Jane moves to the small town of Boyne City, Michigan, and it’s not long before she’s fallen for Duncan, the town’s locksmith and woodworker. He’s handsome, charming, and has dated nearly every woman in Boyne City at some point, but that doesn’t dissuade Jane from getting into a relationship with him.
While running into women he’s dated through the years (or relatives of theirs) can sometimes be awkward—and unexpected when it happens in neighboring towns—Jane has made peace with that. But it’s harder to share Duncan with so many people, especially his ex-wife, Aggie, her doddering new husband Gary, and Jimmy, Duncan’s coworker. (Duncan still mows Aggie and Gary’s lawn because Gary doesn’t care for lawnmowers.)
But one split-second decision, one car accident, changes everything Jane had thought about marriage and family. Suddenly Jane’s life is inextricably connected to Jimmy’s, which also means to Duncan, Aggie, and Gary. Her future takes a far different path than she was thinking in some ways, but is that a bad thing?
Early Morning Riser is an absolutely fantastic book. It moves from 2002-2019, spanning the lives of these characters and a few more. (Freida, Jane’s best friend, cracked me up so many times.) I literally was laughing hysterically throughout the book and tearing up in other places, because Katherine Heiny is such an insightful storyteller.
Heiny’s first novel, Standard Deviation, was one of my favorite books of 2017, so I’m not sure what took me so long to read this one, but I loved it. It’ll definitely make my year-end best list! (Thanks to my friend Andy for the reminder!)
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