Fiction Book Review: An Unsuitable Match by Joanna Trollope

An Unsuitable Match is about what happens in a family when the mother, Rose, in her 60s, who has been divorced for seven years, falls in love with Tyler, a fellow student from high school. The novel takes place mostly in London with stops in New York City and San Francisco.

Rose’s three grown children and Tyler’s two grown children all wrestle with the news in varying ways when Rose and Tyler announce they want to get married.

Rose is living in a well-located house in London that her ex-husband bought for her as their divorce settlement. Single for seven years, her sole support other than the house is her income as a freelance editor. Her oldest daughter, Laura, is a doctor, is married and has two small children. Rose’s twins, Nat and Emmy, have jobs in London and work in finance and marketing, respectively. Widower Tyler, the new man in Rose’s life, has an actress daughter, Mallory, and a son, Seth, an artisan baker in San Francisco with his wife and business partner. Rose’s older sister, Prue, also speaks her mind about what’s happening to the family.

Lots of family interaction here as Rose’s children meet Tyler and then talk amongst themselves, and then one on one with their mother, over the implications and ramifications of the decision she’s about to make. Tyler’s daughter Mallory is pulled into the circle and even becomes friends with one of Rose’s children.

I like family sagas and while I don’t call this a saga, it is a family or domestic story. I’m aware that in this day and age when every book has to be easy to explain and easy to categorize that the type of books I like are hard to classify. And most people don’t like the catchall category of “women’s fiction,” though that’s often how it is categorized. Which is still too broad and why isn’t there “men’s fiction?”

I like the intimate feel of books like this – novels about families, about real life issues, about normal lives. Reading them is satisfying, probably because there’s resolution within 300-500 pages. Resolution in real life can often seem like a moving goal post. Plus, you might not ever truly understand why real people do what they do.

There’s a scene in the beginning of the novel where Rose and her family are waiting at a restaurant for Tyler, who they are about to meet. The adult children are bickering slightly, the twins especially out of sorts about Rose’s new man while Laura, the eldest, untroubled by most things, and least judgmental and the one most likely to let people do as they please, watches on serenely. And then Tyler arrives. The dynamic between everyone, the irritations and trying not to be impolite but also wanting to make it clear he isn’t yet welcome is written so well. You can really see all of the ebbs and flows of feeling around each character as they react to each other and navigate the rocky waters they’ve found themselves within.

I like also that no one character is the bad guy. It’s just people trying to get on with their lives and bumping into other people.

Pacing is good and does build as you get a few chapters in. The novel is more about the characters than it is about the plot, but there is suspense about the decisions they make and the actions they take.

Even Rose’s two grandchildren, Laura’s children, are distinct and have personalities. Four year old Jack is a little bossy and the youngest, Adam, who is probably 9 months or so, is always eating something. You can just picture him propped on Laura’s hip munching on a French fry clutched in his fist. It’s adorable in my imagination!

What I especially liked:

• The main character is in her sixties.
• The story has adult siblings interacting – aside from Rose’s grandchildren, everyone else is an adult. It was very true to what I’ve experienced, especially when one family member is stepping outside of expectation or facing a big decision.
• People have jobs they have to go to. Characters have real lives.
• Financial issues are real but not overwhelming. No one is living off of an inheritance or a hedge fund. We’re not talking about high flying glamour.
• The younger members of the family are trying to make it on their own and facing the struggles that come with that stage of life.
• How family members talk amongst themselves about the others, which is very realistic.
• The way the author shows us how each character behaves through physical action. Especially Tyler, Rose’s boyfriend, and baby Adam.
• Wide cast of characters, not just two people in a romance – children, grandchildren, former spouses, siblings, significant others, in-laws. Lots of room for relationships. Or lots of different relationships.
• Very realistic character motivations. No one is trying to save the world or solve a murder, but just trying to keep stability in their lives.

What I didn’t like

There is nothing here I disliked. There was one relationship I would have liked to see fleshed out earlier in the book. It won’t give anything away to mention that I would have liked to see Rose and Mallory interact more often earlier in the story. Their arc was a not quite as developed.

I like the Joanna Trollope novels I’ve read. She’s written 24! I knew I had a few on my bookshelves, including one called Brother and Sister that I read years ago and am now looking forward to reading again.

I warmly recommend An Unsuitable Match as a lighthearted, heartfelt, and absorbing novel.

book cover by carynwrites
Wisteria by Jonathan Wilkins from Pixabay/filtered from original