In Everything Here Is Under Control, Emily Adrian's emotionally nuanced adult debut (after YA novels Like It Never Happened and The Foreseeable Future), two childhood friends confront their shared past in order to move forward. Amanda is struggling under the physical and emotional toll of being a new mother. Her partner, Gabe, is doing his best, but in the screaming face of their newborn, Amanda is not sure it is enough. Exhausted and hurt, she drives to her hometown to stay, uninvited, with her childhood best friend, Carrie. The two used to be inseparable, but the years that have passed since Carrie's teenaged pregnancy have divided them. To rediscover their friendship and survive motherhood, both women must face the harm they have done to one another, even if it was in the name of love.
From page one, Everything Here Is Under Control is not afraid of talking straight. Looking at the trauma of birth, it enters into a frank conversation with its readers that is thoughtful and heartfelt, humorous and raw. The novel consistently engages with themes of motherhood, yet never forgets about the many forms of love that its characters have. Adrian depicts Amanda, Carrie and Gabe with compassion and precision, making them unfailingly lovable even with their personal imperfections. And while the novel is most interested in exploring the intricate relationships between its characters, it also pays careful attention to the sometimes suffocating, always complex inner workings of rural, small-town America. Warm, generous and outspoken, Adrian's fiction is a thought-provoking delight. --Alice Martin, freelance writer and editor