Early Morning Riser is the new novel by Katherine Heiny. I really enjoyed one of her previous novels, Standard Deviation, so was keen to read this one too.

The novel focuses on Jane and her life in Boyne City with an array of other people – her family, friends, and partners. The characters in the book felt authentic and likeable and I wanted to read more about them.

It’s a fairly slow novel – not a huge amount of ‘action’ happens but we learn lots about certain characters and it feels quite realistic – like it reflects real peoples’ lives. There’s definitely a focus on the ordinary, but that doesn’t mean this novel is in any way boring.

There’s plenty of warmth and dry humour in Early Morning Riser. I liked reading about Jane as a younger woman, and her relationships as she grows up. The situation with Jimmy and his mother is both sad and uplifting in the way that Jane rallies around him – and Duncan too. Nothing in this novel is too cliched or feels forced; often I wished the characters would get more of a ‘storybook’ ending but that’s not real life, after all!

I didn’t like this novel as much as Standard Deviation, which I really loved, because I found some parts a little slow/ One part in particular – when Jane is waiting for Duncan to return home from a trip – felt this way as I wanted to know what would happen afterwards. However, I still enjoyed it and would recommend it.

A really nice love story with well-written characters. I really enjoyed this and would highly recommend it.

This is the kind of book that will probably appeal to older female readers. I found the author's style to be too heavy on telling. Within two pages our 'couple' has gotten together and I had no time to warm up to the characters, let alone feel something about their relationship. My mum would probably like this, me, not thanks.

What a gentle, refreshing, funny and beautifully written tale this was. With lengthy glimpses of Jane's life over a period of 17 years as her family increases in size and she begins to understand what is important in life.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Katherine Heiny/4th Estate for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

Jane is a teacher in Boyne City, Michigan. When she locks herself out of her house she meets Duncan – not actually a locksmith, but a carpenter who can fix locks as well. Soon they’re dating – but as Duncan has already dated almost ever woman in town, she never quite feels like she has him to herself. Soon Jane is caught up in a web of relationships with some of Boyne City’s eccentric residents – including Duncan’s ex wife and her new husband. After a terrible car crash Jane, Duncan and Aggie’s lives are permanently linked, but is there actually a different sort of happy to the one Jane was expecting waiting for her if she just looks for it?

I loved Standard Deviation a couple of years back and this is Katherine Heiny’s latest novel. Back then I said that I wouldn’t actually want to be friends with the leads in that, but I think I would like to be friends with Jane – although Duncan would be a bit of a trial to have as a boyfriend! This is warm and funny but bittersweet. It’ll make you laugh and make you cry and then you’ll want to tell everyone you know to read it too. I need to buy a copy so I can lend it out.

A bit to subtle for me I’m afraid, I was waiting for something to happen for the whole novel. A gentle tale of life throughout the years, well written and easy to read. But not enough of a story line to really hook me in and keep me engaged. Others may love this style of easy reading though!

An effortless and fairly enjoyable read.

This book ambles along, with some quite nice descriptions of relationships, both positive and negative, but there is not much of a narrative and then it just comes to an end.

Not very memorable

I kept reading Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heiny in the hope that something would happen. All the way through it felt as though I were reading a review of it and was waiting actually to get involved. Once I got to the end, however, I had to accept that either the novel was too subtle for me or else nothing really did happen. I didn't dislike the book but I do resent that I gave so much time to it. So, definitely not one for me but quite possibly one for someone else.

Having loved ‘Standard Deviation’ I was hoping ‘Early Morning Riser’ was going to be as good, and for the most part it was. Cleverly written with an undercurrent of humour, this book about small town life has a light touch when it comes to exploring aspects of heartbreak on the one hand, or the irritations of human habits on the other. On occasion, however, I felt the narrative slightly lost its way and it took a few pages to reestablish its momentum.

I was delighted to be approved to read Early Morning Riser in advance as I thoroughly enjoyed Katherine Heiny’s previous novel Standard Deviation. In this novel we meet Jane as she settles into a new community and gains a new family of eccentric friends. The novel follows Jane for many years and explores the effect of life changing and mundane events in the whole group. At times tender, frustrating and hilarious. Recommended.

Such a funny book, and a great read, made my life feel quite normal to.....loved the characters the build up of their lifes and daily business throughout....a real feel good book with lots of laughs, and passion throughout

I really struggled with this book I’m afraid. The characters were a bit boring in my opinion and I kept waiting for something to happen. A real shame as I thought it had such potential! Good to see that lots of other people enjoyed it, that is what’s so brilliant about reviewing and sharing opinions - variety!

A love story with lovely ordinary people going about their chaotic ordinary lives. This is charming in it’s ordinaryness, it is so frustrating to have to keep on reading love stories about beautiful people leading beautiful lives, living in luxury houses, driving luxury cars and all wearing named designer clothes. However nice it can be to read about these things now and again it is so reassuring to read about someone the same as oneself going about a humdrum existence. This is well written and funny and I will definitely be reading more from Katherine when possible and I would thoroughly recommend it. Thank you Netgalley, publisher and author for the chance to feel amongst normal people for a while in exchange for an honest review.

