OCTOBER 2019 - AudioFile
Narrator Marin Ireland flawlessly introduces listeners to Lillian and Madison, two unlikely friends separated after a boarding school scandal. Years later, on the precipice of a major change, Madison begs Lillian to become her twin step-children’s governess. These are special kids: When they become agitated, they spontaneously combust. Drawing from a seemingly endless supply of character voices, Ireland immerses listeners in this magical yet weird family, exquisitely capturing every unusual layer of the story. With an amazing variety of timbres and an assortment of Southern accents, Ireland confidently gives each character—from quirky Roland and Bessie to acerbic Lillian—a memorable voice. Ireland and Wilson leave a lasting impression and provide a thoroughly entertaining experience. E.P. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2020 Audies Winner © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
★ 09/09/2019
Wilson (Baby, You’re Gonna Be Mine) turns a bizarre premise into a beguiling novel about unexpected motherhood. When aimless, low-achieving 28-year-old Lillian Breaker receives a mysterious invitation from Madison Roberts, her former roommate at a prestigious high school, longtime correspondent, and now wife to a senator, she does not hesitate to travel to Franklin, Tenn. Madison offers her a job as a very discreet governess for the senator’s twin children from a prior marriage. Ten-year-olds Bessie and Roland sometimes burst into flames, and Madison is desperate to avoid a scandal upsetting the senator’s chances of becoming secretary of state. Lillian accepts and, with begrudging help from Carl, the senator’s shadowy right-hand man, guides the children through coping mechanisms in the guest house on the family’s lavish estate while Madison and Senator Roberts remain icy toward them. Their progress is upended, though, when the senator’s prospects rapidly change and Lillian has to decide where her loyalties are. Lillian’s deadpan observations zip from funny to heartbreaking while her hesitancy and messy love satisfyingly contrasts with Madison’s raw drive for power and tightly controlled affection. Wilson captures the wrenching emotions of caring for children in this exceptional, and exceptionally hilarious, novel. Agent: Julie Barer, the Book Group. (Nov.)
From the Publisher
I can’t believe how good this book is. . . . Wholly original. It’s also perfect. . . . Wilson writes with such a light touch. . . . That’s the brilliance of the novel—that it distracts you with these weirdo characters and mesmerizing and funny sentences and then hits you in a way you didn’t see coming.” — Taffy Brodesser-Akner, The New York Times Book Review
“A peculiar, entertaining and insightful book about the hazards of child-rearing and the value of friends.” — People
"[Wilson’s] most perfect novel. Paradoxically light and melancholy, it hews to the border of fantasy but stays in the land of realism. . . . You can sense the real heat radiating off these pages. . . . This novel may seem slight and quirky, but don’t be fooled. There’s a lot to see here." — Washington Post
“It’s a giddily lunatic premise, one that author Kevin Wilson grounds with humor and deadpan matter-of-factness. . . . Wilson’s observational humor is riotous in its specificity. . . . The writing dazzles. . . . But what dazzles most are the warmly rendered dynamics of an ad hoc, dysfunctional family that desperately wants to work.” — USA Today
“There’s hardly a sentence that feels like anything you’ve read before, that’s how fresh his voice is. . . . Witty, confiding, breezily profane. . . . That the supernatural elements feel so right is a testament to Wilson’s innate skill as a storyteller.” — Entertainment Weekly
A pleasing blend of tartness and tenderness. . . . . Wilson’s ability to capture such tangled sentiments makes him a thoroughly engaging and appealing writer. — Boston Globe
Darkly funny yet quietly devastating. . . . Wilson crafts a stunning portrait of the push and pull of parenthood. — Time
"Funny and even eerily beautiful. . . . It’s the sweetness of this novel that will melt you." — NPR.org
Perennially weird and wonderful. . . . Wilson’s portrayal of these fire children conveys more emotional truth about life with a difficult or neurodivergent kid than any of those parenting guides. . . . Funny and affecting. — Minneapolis Star Tribune
“[A] deadpan, hilarious modern fairy tale.” — Newsday
“Wilson’s latest is outlandish and laugh-out-loud funny.” — Parade
“Weird, funny, but also unexpectedly moving. . . . An affecting reflection on the blithe cruelty of the rich and what it means to be a good parent.” — Buzzfeed
“Quirky and insightful, strange and delightful.” — Popsugar
Kevin Wilson once again dazzles with a bizarre, comic, and heartbreaking tale. . . . A dryly comic, surreal phantasmagoria reminiscent of Kafka, Garcia-Marquez, and their heirs, from David Foster Wallace to Karen Russell. — Chapter 16
“Wilson captures the wrenching emotions of caring for children in this exceptional, and exceptionally hilarious, novel.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Wilson is a remarkable writer…. A funny and touching fable about love for kids, even the ones on fire.” — Kirkus Reviews
“A love letter to the weirdness and difficulties of children and of parenting, with or without spontaneous human combustion. . . . [With] an easy, engaging voice, cynical and funny without being caustic. Like the author’s The Family Fang, this is another story of a family that is as delightfully bizarre as it is heartfelt and true.” — Library Journal
“Lillian tells the story, revealing immediately that she’s another of Wilson’s normal extraordinary protagonists. . . . She fills the book with her wry humor and large, embracing heart.” — Booklist
“Laugh out loud funny. I love the way Kevin Wilson writes.” — Jacqueline Woodson, National Book Award winner
Buzzfeed
Weird, funny, but also unexpectedly moving. . . . An affecting reflection on the blithe cruelty of the rich and what it means to be a good parent.
