The Atlas of love (by Laurie Frankel)

(Amazon UK link)

The first book I read by Laurie Frankel was ‘This is how it always is’. I liked it so much, and thought it so thought-provoking that I recommended it for our local book group, and then read it again. I decided to put one or two more of the author’s books on my wishlist, and was given ‘The Atlas of love’... for Christmas 2023. I don’t know why I didn’t read it sooner, but at last I picked it up to read a few days ago.

The story is narrated by a young woman called Janey who is a graduate student in the United States. That means that she does some studying, writes papers, and also teaches some classes. Her subject is English Literature, and on the whole she enjoys teaching. 

But the story opens with a kind of prequel, when Janey, as a six-year-old, finds a baby in some foliage in a hotel. She’s with her grandmother, who insists that the story - the rest of the novel - starts then. Janey thinks it begins when she meets Jill, and other people have other ideas.

Janey and Jill become friends right before starting their graduate teaching. They meet in the supermarket when they’re buying snacks, and talk about nutrition, in a low-key kind of way. Janey decides to learn to cook, and they spend increasing amounts of time together. Then another graduate student, Katie, latches onto them. She’s not really their ‘type’ at all: Katie, to start with, was someone they agreed to dislike. 

But nobody can really dislike Katie. And when she says she wants to learn to cook too, they accept her, although she’s very different from them. Janey is nominally Jewish, Jill isn’t anything much, but Katie is a committed Mormon, and really wants to get married.

Then Jill gets pregnant, and her boyfriend doesn’t support her. Jill is somewhat careless and quite selfish, but Janey is generous, and good at solving problems. The outcome is that the three of them decide to join forces and live in a large house together, so they can share care of the baby, when it arrives.

Most of the book is about how this works out when the baby - Atlas - is born. There are other people involved, too, including their gay friend Jason, and his partner, and various parents. At first things work out well - the three girls come up with a rota system, depending on who is teaching or at classes, and share baby care in a way that works out well. Atlas isn’t a difficult baby, and he seems to bond to them all.

There’s some humour in the book, particularly when Katie keeps going on dates but discovers problems with the different young men. Most are from her church, and younger than she is. Then there’s Ethan, who is a good match in many respects, but not Mormon, and not willing to consider converting. But he stays friendly with her, and with Jill and Janey too. 

There’s also quite a bit of poignancy, and some drama, and plenty of literary discussion, too. In teaching some of her students about short stories and novels, Janey talks about some of her own life, and compares everyday life to fiction, and literature. This leads to some interesting discussions about whether ‘what happens’ or motivation is more important. 

The characters are nicely developed, and I liked Janey very much indeed. Katie is perhaps a tad caricatured, but she’s likeable, too. Atlas is delightful. I didn’t really take to Jill, but then I wasn’t supposed to. Most of the young men are caring and thoughtful as well, and I appreciated that, and their involvement in the story.

The writing is good, and while it took a little while to get going, I was emotionally involved in the story by the time it was about half-way through, and could barely put it down. I loved the different ways that people understood ‘family’, and felt for Janey when things started falling apart for her. 

Definitely recommended if you like women’s fiction that’s a bit different. 

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