The Ramblers: A Novel - Softcover

Rowley, Aidan Donnelley

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0062413325 ISBN 13: 9780062413321

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks, 2016

Synopsis

For fans of J. Courtney Sullivan, Meg Wolitzer, Claire Messud, and Emma Straub, a gorgeous and absorbing novel of a trio of confused souls struggling to find themselves and the way forward in their lives, set against the spectacular backdrop of contemporary New York City.

Set in the most magical parts of Manhattan—the Upper West Side, Central Park, Greenwich Village—The Ramblers explores the lives of three lost souls, bound together by friendship and family. During the course of one fateful Thanksgiving week, a time when emotions run high and being with family can be a mixed blessing, Rowley’s sharply defined characters explore the moments when decisions are deliberately made, choices accepted, and pasts reconciled.

Clio Marsh, whose bird-watching walks through Central Park are mentioned in New York Magazine, is taking her first tentative steps towards a relationship while also looking back to the secrets of her broken childhood. Her best friend, Smith Anderson, the seemingly-perfect daughter of one of New York’s wealthiest families, organizes the lives of others as her own has fallen apart. And Tate Pennington has returned to the city, heartbroken but determined to move ahead with his artistic dreams.

Rambling through the emotional chaos of their lives, this trio learns to let go of the past, to make room for the future and the uncertainty and promise that it holds. The Ramblers is a love letter to New York City—an accomplished, sumptuous novel about fate, loss, hope, birds, friendship, love, the wonders of the natural world and the mysteries of the human spirit. 

About this title

From the Back Cover:

In this irresistible novel, two friends discover that life—and love—can change profoundly in just seven days.

Fourteen years ago, college freshmen Clio Marsh and Smith Anderson met in the dorm room they’d share. Now in their precarious thirties, on the surface, they’re thriving—Clio as an ornithologist at the American Museum of Natural History and Smith as a passionate personal organizer to Manhattan’s privileged set. But the truth is: they’re stalled.

Clio grieves the loss of her larger-than-life mother and revisits the heartbreaking secrets of her childhood while wondering if she can commit to the dazzling older man in her life. Smith wrestles with the continued mystery of her broken engagement to a brilliant neurosurgeon and navigates the complexities of her too-close Manhattan family while anxiously bracing for her younger sister’s upcoming society wedding.

However, a lot can happen over one fateful Thanksgiving week. A hidden door in a hotel room leads to a startling late-night surprise. A soulful and brooding college classmate reappears. Trips are taken, pasts are examined, and futures are glimpsed as the two friends realize, together and apart, that becoming lost—rambling through the pathways of life—is sometimes just what it takes to find your way. The Ramblers is a singular story of friendship and love in modern times that will linger with readers long after the final page.

About the Author:

Born and raised in New York City, Aidan Donnelley Rowley graduated from Yale University and received her law degree from Columbia University. She is the author of a previous novel, Life After Yes, and the creator of the Happier Hours Literary Salons. She lives in Manhattan with her husband and three daughters.

About this edition

• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0062413325
• ISBN 13: 9780062413321
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 416