USA Today
It’s a giddily lunatic premise, one that author Kevin Wilson grounds with humor and deadpan matter-of-factness. . . . Wilson’s observational humor is riotous in its specificity. . . . The writing dazzles. . . . But what dazzles most are the warmly rendered dynamics of an ad hoc, dysfunctional family that desperately wants to work.”
Washington Post
"[Wilson’s] most perfect novel. Paradoxically light and melancholy, it hews to the border of fantasy but stays in the land of realism. . . . You can sense the real heat radiating off these pages. . . . This novel may seem slight and quirky, but don’t be fooled. There’s a lot to see here."
Newsday
[A] deadpan, hilarious modern fairy tale.”
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Perennially weird and wonderful. . . . Wilson’s portrayal of these fire children conveys more emotional truth about life with a difficult or neurodivergent kid than any of those parenting guides. . . . Funny and affecting.
NPR.org
"Funny and even eerily beautiful. . . . It’s the sweetness of this novel that will melt you."
People
A peculiar, entertaining and insightful book about the hazards of child-rearing and the value of friends.”
Taffy Brodesser-Akner
I can’t believe how good this book is. . . . Wholly original. It’s also perfect. . . . Wilson writes with such a light touch. . . . That’s the brilliance of the novel—that it distracts you with these weirdo characters and mesmerizing and funny sentences and then hits you in a way you didn’t see coming.
Entertainment Weekly
There’s hardly a sentence that feels like anything you’ve read before, that’s how fresh his voice is. . . . Witty, confiding, breezily profane. . . . That the supernatural elements feel so right is a testament to Wilson’s innate skill as a storyteller.
Boston Globe
A pleasing blend of tartness and tenderness. . . . . Wilson’s ability to capture such tangled sentiments makes him a thoroughly engaging and appealing writer.
Time
Darkly funny yet quietly devastating. . . . Wilson crafts a stunning portrait of the push and pull of parenthood.
USA Today
It’s a giddily lunatic premise, one that author Kevin Wilson grounds with humor and deadpan matter-of-factness. . . . Wilson’s observational humor is riotous in its specificity. . . . The writing dazzles. . . . But what dazzles most are the warmly rendered dynamics of an ad hoc, dysfunctional family that desperately wants to work.”
Washington Post
"[Wilson’s] most perfect novel. Paradoxically light and melancholy, it hews to the border of fantasy but stays in the land of realism. . . . You can sense the real heat radiating off these pages. . . . This novel may seem slight and quirky, but don’t be fooled. There’s a lot to see here."
Time
Darkly funny yet quietly devastating. . . . Wilson crafts a stunning portrait of the push and pull of parenthood.
Parade
Wilson’s latest is outlandish and laugh-out-loud funny.”
Jacqueline Woodson
Laugh out loud funny. I love the way Kevin Wilson writes.
Booklist
Lillian tells the story, revealing immediately that she’s another of Wilson’s normal extraordinary protagonists. . . . She fills the book with her wry humor and large, embracing heart.”
Buzzfeed
Weird, funny, but also unexpectedly moving. . . . An affecting reflection on the blithe cruelty of the rich and what it means to be a good parent.
Chapter 16
Kevin Wilson once again dazzles with a bizarre, comic, and heartbreaking tale. . . . A dryly comic, surreal phantasmagoria reminiscent of Kafka, Garcia-Marquez, and their heirs, from David Foster Wallace to Karen Russell.
Popsugar
Quirky and insightful, strange and delightful.
Booklist
Lillian tells the story, revealing immediately that she’s another of Wilson’s normal extraordinary protagonists. . . . She fills the book with her wry humor and large, embracing heart.”
Maureen Corrigan
These new stories of Wilson’s are something else; they’re funny, raw and beautiful.
Vanity Fair
Winningly bizarre.
John Irving
A novel you keep reading for old-fashioned reasons—because it’s a good story and you need to know what happens.
