Landline

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What to expect

Georgie McCool knows her marriage is in trouble. That it's been in trouble for a long time. She still loves her husband, Neal, and he still loves her - but that almost seems besides the point now.

Two days before they're supposed to visit Neal's family in Omaha for Christmas, Georgie tells him that she can't go. She's a TV writer, and something's come up on her show; she has to stay in Los Angeles. She knows that Neal will be upset with her - he is always a little upset with her - but she doesn't expect to him to pack up the kids and go home without her.

When her husband and the kids leave for the airport, Georgie wonders if she's finally done it. If she's ruined everything.

That night, Georgie discovers a way to communicate with Neal in the past. It's not time travel, not exactly, but she feels like she's been given an opportunity to fix her marriage before it starts...

Is that what she's supposed to do?

Or would Georgie and Neal be better off if their marriage never happened?

Read by Rebecca Lowman

(p) 2014 Macmillan Audio

Critics Review

  • Best for a romantic break … Rom-com fans will lap it up.

    GRAZIA
  • I was completely knocked sideway by how good Landline is.

    THE BOOKSELLER
  • This clever romantic comedy is perfect company for a stretch on the beach.

    GLAMOUR
  • This is a great journey book, as Georgie fumbles about finding herself and what she and Neal need to stay together. I recommend this to anybody for a fun summer read (even though it is set at Christmas!), and I really enjoyed the ups and downs of Georgie’s Christmas turmoil.

    THE GUARDIAN ONLINE
  • Landline‘s premise is fairly simple: given the chance to change a small aspect of the past, would you? But there’s so much more. Rowell’s way with dialogue is amazing (and useful, given that most of the book consists of telephone conversations). Neal’s mother, only ever a presence on the other end of the line, is as well realised as any of the characters we get to ‘see’. Landline is great on the complexities of adult relationships too, showing how a search for balance can be what love is made of and how a thousand tiny compromises mean more than the grandest romantic gesture

    EMERALD STREET
  • If you could talk to someone in the past in order to influence the future, would you? That’s the idea behind Rainbow Rowell’s clever new book.

    WOMAN

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