All That Life Can Afford

Starred review from March 1, 2025
When Anna's mom and best friend passes away before her college graduation, she's devastated. Seeking out the adventures she'd planned with her mom, she chooses to go abroad to Queen Mary University of London for her master's in literature. Even as her new friends support her, she finds herself over-worked (two jobs and a full course-load) until she's invited to St. Tropez for the winter holidays as a tutor for a rich family's kid. There, introduced to a different way of living, she's distracted by new friends and the perks of their uber-wealth, and starts to lose focus on her own plans. Can she navigate temptation while achieving her own dreams? The author does a bang-up job in having Anna pull from Jane Austen, highlighting how timeless fiction can be. So many new and interesting ideas around Austen's characters and settings are introduced through Anna's dissertation thoughts, while also enhancing our understanding and emotional connection to the characters of this book. Allowing for grand mistakes and equally impressive repairing of relationships, readers will feel as if they've been given new insights into how to gain self-awareness and comfort in their own journeys. A must-read for Janeites or fans of Marian Keyes, Helen Fielding, Sophie Kineslla, or Jane Green.

COPYRIGHT(2025) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

May 15, 2025
An American student in London falls in with a rich crowd and struggles to keep up in this twisty debut. Anna Byrne is fighting to make her dream come true. She's studying for a graduate degree in literature at Queen Mary in London, a city she's longed for since she was a child. But making ends meet is hard; Anna grew up poor, lost her mother a few years ago, and no longer speaks to her father. Without a safety net, she bartends and tutors to make rent. But when the wealthy Wilders invite her to Saint-Tropez over the December holidays to give private lessons to their teenage daughter, Pippa, Anna is introduced to a high-end way of life and a glamorous group of people her own age through Pippa's older sister, Faye. When Anna returns to London, the Wilders' kindness grows, and they offer her the chance to housesit for their home in Highgate. As Anna meets more people in the Wilder orbit and assumptions about who she is spiral, so do the deceptions Anna must maintain if she's going to stay in this dream where she's found herself. But the precarity of her situation extends beyond convincing everyone that she belongs--her student visa means she must keep her grades up so after graduation she'll be able to get a two-year post-study extension. Populated by beautiful people with good wardrobes and big hearts, the novel is fun vicarious living for the reader, but Everett keeps the stakes in sight at all times. Readers can feel the nervous edge with which Anna moves through the world, making this a gripping read from start to finish. Engaging and grounded, this novel will keep you guessing.

COPYRIGHT(2025) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.