MAIN CHARACTERS by Bobby Palmer

4 stars

Clara Cowan and Seb Bonami meet in London as young adults. Clara wants to direct films and has become making some with her completely annoying actor boyfriend. Seb has yet to find his passion, despite gigs in acting, modeling and playing music with his band of close friends.

Clara and Seb end up falling passionately at love, but Seb continues to struggle to find his calling while Clara pursues her movie directing ambitions. While Seb dreams of being a stay-at-home Dad, Clara pushes him by casting in as an actor in her most important film to date. All this leads to an explosive betrayal and break-up, but the two keep running into each other via their many shared friends. Set over the course of two decades, Clara and Seb’s love story takes on an undeniable life of its own.

What makes this book so unique is innumerable outside characters, from closest friends to casual observers, in Seb and Clara’s lives narrate each chapter All bring their own perspective on the relationship. As a chorus, they capture the intensity and heartbreak and potential of this romance across many years. It’s genius that Palmer captures such intimacy without once entering either of Seb or Clara’s first-person perspective.

Wondrously original and evocative.

Thanks to Little Brown & Company and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

Stacy DeBroff

Stacy DeBroff, founder and CEO of Mom Central.com and social and digital consultancy, Influence Central, is a social media strategist, attorney, and best-selling parenting author. A sought-after expert for national media, she trend-spots regularly with national brands and speaks frequently to national and international audiences on a wide range of subjects, including influencer marketing, social media, entrepreneurship, and consumer trends. A passionate cook, gardener, reader, and tennis player, she adores this new chapter of post-college-age parenting.