Publishers Weekly
09/26/2016
Set amid the 2008 financial collapse, Pitoniak’s assured debut explores the cost of realizing—and misinterpreting—one’s dreams. Evan Peck, the son of grocery-store owners in remote British Columbia, needs student loans and a hockey scholarship to afford the Ivy League, while Julia Edwards hails from Northeastern privilege. Meeting at Yale, they fall promptly in love despite their different upbringings. Upon graduation, Evan lands a plum job at a Manhattan hedge fund fighting to survive the deepening Wall Street meltdown, as Julia, unsure of her calling, settles for a low-level job at small nonprofit. Soon, the couple seems to share little more than their cramped apartment. An exhausted Evan worries when the deal he’s working on turns out to have a shady underside; Julia finds in a charismatic journalist the sense of promise that neither work nor Evan gives her. As the distance between them leads to betrayal, they must face the ways they have sabotaged each other and themselves. Navigating terrain—love and youth, college and city life—that’s often oversimplified, Pitoniak eschews cliché for nuanced characterization and sharply observed detail. Evan and Julia ring true as 20-somethings, but Pitoniak’s novel also speaks to anyone who has searched among possible futures for the way back to what Julia calls “the person I had been all along.” (Jan.)
From the Publisher
"An emotional page-turner."
—Cosmopolitan
"Boy meets girl. They fall in love and everything's picture perfect. Until the financial crisis hits and boy gets involved in a shady deal at work. This read is The Big Short meets Serendipity."—theSkimm
"The smart, fast-paced book calls to mind a period when bright young things moved to New York to work for Goldman Sachs and not Google ... Part of a larger conversation about coming of age that includes novels like Adelle Waldman's The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. and Claire Messud's The Emperor's Children."—Town & Country
"An especially good [novel]...about the things you believe in when you're young, and what breaks your heart along the way."
—Refinery29, "One of the 2017 Books We're Most Excited About"
"[A] debut novel written by and for the literary millennial ... Pitoniak maintains her keen eye for the universal insecurities facing her generation today, from romantic uncertainties and the relative benefits and downsides of hedge fund and nonprofit jobs to the emotional effort it requires to negotiate the predetermined facts of one's upbringing with the person one chooses to become."—Harper's Bazaar, "13 Books You Need to Read in January"
"Wall Street meets Girls."
—Elle Canada
"Acutely drawn ... We were transported back to our younger selves and that universal feeling of trying to make sense of an uncertain future ahead ... Already looking forward to what Anna Pitoniak will write next."—goop
"Pitoniak's debut focuses on that time of life that is at turns both exhilarating and terrifying: right after getting out of college, when you're forced to confront who you are and who you want to be, when you know life is just beginning, but you're also starting to feel like many of your options are fading away."—Nylon, "Best New Books of 2017"
"Following in the footsteps of classic debut novels like Rona Jaffe's The Best of Everything and Jay McInerney's Bright Lights, Big City, Pitoniak charts a tumultuous period in New York City history that transforms a group of recent college grads in ways they never anticipated. As in Kristopher Jansma's latest, Why We Came to the City, also set in the heady days of 2008, Pitoniak's ingenuous youths are helpless against the risk and potential they perceive lurking around each corner."
—Village Voice
"The Futures stands out for its beautiful writing, emotional depth and evocative feel."
—New York Post
"St. Elmo's Fire for millennials."
—Bustle
"Pitoniak's inspired debut centers on two recent college grads who move to New York City together during the 2008 recession and watch their relationship change drastically."—InStyle
"The Futures takes place on the cusp of the 2008 market crash, and so perfectly encapsulates that time of life when everything was just beginning, when you had no idea who you were or where you were going."—Popsugar
"Pitoniak's assured debut explores the cost of realizing-and misinterpreting-one's dreams ... Navigating terrain-love and youth, college and city life-that's often oversimplified, Pitoniak eschews cliche for nuanced characterization and sharply observed detail. Evan and Julia ring true as 20-somethings, but Pitoniak's novel also speaks to anyone who has searched among possible futures for the way back to what Julia calls 'the person I had been all along.'"—Publishers Weekly
"The Futures transports us to that post-college moment when it seems like you have all the options in the world but no clue about which ones to choose. Pitoniak weaves an unflinchingly honest tale of two people trying to navigate expectations and learning to live with their own mistakes. A compelling and memorable debut."—J. Courtney Sullivan, New York Times bestselling author of The Engagements
"Anna Pitoniak perfectly captures the confusion and heartbreak of those post-college years, when even the strongest among us falter in the face of our own desires. The Futures reminded me of Brightness Falls, Jay McInerney's great novel of New York, for Pitoniak, like McInerney, possesses an instinctual understanding of the mechanisms that make the city run and a knack for embracing her characters' thornier sides. Utterly enjoyable."—Joanna Rakoff, author of My Salinger Year
"Pitoniak keeps the pace moving at a steady clip ... Pitoniak's well-plotted, character-driven, interior-focused novel captures the knowable angst of the unknowable possibilities of modern young adulthood."—Booklist
"Pitoniak expertly captures both the excitement and the oppressive darkness of being young and at sea in New York City, the unsettingly thin line between freedom and free fall ... Deeply empathetic-and always engaging. A bittersweet coming-of-age drama and a portrait of an era."—Kirkus
