlife reckonings and what happens when your teenage fantasy comes true in adulthood. Straub is the author of The Vacationers and This Time Tomorrow, and co-owns Brooklyn indie bookstore Books Are Magic.