"The personal is pertinently political in this insightful, entertaining sign-of-the-times debut centred on a young Black woman who falls in love while forging her way in the world."
Framed by Obama and Trump’s presidential elections, Cecilia Rabess’ Everything's Fine explores whether it’s possible to make a life with someone who sees the world very differently as it reels with romance that doesn’t run entirely smoothly, and insights into the prejudiced, cutthroat world of finance. More “could-they-should-they?” than “will-they-won’t-they?”, I raced through this in one sweeping sitting.
When Jess meets preppy Josh at their Ivy League college, she takes an instant dislike to his self-entitled confidence and conservatism. Post-graduation, after toying with the idea of working for a feminist magazine, Jess decides she wants “people to take her seriously”, and reckons having a million dollars in the bank might make that happen. So, she switches to a career in finance, only to discover that Josh is already rising through the ranks of Goldman Sachs when she joins his team.
Against an unfolding backstory of an abusive relationship from her past, Jess and Josh find themselves falling for each other. After following him to a new company, Jess also finds herself working for “garden-variety pompous asshats”, with her problems escalating when she’s told she’s “not a perfect culture fit”. When the worst happens at work and home, Jess faces a crucial question about their relationship: is Josh a “giant prick” (her words) or is he "really smitten", as her friends are inclined to believe?
“I’m black, you’re white. I’m liberal, you’re conservative…” Said that way it almost sounds like poetry. Opposites attract. The best kind of love story. But that’s not quite right”. So Jess ponders at a crucial point in a gripping story that explores whether you can love someone who holds opposing political views, and whether compromises could, or should, be made.
| Primary Genre | General Fiction |
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An instantly addictive 'should-they, shouldn't they' romance set against the backdrop of New York during Trump's first presidential campaign. Cecilia Rabess' Everything's Fine is hilarious, heartbreaking and impossible to put down.
'Acutely smart' - Elizabeth Day, author of Magpie
'Completely addictive' - Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of Daisy Jones and the Six
'Funny, sexy, unafraid, completely unputdownable' - India Knight, author of Darling
Jess first meets Josh at university. He is an entitled white guy in chinos, ready to inherit the world. She is almost always the only Black woman in their class. And she's not expecting to inherit anything.
After graduation, Jess and Josh end up working at the same bank. They share lunch, they share sparring matches, they share ambitions. And suddenly they're sleeping together . . .
'Spectacular' - Curtis Sittenfeld, author of Romantic Comedy
'Addictive and extremely funny' - Jenny Colgan, author of The Summer Skies
'Stunning' - Meg Mason, author of Sorrow and Bliss
'Plain funny as hell' - Zakiya Dalila Harris, author of The Other Black Girl
'I loved this. One Day with teeth' - Naomi Wood, author of This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things
'Our most explosive discussion yet . . . The PERFECT book club book' - Casual Readers Book Club
*A Times 100 Best Books of the Summer and Guardian Book of the Year*
Everything's Fine features in the following genres: General Fiction, Debuts, Romance / Relationship Stories, Modern and Contemporary romance, Narrative theme: Love and relationships, Narrative theme: Death, grief, loss, Narrative theme: Identity / belonging, Narrative theme: Politics, Fiction, Recommendations, Fiction: narrative themes
Everything's Fine is available in Paperback, Hardback
Everything's Fine was written by Cecilia Rabess and published by Picador an imprint of Pan Macmillan
Everything's Fine has 328 pages
£8.99
