A Likely Story
BY Leigh McMullan Abramson
In A Likely Story, Isabella’s godmother, Glenda, takes her out for a birthday dinner at Barney’s. Glenda orders to pair Dom Perignon along with two Madison Avenue Salads. Replicate this famous salad using this recipe for Mark’s Madison Avenue Salad Recipe, an excerpt from The Freds at Barney’s New York Cookbook as found on Oprah.com.
** Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for the chance to read A Likely Story in exchange for my honest review. **
We have all been around people with magnetic personalities. These people tend to draw you in and make you want to be in their presence.
Other people go beyond magnetic, however. They give off an aura that makes them so captivating that people can’t stay away. Sometimes this aura is built on positivity, where the person makes those around them happy. Other times, this aura is far more negative. In either case, interactions with the person tend to be all-consuming and borderline obsessive.
Leigh McMullan Abramson’s A Likely Story follows two equally alluring characters but in different ways. Ward Manning was a struggling writer working as a waiter. One night, he served a beautiful, rich woman in the bar in which he worked. Claire was not only gorgeous but kind to those around her. Claire was surprised by Ward’s overly forward invitation to meet him but decided on a whim to go for it. Among other things, Ward discussed his writing struggles with Claire that night. They ended up sleeping together. As Claire was slipping out of his house, she edited a few sentences of Ward’s writing. The edits caught his attention and caused him to call her up again. Thus, the foundation of their relationship was formed.
Claire could see Ward’s talent, but she was also excellent at seeing the faults in his writing. As they continued dating, Ward slipped into a dark, brooding mood as he struggled with the end of his book. One night, Claire reads it and rewrites the ending, seeing the mistakes Ward had made. When Ward finds it the next morning, he immediately proposes. The book is picked up for publication and becomes his first literary success, American Dream. While working on his second book, Urban Idols, Ward’s ego gets the better of him, and he refuses to let Claire read any of it. When the publisher rejects the first draft, Claire steps in and works with Ward to rework the book. He often writes in the morning, and she helps him rewrite in the afternoons. This book becomes a success, too. Then, when Ward begins writing his third book, Claire realizes that he has stolen all of the stories that she has told him about her family and has created a thinly-veiled commentary on their privileged lifestyle. Claire is furious but agrees to let him use the story if he gives her a baby. This is how she finds herself nine months pregnant watching him from the sidelines as he gives an important interview about his third book, Manifest Destiny. During the interview, Ward takes credit for all of his accomplishments, never once mentioning Claire’s contributions. She is furious. As Ward’s admirers grow and people fight to be in his aura, Claire becomes more resentful of him. She throws herself into the true love of her life, her daughter, Isabelle.
A Likely Story switches between Claire’s early life with Ward and Isabelle’s perspective in the present. Claire has just unexpectedly died, and Isabelle and Ward are both struggling to live life without her. Isabelle is in her mid-thirties and is struggling to fulfill her dreams. She has always wanted to be a writer like her father, enjoying the glamour and admiration that comes with being a published author. But, her books have been continually rejected, and she is on the verge of being canceled by her agent. As her despair grows, she begins to push out the only person who is truly there for her– her best friend, Brian. Brian is a rising star in the U.S. attorney’s office, but you would not know it from the way Isabelle and the people in her life treat him. Glenda, Isabelle’s obnoxiously pretentious godmother who was best friends with Claire, refers to him as a “corn-fed midwesterner” and thus not worthy of her time. Ward doesn’t acknowledge Brian’s presence, either. Only Claire sees his value and tries to encourage Isabelle to think of him as more than a friend.
Unfortunately, Isabelle unloads all of her problems on Brian, but she never reciprocates by considering his feelings. He is the security blanket that she deploys when she needs him. The problem is that Brian is utterly consumed by Isabelle in the same way that Ward’s obsessive fans pursue him. After years of putting his life on hold in hopes that she will one day want to be more than friends, Brian realizes that she is toxic to his future happiness. He spends most of the book trying to cut her out of his life, not that Isabelle has even noticed.
Just when Isabelle feels like her life has hit rock bottom, she receives instructions from Claire to go to her parents’ house in Sag Harbor, NY and look through her dresser. Claire’s note explains that this must be done in secret because she does not trust Ward with the contents of the drawer. Isabelle finally brings herself to go look and finds a manuscript. It turns out that Claire was a brilliant author in her own right, but she never finished her book. Isabelle takes the manuscript, edits it, and writes the last third of the book. The fictional work, Underpaintings, is picked up by a publisher and catapults Isabelle to fame. As the press for the book begins, Isabelle fails to give Claire credit for the book. There’s one problem, though: Unbeknownst to her, Claire had let Glenda read the manuscript years ago. Glenda isn’t about to let Isabelle take credit from Claire as Ward had done so many years ago.
