When It Happens to You, Molly Ringwald
When It Happens to You, Molly Ringwald
3 Rating(s)
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When It Happens to You
A Novel in Stories

Author: Molly Ringwald

Narrator: Molly Ringwald

Unabridged: 6 hr 18 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 08/14/2012


Synopsis

When it happens to you, you will be surprised. That thing they say about how you knew all the time, but just weren't facing it? That might be the case, but nevertheless, there you will be.Molly Ringwald mines the complexities of modern relationships in this gripping and nuanced collection of interlinked stories. Writing with a deep compassion for human imperfection, Ringwald follows a Los Angeles family and their friends and neighbors while they negotiate the hazardous terrain of everyday life—revealing the deceptions, heartbreak, and vulnerability familiar to us all.In ""The Harvest Moon,"" a stay-at-home mom grapples with age, infertility, and an increasingly distant husband. In ""Ursa Minor,"" a former children's television star tries to rebuild his life after being hospitalized for ""exhaustion."" An elderly woman mourns the loss of her husband and her estranged relationship with her daughter in ""The Little One."" In ""My Olivia,"" a single mother finds untapped reserves of strength to protect her flamboyant six-year-old son who wishes only to wear dresses and be addressed as Olivia. And in the devastating title story, a betrayed wife chronicles her pain and alienation, leading to an eviscerating denouement.As the lives of these characters converge and diverge in unexpected ways, Ringwald reveals a startling eye for the universality of loss, love, and the search for connection. An unflinching yet poignant examination of the intricacies of the human heart, When It Happens to You is an auspicious literary debut.

About Molly Ringwald

Molly Ringwald's work in film is characterized by what the renowned New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael called her ""charismatic normality."" Throughout her extensive career, she has worked with such directors as Paul Mazursky, John Hughes, Cindy Sherman, and Jean-Luc Godard. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Parade, Esquire, and the Hartford Courant. She lives with her husband and three children in Los Angeles.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Panio on June 14, 2012

Full disclosure: my wife wrote this book. That said, I think it's a tremendous feat of storytelling. I loved the interconnectedness of the narratives, the way that events are reintroduced later from a different vantage, and how these perspectival shifts reinforce themes of complexity and even opacit......more

Goodreads review by Nancy on December 06, 2012

I put off reading this book because I made the erroneous assumption that Molly Ringwald is the same girl as the actress in the 80's, still riding her wave of notoriety by trying her hand at writing a novel which inevitably will be bad. She's an actress, after all. Not a writer. Here is my public apo......more

Goodreads review by Roxane on August 14, 2012

This is not a bad book but it's not a good or great book either. The writing is competent. There are some nice sentences and moments throughout and with a great editor, this book could become so much more. There's not enough that makes this book special or inspired. It's a novel in stories about a c......more

Goodreads review by Howard on August 28, 2024

4.5 Stars for When It Happens to You: A Novel in Stories (audiobook) by Molly Ringwald read by the author. The author takes a close look into the lives of several families. Things are so much more complex than they seem from the outside.......more

Goodreads review by christa on August 25, 2012

I’ve always thought that in order to be a writer of fiction, you would have to be at least a somewhat competent actor. It would make it easier to sync dialogue and gestures, to envision what it looks like to cross a room or buy an apple. That knowing how to get into character would make it easier to......more