Our book this month has JUST been released. In fact, the publisher shared an Advanced Reader Copy with us so we could review it as it’s being released. The book is LAWS OF LOVE AND LOGIC by Debra Curtis. Dutiful and romantic, Lily Webb is growing up in Rhode Island in 1976 and is in love with her high school football star boyfriend. There are two huge events which alter the course of Lily’s charmed life. First, her wonderful, smart, science- and God loving mom, dies when Lily is in 7th grade. This impacts her and also her younger sister, Jane, who is extremely smart and also a bit of a wild child. The author writes: “As the months passed, Lily suffered the loss of her mother quietly, while Jane’s loss led her to a place where hungry souls devour themselves. It went on like this for years.” Second, her boyfriend gets into a fight and accidentally causes grave physical harm to another student, sending him to prison. The rest of the book is about how Lily moves forward with her life and the life that could have been. This is Debra Curtis’ debut novel. Friend of the podcast and best-selling author of Remarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby Van Pelt, says this about the book, “At once sweeping and intimate, Laws of Love and Logic is a gorgeous meditation on roads not taken. Debra Curtis is not afraid to explore big questions about love and loss, but always with tenderness.” This is another sister book! In this book, Lily is our main character, but her sister Jane plays a very important role in her life. They are very different characters, with Lily being much more conventional and brilliant Jane rebelling against the norms of society. Nancy really liked that the sisters were emblematic of the two directions society was going in at that time: conventional lives versus countercultural lives. Nancy also really liked how the sisters, through their mom, cared about social justice, feminism, and loved science and spirituality. They also clearly loved each other, as well. Linny loved that their mom was a remarkable woman and mom. She liked that they were raised in the boys’ private Catholic school and their exposure to academia. This bonds them, as well and allows them to provide support to one another because of their unconditional love for each other. One of the conventional choices Lily makes is after college she falls in love with and marries Marshall Middleton, a famous ornithology professor from her college who comes from an elite NY family. Nancy felt like she wanted to basically lose herself in his life. She spends their courtship and married life learning about and tracking birds. Nancy felt Lily never really chose what she wanted in her life. Linny agrees that Lily was stuck and didn’t decide to make any choices for herself. Her sister, Jane, on the other hand wants to make every choice for herself, but unfortunately, they tend to not be great decisions. The root of this is the deep pain she felt when their mom died. Linny really liked Jane. Her substance abuse dependency keeps her from reaching her potential. Linny was disappointed that Lily didn’t really address Jane’s substance abuse. Nancy said she thinks that Lily’s approach was typical of the time, when most people viewed substance abuse as a choice rather than a disease. Each sister is critical of the choices the other makes. One of the plot points hinges on whether Lily was raped by a classmate. Lily has no memory of what happened, but since the boy boasted that they had sex and Lily knew she wouldn’t cheat on her boyfriend, she assumed that she had been. At one point in the book, Lily thinks to herself, that the alleged rape had given her life meaning. Others’ reactions to the rape seem to Nancy as also common during that time period, that is, blaming the girl. Sexuality and its consequences are all over this book. Early on, Lily and her high school boyfriend get pregnant and she has an abortion. There’s the rape incident. Lily and Marshall aren’t able to have children. Lily cheats on her husband with her high school boyfriend at their high school reunion. Jane uses sex to get what she wants from men, but also for pleasure. Her high school classmate, Tim, as an adult tells Lily he’s gay and it was his shame about this that prevented the full truth of Lily’s alleged rape from being known. In some ways, many of the characters are still stuck as the teenagers they once were. Linny was disappointed in Lily for her choice to cheat on her husband with her high school boyfriend. Linny does like the idea that she could have two loves in her life. Nancy disagrees and says she doesn’t think Lily has two loves because she doesn’t think Lily loves Marshall. Her love for the boy crowds out every other romantic love. Nancy also thinks that Lily never really even lets Marshall know who she really is, and so who he loves isn’t the real Lily. Linny thinks Lily doesn’t know who she is. Linny wanted Lily to know herself better and develop as a person. Near the end of the book, Lily thinks to herself that her life has been trapped in duality and its contradictions: love and loss, faith and science, and dark and light. Nancy thinks this is Lily rationalizing her paralysis. While there is a duality, there is a way to recognize the duality without being paralyzed by it. Linny really likes the introspective passages where we understand Lily’s thinking. Linny likes the science and faith passages, too. Their mom had that figured that out, but her girls really struggle with it. Nancy thinks the girls’ floundering after their mom’s death is the theme of this story and their lives would have turned out differently if she had survived. Linny appreciated the girls had echoes of their mom’s beliefs, but they could have used her wisdom for longer in their lives. Linny and Nancy discuss what they think the title, LAWS OF LOVE AND LOGIC, means. Linny and Nancy both loved the scenes of the now-adult friends from high school who are still discovering new things about each other, but are both still themselves in their essence. Linny and Nancy want to ask the author why we never learn the name of Lily’s high school boyfriend; he’s only ever referred to as “the boy.” Linny and Nancy both enjoyed the book. Nancy appreciated the exploration of the road not taken. In our next episodes, we welcome the author of THE LAWS OF LOVE AND LOGIC, Debra Curtis, to the front porch.