*Your Actual Life May Vary is a quirky first-person novel that follows one young woman's journey as she tries to find a place for herself here in the Golden State, not to mention one for the child she's taken, although she might use the word rescued. Semantics matter to her, maybe a little too much. The novel delves into valley life vs. city life, child-stealing, eerie theme parks, and overpriced real estate built on land that basically tends to give way. It's a parable along the lines of Little Children meets Little Miss Sunshine, with a neon moment or two of The Simpsons creeping in.
"*Your Actual Life May Vary is a novel that's all heart, a story of finding
solace and connection in a world that often seems designed for
alienation. Lenhoff has written a book that celebrates love and
compassion at a time when we all sorely need it."
- Elizabeth Gonzalez James, author of The Bullet Swallower
and Mona at Sea
Patty Grant, a faltering grad student in San Diego, learns that she needs to move out of her beloved rental with almost no notice. But she wonders: What should she do about the young child tied to a doghouse in a backyard down the street? After all, her calls to child services just go unanswered and none of the neighbors seems to have noticed... . One spur-of-the-moment decision changes Patty' s life— but she couldn' t just leave that stray child behind, could she? And does having a child strapped haphazardly to the passenger seat make you some kind of parent? Or... something else? With her silent, mysterious passenger, Patty follows the California dream, searching for a place that' s perfect and brand new, yet somehow comforting and familial. Can she escape her past and make amends for her rash decision? Once she gets to know her new community, Patty discovers that nearly everyone has something to hide. She might just fit right in... . In this darkly comic novel, Linda Lenhoff gives us a parable of the modern community and examines what it really means to be a family through a uniquely twisted, humorous lens.
Genre: Literary Fiction
"*Your Actual Life May Vary is a novel that's all heart, a story of finding
solace and connection in a world that often seems designed for
alienation. Lenhoff has written a book that celebrates love and
compassion at a time when we all sorely need it."
- Elizabeth Gonzalez James, author of The Bullet Swallower
and Mona at Sea
Patty Grant, a faltering grad student in San Diego, learns that she needs to move out of her beloved rental with almost no notice. But she wonders: What should she do about the young child tied to a doghouse in a backyard down the street? After all, her calls to child services just go unanswered and none of the neighbors seems to have noticed... . One spur-of-the-moment decision changes Patty' s life— but she couldn' t just leave that stray child behind, could she? And does having a child strapped haphazardly to the passenger seat make you some kind of parent? Or... something else? With her silent, mysterious passenger, Patty follows the California dream, searching for a place that' s perfect and brand new, yet somehow comforting and familial. Can she escape her past and make amends for her rash decision? Once she gets to know her new community, Patty discovers that nearly everyone has something to hide. She might just fit right in... . In this darkly comic novel, Linda Lenhoff gives us a parable of the modern community and examines what it really means to be a family through a uniquely twisted, humorous lens.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Used availability for Linda Lenhoff's *Your Actual Life May Vary