Audiobook9 hours
This Was Not the Plan: A Novel
Written by Cristina Alger
Narrated by George Newbern
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
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About this audiobook
From the New York Times bestselling author of Girls Like Us comes a “funny, bittersweet, and ultimately uplifting look” (Sarah Pekkanen) at fatherhood, love, and family life.
Charlie Goldwyn’s life hasn’t exactly gone according to plan. Widowerhood at thirty-three and twelve-hour workdays have left a gap in his relationship with his quirky five-year-old son, Caleb, whose obsession with natural disasters and penchant for girls’ clothing have made him something of a loner at his preschool. The only thing Charlie has going for him is his job at a prestigious law firm, where he is finally close to becoming a partner.
But when a slight lapse in judgment at an office party leaves him humiliatingly unemployed, stuck at home with Caleb for the summer, and forced to face his own estranged father, Charlie starts to realize that there’s more to fatherhood than financially providing for his son, and more to being a son than overtaking his father’s successes.
At turns heartbreaking and hilarious, This Was Not the Plan is a “sparkling and heartfelt” (Bookpage) story about loss and love, parenthood, and friendship, and what true work-life balance means.
Charlie Goldwyn’s life hasn’t exactly gone according to plan. Widowerhood at thirty-three and twelve-hour workdays have left a gap in his relationship with his quirky five-year-old son, Caleb, whose obsession with natural disasters and penchant for girls’ clothing have made him something of a loner at his preschool. The only thing Charlie has going for him is his job at a prestigious law firm, where he is finally close to becoming a partner.
But when a slight lapse in judgment at an office party leaves him humiliatingly unemployed, stuck at home with Caleb for the summer, and forced to face his own estranged father, Charlie starts to realize that there’s more to fatherhood than financially providing for his son, and more to being a son than overtaking his father’s successes.
At turns heartbreaking and hilarious, This Was Not the Plan is a “sparkling and heartfelt” (Bookpage) story about loss and love, parenthood, and friendship, and what true work-life balance means.
Author
Cristina Alger
Cristina Alger is a lifelong New Yorker and bestselling author of The Darlings, This Was Not the Plan, The Banker's Wife, and Girls Like Us. A graduate of Harvard College and NYU Law School, she worked as a financial analyst and a corporate attorney before becoming a writer. She lives in New York with her husband and children and is at work on her next novel.
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Reviews for This Was Not the Plan
Rating: 3.644736821052631 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
38 ratings8 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Another excellent book by this author! I devoured it.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Charlie Goldwyn was happily married and living in Manhattan while working at a prestigious law firm. Two years ago everything changed when he lost his wife in a plane crash. Following her death, he became immersed in his professional life. Charlie blocked all of his personal relationships including the one with his five year old son, Caleb. While pursuing a firm partnership he missed his son’s fifth birthday dinner and other milestone events.One evening during a firm party, Charlie has too much too drink and is asked to make a speech. His unprofessional comments about clients gets him fired after someone leaked the video online. Out of work, Charlie is forced to start a new chapter in his life as a father. He realizes that he has a lot to learn, navigating pre-school along with other parents. Along the way he learns a lot about himself which leads to important decisions about their future. This book is about the difficulty of balancing a career while raising a family. The themes apply to all parents regardless of their profession. Cristina Alger's next book, The Banker’s Wife, will be released in the summer of 2018.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Was Not the Plan is a sweet story about a dad, Charlie Goldwyn, whose life takes a sharp turn off the path he had planned for himself. The story opens two years after his wife has died. Charlie works all the time and doesn’t get to spend much time with his son, Caleb. Reaching his boiling point at a company party after too many drinks, Charlie makes a speech that gets him fired. As a result, Charlie ends up at home with his son; he gets to know Caleb and realizes all he has been missing. Caleb is a wonderful character that readers will completely fall in love with and not want the book to end. Cristina Alger writes beautifully, and I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Thanks to NetGalley and Touchstone for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Charlie's life isn't going as he'd planned -and he was a planner and a person who expected himself to excel at everything. At the beginning of the novel, Charlie's life is in crisis - his sister who had taken care of his 5 year old son for the two years after his wife died in a plane accident, needs some vacation. Charlie has barely had time to spend with his son because he works 70+ hours a week at his law firm. After being fired from his job when he made some remarks in front of partners of the firm, Charlie doesn't know how to live his life. He misses his wife and doesn't know how to live without the stress of his job and definitely doesn't know how to be a father to Caleb. The novel is about how Charlie - with lots of mistakes along the way - learns how to become a better father and how to rela and enjoy life.I really enjoyed this book - it was a fun, light read. My favorite character was Caleb. At five years old, he has lost his mom and is obsessed with natural disasters (hurricanes, tornadoes) and is just a quirky young kid. His style of dress makes his dad nervous because Caleb loves to wear tiaras, tutus and bright colored clothes. The other characters - Charlie and Zadie, being the main ones - were great but Caleb was the star of the book.I plan to order Cristina's first book because I enjoyed this one so much. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This was a good, quick read. I thought the book was peopled with mostly believable characters, and thank god for high-paying lawyering, is all I could help thinking as I read about Charlie's Manhattan apartment and plans for opening up a daddy-focused kid playspace somewhere in or around New York City.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Predictable chick lit, albeit from a male POV. A few non-standard interesting characters and decent work and family dilemmas. Good beach read.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I really enjoyed this book. Charlie is a widower with a five year old son who likes to wear purple. After the death of his wife, he throws himself so completely into his job as a lawyer, that he rarely sees his little boy. His twin sister takes excellent care of Caleb but needs a little time off. When Charlie makes a most inappropriate toast at his firm's party and it goes viral, his life goes spinning even more out of control. There is a lot to like about this book, the characters, the setting and the story itself. Highly recommended.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Charlie Goldwyn likes to have a plan. His wife, Mira, being killed in a plane crash certainly wasn't part of the future he envisioned. Charlie's method of coping is to throw himself even more into his work as a corporate lawyer at a big firm, spending increasingly less time with his son, Caleb. When one drunken moment of honesty puts his career at risk, Charlie's twin sister suggests that getting fired might be exactly the right thing for Charlie. With some time away from work and the upcoming Hamptons wedding of his sister, who is also Caleb's caregiver, Charlie begins to appreciate what he's been missing. Cristina Alger's sweet, funny, and heart-wrenching story about a single father and an untraditional family strikes all the right notes about love, family, forgiveness, and losing sight of what really matters. Flashbacks to Charlie's life with Mira are used effectively and the story maintains just the right amount of tension as Charlie tries to figure out whether or not he can be a new man.Appeal Elements: relatable characters, easy writing style, uplifting toneReadalikes: A Man Called Ove by Frederik Bachman and The Storied Life of A.J. Fickry by Gabrielle Zevin