I'm not really sure what to make of this one. I can't say I didn't enjoy it because I did, especially the parts that described the inner workings of the theater, which I thought was quite fascinating. The title of the book, Good Company, is actually the name of the theater company that is owned by Julian Fletcher, the husband of the main character Flora Mancini. At first, I thought this theater company would be the main focus of the story, however it turned out to be more of a backdrop, an element of the characters' pasts back when they lived in New York City prior to moving to Los Angeles. Rather, the story focuses on the aftermath of one very simple action — while looking for a photo to give to her daughter for her graduation, Flora stumbles across an envelope that she opens to find her husband's wedding ring, which he claimed to have lost in a pond many years ago. This triggers a reckoning for Flora that threatens to upend not just her marriage and her family, but also her relationship with her best friend Margot.
To me, this story actually had a lot of potential, but the execution didn't work too well. The main problem is that the story meandered and jumped around way too much. While I understand the necessity of incorporating the various characters' backstories, it was done in a way that was distracting, as the details were often inserted in the middle of a scene or thought, basically going off on a different tangent and interrupting what was happening at the moment — by the time it got back to the current scene, I had already forgotten what had happened earlier. The plot felt like it was all over the place, which made the story overall difficult to follow. Also, I thought some of the plot points felt a bit forced and unnecessary — such as the encounter between Flora and her therapist Maude, for example — and didn't do much for the story except drag it out more than necessary.
In terms of the characters, I actually didn't care for any of them, for some reason. I'm not sure if perhaps the structure of the story affected my ability to connect with the characters or maybe I just didn't find any aspects of their thoughts or actions relatable to my own — all I know is that I had a hard time rooting for any of the characters.
I haven't read this author's debut novel The Nestyet so I don't have a comparison point, but I have heard good things about that one, so I still intend to read it at some point. As for Good Company, I feel it's worth a read, especially if you liked this author's previous work — it just wasn't really for me.
Received ARC from Ecco (HarperCollins) via NetGalley.
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