Cheri Reviews Hello from the Gillespies by Monica McInerney

I picked this up from NetGalley a very long time ago and after it sat on my TBR list for a while, I couldn’t remember what it was about or why I had been intrigued enough to request it. When I came across the audio version and listened to a sample, I decided it was time to give it a shot. I’m so happy I did.

Here’s the blurb from Amazon:

For the past thirty-three years, Angela Gillespie has sent to friends and family around the world an end-of-the-year letter titled “Hello from the Gillespies.” It’s always been cheery and full of good news. This year, Angela surprises herself—she tells the truth….
The Gillespies are far from the perfect family that Angela has made them out to be. Her husband is coping badly with retirement. Her thirty-two-year-old twins are having career meltdowns. Her third daughter, badly in debt, can’t stop crying. And her ten-year-old son spends more time talking to his imaginary friend than to real ones.
Without Angela, the family would fall apart. But when Angela is taken away from them in a most unexpected manner, the Gillespies pull together—and pull themselves together—in wonderfully surprising ways…

This book isn’t the type I normally read. It’s a general fiction, leaning toward women’s fiction I suppose. No blood and guts (except for a cut finger), no edge of the seat action, no lesbian romance. Just a very well written, well narrated book whose characters will stay with me for some time to come. I can even see myself wanting to reread it in the future. The only thing I didn’t care for was the narrator’s American accent. It was pretty awful. But she kicked so much ass on every other part, I didn’t really even care.

I can’t fully describe how I felt while listening to this book. Even though there were a lot of POVs and it’s a long book (nearly 17 hours of listening), I stayed engaged and curious. I smiled and laughed and even had a knot in my gut a few times. No tears though. While we spend the most time with Angela, I grew to care about every other character nearly as much. Such a beautiful, flawed, and loving family. I’m going to miss Angela.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ebook copy.

You can download a sample or purchase Hello from the Gillespies by clicking here.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.