//
// Praise for BABY YOU’RE GONNA BE MINE
Miami Herald
Breathtakingly wonderful.
Denver Post
Wilson’s deliciously breezy style reels you in and holds you tight.
Ann Patchett
Hands down my favorite book of the year.
Washington Post
[Wilson’s] most perfect novel. Paradoxically light and melancholy, it hews to the border of fantasy but stays in the land of realism. . . . You can sense the real heat radiating off these pages. . . . This novel may seem slight and quirky, but don’t be fooled. There’s a lot to see here.
Denver Post
Wilson’s deliciously breezy style reels you in and holds you tight.
Chapter 16
Kevin Wilson once again dazzles with a bizarre, comic, and heartbreaking tale. . . . A dryly comic, surreal phantasmagoria reminiscent of Kafka, Garcia-Marquez, and their heirs, from David Foster Wallace to Karen Russell.
Parade
Wilson’s latest is outlandish and laugh-out-loud funny.”
Boston Globe
A pleasing blend of tartness and tenderness. . . . . Wilson’s ability to capture such tangled sentiments makes him a thoroughly engaging and appealing writer.
People
A peculiar, entertaining and insightful book about the hazards of child-rearing and the value of friends.”
USA Today
It’s a giddily lunatic premise, one that author Kevin Wilson grounds with humor and deadpan matter-of-factness. . . . Wilson’s observational humor is riotous in its specificity. . . . The writing dazzles. . . . But what dazzles most are the warmly rendered dynamics of an ad hoc, dysfunctional family that desperately wants to work.”
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Perennially weird and wonderful. . . . Wilson’s portrayal of these fire children conveys more emotional truth about life with a difficult or neurodivergent kid than any of those parenting guides. . . . Funny and affecting.
NPR.org
Funny and even eerily beautiful. . . . It’s the sweetness of this novel that will melt you.
Time
Darkly funny yet quietly devastating. . . . Wilson crafts a stunning portrait of the push and pull of parenthood.
Popsugar
Quirky and insightful, strange and delightful.
Newsday
[A] deadpan, hilarious modern fairy tale.”
Miami Herald
Breathtakingly wonderful.
Entertainment Weekly
There’s hardly a sentence that feels like anything you’ve read before, that’s how fresh his voice is. . . . Witty, confiding, breezily profane. . . . That the supernatural elements feel so right is a testament to Wilson’s innate skill as a storyteller.
Vanity Fair
Winningly bizarre.
OCTOBER 2019 - AudioFile
Narrator Marin Ireland flawlessly introduces listeners to Lillian and Madison, two unlikely friends separated after a boarding school scandal. Years later, on the precipice of a major change, Madison begs Lillian to become her twin step-children’s governess. These are special kids: When they become agitated, they spontaneously combust. Drawing from a seemingly endless supply of character voices, Ireland immerses listeners in this magical yet weird family, exquisitely capturing every unusual layer of the story. With an amazing variety of timbres and an assortment of Southern accents, Ireland confidently gives each character—from quirky Roland and Bessie to acerbic Lillian—a memorable voice. Ireland and Wilson leave a lasting impression and provide a thoroughly entertaining experience. E.P. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2020 Audies Winner © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2019-08-19
Decades after an unforgivable trespass, two childhood friends are reunited in a most unusual arrangement.
Wilson is a remarkable writer for many different reasons, as demonstrated by his quirky novels, Perfect Little World (2017) and The Family Fang (2011), and tons of short stories. One of his greatest strengths is the ability to craft an everyday family drama and inject it with one odd element that turns the story on its head. He's done it again here, writing once more about family but with some most unusual children and a particularly charming narrator. Back in the day, Lillian and Madison were besties at an elite boarding school, the former a smart scholarship student and the latter a quirky but spoiled rich girl. But when Madison got into trouble, privilege reared its ugly head, and Lillian was the one kicked out of school. Now grown, she spends her days at her dead-end job and her off hours getting stoned. Out of the blue, Madison reappears, now mother to her darling boy, Timothy, and the wife of a U.S. senator and budding political star. But the family is in a quandary over what to do with the senator's twin children from a previous marriage, Bessie and Roland. Oh, and by the way, the twins spontaneously combust when they're angry or upset. No harm comes to them, but clothes, houses, and anything else in their orbit can go up in flames. Lillian is offered a job looking after the twins for the summer until the fam can figure out what to do with the little fireballs. To her own surprise, Lillian turns out to be a terrific guardian, despite her own doubts. "They were me, unloved and fucked over, and I was going to make sure they got what they needed," she affirms. The book's denouement is a bit predictable, but Lillian develops into an engaging parental proxy in Wilson's latest whimsical exploration of family.
A funny and touching fable about love for kids, even the ones on fire.