"Tender and wise, The Futures feels like a true story. Pitoniak's voice is stylish and authentic, and perfect for exploring this rich territory: youth and love and New York City."—Karen Thompson Walker, New York Times bestselling author of The Age of Miracles
"Mesmerizing ... The novel's alternating structure is hypnotic. Pitoniak is an absolute ventriloquist, completely inhabiting the voices of the two protagonists—their ambitions, anxieties, pettiness, sadness, and great love for one another. I couldn't put it down."—Sunil Yapa, author of Your Heart is a Muscle the Size of a Fist
"The Futures is a love story and so much more. It captures the heartaches and exhilarations of early adulthood with a keen eye, a big heart, superb writing and an artfully intricate plot. This is a book for people of all ages looking for a place in the world, and Anna Pitoniak is a young novelist with some serious writing chops."—Meg Mitchell Moore, author of The Admissions
"Anna Pitoniak's debut novel, The Futures, is the perfect cocktail of smart prose, heartwarming characters, and unmatched savvy about modern city life. Like The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. or A Fortunate Age, this book will amaze and elate you."—Kristopher Jansma, author of Why We Came to the City
"Pitoniak is a sure-footed, fluid writer ... Her low-key, confessional style is well-suited to her focus: the anxiety that attends the transition from college to the work force, from structure to structureless."—Globe & Mail
"A charming story and damn fine debut. Tightly told, entirely readable ... An engaging story with elegant language and a cast of strong off-suit characters who temper the two-person narrative perfectly ... Pitoniak's honest portrayal honours both better-known and under-told truths of life after graduation."—National Post
"Pitoniak ratchets up the suspense as she explores love and big finance ... [With] savvy plotting and nimble shifts in perspective ... Pitoniak inhabits both characters convincingly, displaying an uncanny ability to convey their dissimilar and sometimes clashing impressions of the same events."—Toronto Star
"[The Futures] is about a couple that moves to New York after college. Just like everyone else, the love/hate relationship with this town is real. Either this book will have me canceling my return ticket, or falling in love with the city all over again."—Vogue.com
Library Journal
10/01/2016
Julia, who comes from a wealthy family, has an art degree and no vision for her life beyond college. Evan is a Canadian hockey player from a working-class family. He, however, has a plan. His degree in finance lands him a job at a prestigious hedge fund in New York City. After meeting at Yale, Evan and Julia move to New York together, each struggling to establish a career. As they become immersed in their own interests, they grow apart. When the financial world crumbles, an ironic twist causes Evan to lose his job and destroys his faltering relationship with Julia. VERDICT This debut coming-of-age novel captures the insecurities of the first days of independent adulthood and the unintended consequences in the struggle for maturity. Readers of general fiction will enjoy this story. Recommended. [See Prepub Alert, 7/11/16.]—Joanna Burkhardt, Univ. of Rhode Island Libs., Providence
MARCH 2017 - AudioFile
Narrators Michael Crouch and Sarah Mollo-Christensen narrate this “he said”/”she said” story. College sweethearts Julia, a Boston socialite, and Evan, a Canadian small-town hockey star, adjust to their post-graduation jobs in New York during the 2008 recession. Mollo-Christensen uses a soft, breathy delivery to highlight Julia's many insecurities and growing dissatisfaction with her professional life. In contrast, Crouch's relaxed, rhythmic cadence brings out Evan's naïve acceptance of his promising start in the world of finance. The narrators enliven the audiobook by illuminating Julia and Evan's conflicting perceptions of shared experiences and the people they meet. Listeners may predict the consequences of the couple's choices, but Crouch and Mollo-Christensen's nicely dovetailed performances will hold their attention nonetheless. C.B.L. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2016-10-05
Once young and in love and destined for greatness, a pair of recent college grads find themselves dangerously unraveling at the dawn of the 2008 financial crisis in Pitoniak’s energetic debut.Julia Edwards and Evan Peck fall in love freshman year at Yale. He’s a small-town boy from rural Canada at Yale on a hockey scholarship; she’s a gorgeous prep-school grad from suburban Boston at Yale because that’s where people like her are destined to be. After four (mostly) blissful years of undergrad, the pair moves to New York City, sharing an apartment on the Upper East Side. But almost immediately, the relationship begins to show cracks. Evan is working round the clock as a first-year associate at an ultraprestigious hedge fund; Julia’s floundering, the only one of her friends to graduate wholly without a path. Eventually, through family connections, she gets an assistant position at an arts nonprofit, the main advantage of which is that it is better than nothing. As the markets continue to tank, Julia and Evan drift further and further apart, each of them consumed by a different, sinister game. Evan is tapped to work on a top-secret deal that may not be exactly what it seems, while Julia reconnects with a rakish college pal who seems to offer her access to the life she’d always imagined. Though their paths have catastrophically diverged, both Julia and Evan are facing versions of the same all-too-recognizable post-collegiate crisis: what happens when you aren’t the person you thought you were? Pitoniak expertly captures both the excitement and the oppressive darkness of being young and at sea in New York City, the unsettlingly thin line between freedom and free fall. And while the novel isn’t always subtle in its revelations, it’s deeply empathetic—and always engaging. A bittersweet coming-of-age drama and a portrait of an era.
