Spectacular Things by Beck Dorey-Stein

 

Sometimes women’s fiction is all about relationships, and too often those are relationships with men. Spectacular Things gets it right…the relationships that matter in this lovely book are those between the women.

The Lowe women, Liz, the mother, Mia and Cricket, are soccer players. They love the sport and live for it. They have immense talent—size, speed, coordination and brains. They have what it takes to go all the way.

But life has other ideas. Liz’s dream is cut short when she becomes pregnant with Mia, but she never suffers over it. She knows that her daughter is more important than soccer, and she steps up, working multiple jobs to provide a safe and loving environment for her daughter, which included morning soccer workouts on the beach. Mia has what it takes to be a star.

But it isn’t until Cricket comes along that the super star is born. Liz and Mia are good, but Cricket is great. And when their mother can no longer keep up with the practices, travel, work and parenting, she asks Mia to step up. Mia is happy to help, and her focus shifts from soccer to academics, where she excels at the Ivy League level. She gets her chance when she is accepted to the college of her dreams.

And then tragedy strikes, and sacrifice is required again and again.

The characters in this book are wonderful, nearly too good to be true, but you won’t stop cheering for them. Their family rituals were delightful, and these women made me want to get in shape! A great summer read, with so much to share, both of the soccer world and the art of being family.

Spectacular Things was published July 1, 2025. Thanks to Random House Publishing Group/The Dial Press and NetGalley for the review copy.

Fulfillment by Lee Cole

 

Lee Cole has written a dynamic novel that perfectly portrays the complications of family, career and life in general in the flyover section of contemporary USA. On one side, Joel, the educated, successful brother who has moved to New York with his wife and cat, has written a well-recieved memoir of essays about his tragic upbringing in Kentucky, complete with poverty, alcohol and drug use. Emmett, the younger “unseen” brother, drifts from job to job, seemingly unconcerned about his “career” until both brothers arrive at the family home in Paducah, where expectations and the desire for fulfillment clash.

The best part of this novel is the characterizations. Joel is not very insightful, though he believes himself to be a great thinker. And Emmett is much more insightful and intelligent than the reader expects him to be. Between them, Alice, Joel’s wife, and Kathy, their mother serve as a brilliant contrast of the roles of women in down home society.

The descriptions of the countryside feel authentic, highlighting the “brushstrokes of irrelevance in the landscape itself, especially as contrasted to Manhattan, where despite the dream of living there, one still feels isolated, banished and yearning.

I had not read Cole before but look forward to reading more in the future. Fulfillment was released on July 17, 2025, by Knopf Pantheon Vintage, and Anchor Knopf. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.