A Likely Story is an interesting tale of egotism, self-absorption, plagiarism, and the different paths love can take. It is filled with unlikeable characters, but you can’t help but feel sorry for each one at different points in the book. Abramson has done a remarkable job of showing that even the strongest, most self-assured people are crying out for acceptance and love on the inside. We all struggle with self-worth– some of us are just better at hiding it.
I absolutely love what Abramson did with the characters of Claire and Brian. Both are lovable figures that are also counter-stereotypical. Claire grew up with extreme privilege, yet she was the most loving, down-to-earth person in the book. She exuded love for her daughter and fought for her happiness. She could have been petty and out-of-touch like Glenda, but instead, she felt approachable and gracious.
Before I talk about Brian, I want to note that there are some very strong opinions about this book. I was shocked that it was not rated higher than it was, so I took some time flipping through the negative reviews. There were several common themes in these reviews: First, many people felt like it had excessive political messaging. I only came across one overtly political line, so this critique confused me at first (especially since I am usually hyperaware of political messaging). Then, I read one review where the reviewer also expressed confusion, saying he felt like he was reading a different book than the other reviewers. He wondered if some of the political messaging had been cut in the final stages of publishing. Honestly, this is the only explanation that makes sense to me. It was not a book high in political commentary, so do not let these reviews scare you aware from reading A Likely Story.
The other common theme in the negative reviews concerned the character of Brian. Many people took offense to the fact that he was portrayed as a “corn-fed Midwesterner.” The other characters of the book did look down on him in disdain for his upbringing, and I can see why that caused other reviewers to rate the book lower. I had the exact opposite reaction, however– instead of seeing the way Brian was portrayed as a judgment on the Midwest, I saw it as a scathing commentary on how people living on the coasts treat Midwesterners. I am from Oklahoma, but I have spent most of my adult life living in various large cities on the east coast. I cannot begin to describe some of the spiteful things that people have said to my face when they find out that I am from “flyover country.” There are a lot of false perceptions of what life is like in the middle of the United States. These billow into stereotypes that are simply not true. When I was working in Boston, I had a coworker describe how they bypassed a more-qualified job candidate from the Midwest in favor of a less-qualified candidate from an east coast school because they thought that the east coast person was “obviously smarter.” Yet, many of these same people have never been to the places from which they are judging. Most of my friends from Oklahoma have been to a large, coastal city, but I can’t say that many of my friends raised in larger cities have been to a smaller, midwestern city or town. Thus, I loved that Brian’s character was not only portrayed as kind and compassionate, qualities that are often stereotypical of midwestern characters but also as smart and accomplished. He may not have come from generational wealth, but he was a driven, successful individual.
I thoroughly enjoyed everything about A Likely Story. Abramson nailed the multi-dimensional nature of each character and made them feel realistic and vulnerable, even when they weren’t likable. It was a great reminder about how many of our actions are rooted in insecurities. Some of the most magnetic, successful people are driven by the fear of failure. The key is to make sure that these insecurities do not become toxic for the people around them.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
My Rating System Explained 5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: This was an amazing book, and I can't stop thinking about it. It impacted me emotionally or changed my perspective. My thoughts keep flickering back to it at random times throughout the day. I will absolutely recommend it to my friends or to one of my book clubs. 4 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: This was a really good book. Parts of it stuck with me, and I might mention it in a conversation. There is a high likelihood that I will recommend it to my friends or to one of my book clubs. 3 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️: I liked this book. It allowed me to escape from reality for a while. While I might tell somebody about it if I think it will interest them, I will probably not suggest it to one of my book clubs. 2 Stars ⭐️⭐️: There's something about this book that I didn't like. I wasn't willing to go all the way down to a one-star rating, but I'm definitely not digging it. I may recognize that this book is not for me, but it might be for other people. I will not recommend it to my friends or one of my book clubs. 1 Star ⭐️: My rarest rating. I really didn't like this book. Something in the story line upset me, and I probably "hate-read" the majority of the book. Not only will I not recommend it, but I will actively tell people that I did not like it.
Baking Through Book Club 