Blog Tour Review, Interview & Giveaway: The Grown Ups – Robin Antalek

Posted February 13, 2015 by Cocktails and Books in Blog Tour, Giveaways / 1 Comment

From Robin Antalek, author of The Summer We Fell Apart, comes an evocative and emotionally resonant coming-of-age novel involving three friends who explore what it means to be happy, what it means to grow up, and the difficulties in doing both together. Spanning over a decade, and told in alternating voices, The Grown Ups explores the indelible bonds between friends and family and the challenges that threaten to divide them. It is the addictive and moving story of these old friends who wind up confronting their past in order to find happiness in their adult lives that make this novel an anticipated winter release.

Sam Turner, the summer he turns 15, feels lucky enough to enjoy the unexpected attention of his friend Suzie Epstein, even though it’s only a few secret months. For reasons Sam doesn’t entirely understand—and will never question—the budding relationship is kept hidden from their close circle of friends. But before their summer tans can even start to fade, Sam’s world unexpectedly shatters twice: Suzie’s parents are moving away to save their marriage, and his own mother has suddenly left the house, leaving Sam’s father alone to raise two sons.

Watching as her parents’ marital troubles escalate, Suzie Epstein takes on the responsibility of raising her two younger brothers while simultaneously planning an early escape to college to seek independence. Though she occasionally thinks of Sam, it’s her oldest friend Bella Spade she finds herself missing. Embarrassed by the destructive wake of her parents as they left the only place Suzie could call home, Suzie makes no attempt to reconnect with the one person she needs. Its years later that a chance meeting with Sam’s older brother Michael will reunite her with both Sam and Bella—finally forcing her to confront her friends, her past and what she left behind.

After losing Suzie, Bella surprisingly finds her first real love in Sam. But his inability to commit to her or even his own future eventually drives them apart. Watching Suzie and Michael as they seem to have worked it all out, Bella’s only to wonder where she went wrong and how to make it right.

Series:
Release Date: January 27th, 2015
Publisher: William Morrow
Source: Provided by Publisher
Reviewer: Joelle
Link to Follow Tour: http://www.tastybooktours.com/2014/11/the-grown-ups-novel-by-robin-antalek.html
Rating:

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Reviewer’s Thoughts

3.5 Cocktails

The Grown Ups seemed a fairly familiar story to me. It may be that I am still in contact with many of the friends I had throughout childhood just like the characters in this book. Antalek accurately depicted the adolescent thoughts and dialogue of the characters just as thoroughly as when they grew up into adulthood.

The reader feels as though they know Michael, Sam, Suzie, Bella and the rest of the neighbors from the story from the beginning. It kind of reminded me of The Wonder Years, although a little more “raw”. As teens, they spend summers by the pool, go to dances, get drunk in the basement, etc. pretty typical stuff. Antalek also touches on the more difficult (and I guess still typical) life events like illness, divorce, adultery, and betrayal.

Antalek tells the story from the points’ of view of various characters—focusing mostly on Michael, Sam, Suzie and Bella. I found myself sympathizing mostly with Sam. He seemed the most lost of the group of “kids” and maybe the most sensitive. He also endured a lot of pain and loss and had to overcome it basically all on his own.

While this had my mostly-happy-ending going for it, the author told a realistic tale. There was a lot of heartache and loss, just like in real life so I thought there was a good balance to the book. Definitely worth a read.

Tell us about yourself.
I’m a writer, mother, wife – there’s no significance to the order! I live in Saratoga Springs, born in NYC, raised in a tiny town at the edge of the Florida Everglades from 10 – 18. Went to art school for a year, transferred colleges, traveled, experimented, held a variety of jobs from waitress to bartender to cooking for an elderly couple who just wanted to stay in their home, to retail, to… you name it. I’ve experienced a lot – but I only write fiction.
What three things about you might surprise your readers?
I’ve written more novels than I’ve published, I’m insecure in large groups, and I am really comfortable writing a sex scene but would prefer NOT to talk about it.

Is there a genre(s) that you think “I might like to write one of those.”?
I loved the intricate structure of Gone Girl, but in that story the details are everything – and keeping track of the details! I admire that kind of plotting and commitment. My writing style is way more relaxed, that means I don’t do a lot of outlining or plot work ahead of time. I more likely “feel” my way into the story. So I’m not sure I could ever change to a genre that demanded I be more present, for lack of a better term.

Tell us a little about The Grown Ups.
The idea for The Grown Ups grew out of a sentence I overheard one woman say to another: ‘It was the summer all the children in the neighborhood caught a virus’. I wrote that down, thought I would forget about it, but kept returning to it over and over until one morning, I swear, I woke with Sam’s voice fully formed in my head along with a box full of provocative photos of the neighborhood mothers and a girl who suddenly kissed him on her fifteenth birthday. I knew his brother was an over achiever and that Sam was most definitely not. I also knew his parents’ marriage was in its last days. So I wrote what I imagined would be a short story – but turned into a novel about friends and family and how all our lives we continue to grow up.

The book begins during a summer where the neighborhood children all catch the same virus – any inspiration from your personal life? Or is there somewhere/something that the idea for the main storyline came from?
I guess I answered this question already (see above). But if it hadn’t been for the fact that I had just shelved a novel after two years and was searching for something to write about – I don’t know if the sentence I overheard would have sparked my imagination the way it did. Being an eavesdropper certainly paid off. Being at the used book shop sitting on the floor going through a pile of books, the two elderly volunteers who were having that conversation, my mood. I can’t even tell you what was said before or after that sentence. It just sparked something. And those ladies – I never did see the same volunteers at the book shop again, have no idea.

What do you think readers will like/love about Sam, Suzie and Bella, specifically their friendships, which gradually grows more into a relationship?
In a world where every relationship seems fleeting, where the Internet has made geography or even proximity unnecessary for relationships, the idea of a group of lifelong friends who turn into something more seems quaint, practically old-fashioned. I hope readers will see their honesty, their mistakes, their vulnerability, their growth and perhaps a little of themselves in their stories.

What was your favorite scene from the book?
That’s like picking a favorite child! I can’t name one favorite but I will say the moment Suzie Epstein tosses the photographs of the neighborhood mothers’ out her father’s sunroof as they leave town is among the top five.

Do you have any book “boyfriends”? What draws you to them? What would draw your readers into Sam or Michael?
I don’t know that I have one book boyfriend, but I do know what draws me to the male character: empathy, earnestness, a little cockiness, somewhat of a screw-up, honesty, not too good looking. Hopefully Sam and Michael are an amalgamation of all those things.

If you had to pick a favorite cocktail of choice, what would it be? (It can be non-alcoholic too)
I’m a gin and tonic girl. Or, a chocolate coffee stout. Depends upon the mood and the weather!

What’s next for you?
It’s about a woman married to a larger than life artist and the choices she must make in order to save herself and her daughter.

Robin Antalek is the author of The Summer We Fell Apart. Her nonfiction writing has been published in literary journals and in several collections, including The Beautiful Anthology; Writing off Script: Writers on the Influence of Cinema; and The Weeklings: Revolution #1 Selected Essays 2012-1013. Her short fiction has appeared in 52 Stories, Five Chapters, Sun Dog, The Southeast Review, and Literary Mama among others. She lives in Saratoga Springs, New York.