This is the second book I've read by Katherine Heiny (the first was Standard Deviation). Neither book has a strong plot but the characters are rounded and wonderful. You ache when they have setbacks and smile when things go right for them. It wasn't wondering what would happen next that had me picking this up as much as wanting to spend more time with Jane and Duncan and Jimmy and the rest of the crew. Like Anne Tyler's books, sometimes they are quirky to the point of being slightly absurd, but you still enjoy them. A lovely book to read!

This is an affectionate, character-driven book that is one of those "comfort reads" that I sometimes like to curl up with. Not a world-beater but a good, solid novel that I'm sure will do well. I'd read more of this author anytime.

Really enjoyed this book, it's a really sweet story of small town USA family life, Jane arrives in town and is locked out in her PJ's when she is rescued by local carpenter/handyman Duncan and they immediately start 'dating'. From this funny beginning you know you are in good hands, what follows is a collection of interesting 'characters' often only to be found in small towns. Jane is the narrator and sometimes a bit snarky, she is also witty, bringing charm and joy to the telling of her life. Tragedy changes her live in ways she can't believe and occasionally can't manage, whilst also recognising that she wouldn't be the same had this not happened. The descriptive writing, helps you see every interaction, smell every meal, hear every barb and shows why some people really enjoy small town living. The sense of community is palpable. Wonderfully written this is a gentle tale told so well, you won't be able to put it down.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lately I’ve found myself wanting to read books which are humorous and light but with a literary feel too. When I browse novels tagged as literary humour, they often turn out to be either cosy mysteries or romance, with a formulaic feel. So I was very happy to have Early Morning Riser to review.

Jane has moved to Boyne City to take up a position as an elementary school teacher and has fallen for Duncan, an easy-going charming man. Everyone likes Duncan, so much so that virtually every woman she meets has slept with him – and remained on good terms. He’s charmingly unreliable, and his assistant, Jimmy, spends most of the day fending off clients at his furniture restoration business.

Then a dramatic event draws Jane in deeper to the obligations of small-town life. At the same time she realises that Duncan is only willing to sacrifice his freedom for one person – and it’s not her.

Early Morning Riser is an amusing take on the pleasures and compromises of family and community. There are lots of great set-piece scenes – in the classroom, with Jane’s brilliantly awful mother, with Duncan’s ex-wife and her terrible husband.

It does have a topsy-turvy structure. The key reversals happen at the start of the book. The second half is more a series of set-piece scenes. I kept waiting for the drama to heat up, but the epiphany, when it comes, feels like it’s answering a different question to the one raised by what’s gone before.

Still, that’s a quibble. Early Morning Riser made me laugh out loud several times. Its characters and setting are full of warmth while still having an edge that stop it being sickly sweet.
*
I received a copy of Early Morning Riser from the publisher via Netgalley.

🌿BOOK REVIEW🌿

Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heiny

“Of course, that was the bad thing about the thrift store. You knew everything was there for a reason, like a chipped handle. You brought other people’s things home- soup tureens, suitcases, husbands- and tried to love them as best you could, but it didn’t always work.”

This book follows the life of the main character Jane who arrives in a small close-knit down where everyone knows everybody. She falls in love with Duncan and at first she is unaware that he has slept with almost every woman in the town… Everywhere she goes she has to come face to face with these women.

This is a very character driven book as there isn’t really a plot, as we follow Jane through two decades of her life. It explores her job as a teacher, her friendships and relationships. I thought the character of Jimmy who is Duncan’s work colleague was excellent. Jimmy has intellectual difficulties and it was so beautiful to see how he was so included in everyday life and fights the stigma that this is not possible.

I wish there has been some more character development in places as at times but overall a good read!

CW// death, infidelity

I really enjoyed this - Early Morning Riser is an easy to follow novel with some heart wrenching moments. It follows Jane's story and her move to Boyne City, roughly 15 years of her life and all the ups and downs that happen on the way.

I found the first third a little slow, but then read the remaining 70% in one day. I really connected with most of the characters in the book, and I enjoyed following along and finding out what happened. There are some laugh out loud moments and some times you want to cry.

Definitely for fans of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine - it has a very similar vibe.

<i>Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review</i>

An absolute gem! Engrossing, moving, original.

This was rather a slow burner but once it caught, it was wonderful. It's the story of Jane, following her move to take up a job as schoolteacher in a small American town, and her relationship with the town's lothario, Duncan.

At first, I was a bit apprehensive that it would turn into a rather saccharine or judgmental and cliché-ridden small-town love story. Not at all! It's a rich story with fully rounded characters. Rather than the black-and-white standard characters I feared, the novel was all about the shades of grey that make up real people and their relationships.

The story unfolds slowly and the gradual small reveals are wonderful in the telling. So it's hard to review this book without spoilers. Suffice to say that we follow Jane and Duncan and their friends and family over many years. It's a delightful journey peppered with all the ordinariness and disorderliness of life.

It's funny - even hilarious in parts - wry, tender, warm, touching, quirky.... Other reviewers have found a vast range of adjectives to describe it and they are all apt.

If you enjoy novels at all you won't regret reading this one. I cannot imagine anyone not liking it. It's about being human and fallible in a world where things don't always work out the way we expect. Highly recommended.