Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⬜
Title: Marrying the Ketchups
Author: Jennifer Close
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Setting: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Month Read: May 2022
Book Type: Hardcover
Publication: 2022
Publisher: Knopf
Pages: 309
*Book of the Month Selection
TRIGGER WARNING-
Politics / Sexual Content / Death / Alcohol / Cheating
"Teddy believed that food could cure anything—heartbreak, homesickness, the common cold."
No Spoiler Summary (Goodreads):
Here are the three things the Sullivan family knows to be true: the Chicago Cubs will always be the underdogs; historical progress is inevitable; and their grandfather, Bud, founder of JP Sullivan's, will always make the best burgers in Oak Park. But when, over the course of three strange months, the Cubs win the World Series, Trump is elected president, and Bud drops dead, suddenly everyone in the family finds themselves doubting all they hold dear.
Take Gretchen for example, lead singer for a '90s cover band who has been flirting with fame for a decade but is beginning to wonder if she's too old to be chasing a childish dream. Or Jane, Gretchen's older sister, who is starting to suspect that her fitness-obsessed husband who hides the screen of his phone isn't always "working late." And then there's Teddy, their steadfast, unfailingly good cousin, nursing heartbreak and confusion because the guy who dumped him keeps showing up for lunch at JP Sullivan's where Teddy is the manager. How can any of them be expected to make the right decisions when the world feels sideways--and the bartender at JP Sullivan's makes such strong cocktails?
Review:
I'm incredibly glad that I switched this into my BotM cart last minute this month, because I have not directly related to characters as closely as I did with Gretchen and Jane in quite some time. I really adored so many part of this book, and I'm thrilled to announce it as our July Books and Brews Book Club pick! A beautiful family, food described so perfectly you could taste it, characters that were relatable and lovely (but sometimes fun to hate).
Like Gretchen, I lived in New York and was also a wedding band singer in CT and Boston. Her hopes, her fears, the great pay- all of it so true. I left the scene a few years ago to focus on other things, and the not missing it/missing it all the time is something I still struggle with as well. It's so fun, but so stressful, and you never feel fully satisfied. We're also similar ages, so I got her in ways I didn't with the other characters.
Jane was relatable to me a lot, as well- the young children, the split politics in her household, how to deal with all of that while trying to do 100 other things all really hit home. I'm lucky that my husband is not an asshole like hers is, and for that I am very grateful, but some of the fights they had in the book were just, so real to me in so many ways. Also Owen is just a little bit older than my son, so that was a little wild. It's like Jane is me now, and Gretchen me a few years ago.
I loved the tiny flashbacks to other family members the night the Cubs won the world series. It was really lovely getting to be in heads that weren't just Jane, Gretchen, and Teddy- and you sort of get to see where other people are coming from. I really loved the Grandparents. My grandpa was a die hard Red Sox fan, and he went something like 80 years before he got to see them win the World Series in 2004. The recollections to Bud and baseball, and even Rose, and my Grandma Ruth just felt like home to me.
If you were on the fence about getting this book, I really recommend you do. It's a little political (because 2016), but not enough where you feel weird about it. I'm really excited for the discussions this will bring up in a few months, and really happy to see what others think.
Recommendation:
Family Dramas:
Last Summer at the Golden Hotel by Elyssa Friedland
What's Mine and Yours by Naima Coster
We Are the Brennans by Tracey Lange The Family by Naomi Krupitsky
The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina by Zoraida Cordova
The Star Crossed Sisters of Tuscany by Lori Nelson Spielman
"Gathering at restaurants was the Sullivans' answer to everything---death, marriage, farewells, birthdays. They had a favorite restaurant and dish for every occasion. Tacos complemented happy news, pasta absorbed grief, bacon lifted you out of a funk, and Chinese food was a wild card----egg rolls were appropriate for a promotion or a broken heart."
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