"Onstad's radiant novel is powered by gorgeous writing, a quietly propulsive plot, and an uncannily accurate rendering of the way love, lust, rage, and reconciliation ebb and flow in the life of a couple."—Real Simple "6 Smart books for summer reading," Mother Nature Network Jeanne Bogino, New Lebanon Lib., NY , Library Journal (Starred Review) Kirkus Reviews Carol Anshaw, bestselling author of Carry the One Kaui Hart Hemmings, bestselling author of The Descendants Margot Livesey, author of The Flight of Gemma Hardy and The House on Fortune Street Vincent Lam, author of The Headmaster's Wager Everybody Has Everything is about many things - family, friendship, responsibility, loss - but at its heart, it's about what happens when the person you love suddenly veers off in another direction. It is unflinching yet tender, gripping and lyrical and devastating. I can't stop thinking about it."—Lauren Fox, author of Friends Like Us and Still Life with Husband Lisa Gabriele, author of Tempting Faith DiNapoli and The Almost Archer Sisters
"I inhaled every page, feeling gut-punched by a writer willing to tackle such taboo subjects as the ambivalence of motherhood, the catalytic nature of children, and the restlessness of marriage. There are no unearned tears, when I laughed or cried it was always for the same reason: painful recognition. I loved this book."
"Katrina Onstad's beautiful new novel is a clear-eyed look at an ordinary marriage under extraordinary pressure. Everybody Has Everything is about many things - family, friendship, responsibility, loss - but at its heart, it's about what happens when the person you love suddenly veers off in another direction. It is unflinching yet tender, gripping and lyrical and devastating. I can't stop thinking about it."
"Tenderly observed and elegantly drawn, Onstad's characters are true to the deep worries and tangential shifts of fate which often define modern life; they remind us of that life's ability to soothe, to hurt, and to heal."
"What an interesting, vivid, utterly modern novel Katrina Onstad has written. I love how intelligently and precisely she explores James and Ana's emotions around marriage, love, sex, work, ambition and parenthood. Everybody Has Everything made me both think and feel differently about my own life."
"Utterly rich, vivid and filled with urgency. I couldn't take my eyes off of these characters."
"With a keen eye for details of the contemporary good life, Katrina Onstad precisely delineates the crack in the vase of what appears to be a happy marriage. This is a book that challenges conventional wisdom about love and parenting and rising to the occasion in a crisis. And there is no way to predict the next turn of its events, which makes it a delicious read."
"Onstad's radiant novel is powered by gorgeous writing, a quietly propulsive plot, and an uncannily accurate rendering of the way love, lust, rage, and reconciliation ebb and flow in the life of a couple."
"The unexpected story of a modern relationship that's not a romance at all (except maybe in the abstract), and a story of motherhood that turns expectations of what's 'natural' for women on its head. . . A novel (one of the only contemporary ones I've read) that takes on the very hard question of what it really means to men and women to parent and how that answer is (and shouldn't be) obvious, simple or the same for everyone."
"6 Smart books for summer reading
Ana and James Ridgemore have spent two years and $30,000 trying to conceive, but in the end it takes them only one hour to become parents. When an accident claims the life of their friend Marcus, leaves his wife Sarah in a coma, and essentially orphans their son, Ana and James are appointed legal guardians of two-year-old Finn. Their orderly, privileged life is suddenly upended to the elation of James, who takes to parenting quickly, and the alarm of Ana, who does not. The family created by circumstance rather than through biology has been fodder for made-for-TV movies for decades, but Canadian journalist (and debut novelist) Onstad's take, both on unplanned parenthood and contemporary urban life, is crisp, gripping, and deeply thought-provoking. VERDICT With concise, elegant prose, the author presents an audacious look at a question no one is supposed to ask, namely, can everyone be parents? Or, more important, should they? Book clubs will find much to captivate them, as will fans of highbrow issue-driven fiction in the vein of Anita Shreve and Wally Lamb.—Jeanne Bogino, New Lebanon Lib., NY
Toronto-based journalist Onstad pens a novel that asks if everyone is cut out for parenthood. The book also addresses marital relationships in the modern world, in which both men and women are married to careers that define them. While Ana is rising in her career as a research lawyer in a major firm, her husband, James, a television journalist, has just been laid off and covers his unemployment status by telling people that he is writing a book. Ana and James have put a lot of time and considerable money into fertility treatments and testing without successfully bringing a child into their lives. Things change when they become guardians of 2-year-old Finn. Little Finn's mother, Sarah, is in a coma after being seriously injured in the car accident that killed Finn's father. The father's will specified that his friend James would be his child's guardian in the event of his death. James takes pleasure in being a loving, attentive father to Finn. Ana, on the other hand, is constantly worried about potential disasters and finds the responsibility overwhelming. Ultimately, she realizes she doesn't really want to be a mother but also that such a sentiment is not one a woman can easily express. The ending does not resolve all issues raised but does offer hope for a bright future. A fine novel about contemporary parenting and relationships.
