It’s interesting to see an authors growth, here is an early novel by a beloved writer that has risen in the ranks as a thoughtful, interpretative scribe. The story’s center is an unplanned pregnancy in a large Catholic family. There are four girls in early womanhood who are learning to deal with life and all the bumps in the road. Gracie is the sister who’s pregnancy is the catalyst for a whirlpool of emotions and resolutions that drive this exercise in human drama.

I’ll admit right from the start that I really struggled with this one. Normally, I love Ann Napolitano’s work, but this book is my least favorite. I had a hard time connecting with the characters because they were all very annoying, and I couldn’t find one with any redeeming qualities. But the worst part for me was the ending because it felt rushed, and it ended in kind of a cliffhanger. We never find out what happened to any of the characters and there’s no definite conclusion. No explanation. No epilogue. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Did any of the relationships survive? Did Gracie have a boy or girl? Did Katherine die? These were just some of the questions left bouncing around my brain after such an abrupt ending. I rarely give books three star ratings because I normally don’t finish a book I can’t get interested in after the first few chapters, but I love Ann Napolitano so I hung in there to the very end. If you love stories about dysfunctional families then you might enjoy this one, but I can’t in good conscience recommend it.

I liked this book, I liked the characters I liked the writing. I really liked going back in time with an established writer to an earlier time in her art. It felt more raw but not less in any way. The only thing that kept it from being 5 stars for me is how abruptly it stopped. I actually might have preferred some tragic symmetry of like maybe Catherine actually dying right after she meets the baby or less tragic a big confrontation in the hospital where everyone speaks their truth and finds a little healing. Even an epilogue from Catherine's funeral or something from the future adult Gracie's baby. Just a little more. I like my books tied up neatly.

Ann Napolitano's characters are so beautifully portrayed and seem so real to me. This early book was re-released, and I'm glad it was. At the heart of the story is three generations of the Mclaughlin family. The plot is told by several characters and includes back stories and the now of their interactions, conflicts, and relationships. I found the characters compelling and heartfelt., uniquely flawed and very human. This is the third of Napolitano's books I have read, and it won't be the last. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Ann Napolitano has become one of my favorite authors. I really enjoyed this book and will recommend it often.

Narrated by 6 different members of the intergenerational McLaughlin family, this story grabbed me from its opening, "My grandmother gave birth often" and held me captivated to the very end. This is the third book I've read by this impressive author, and I can't believe it was her first. As Irish-American as this family is, I'm sure readers of many different backgrounds can relate to their psychological struggle on some level. I certainly did.

Gracie and Lila are sisters in their 20s, unwilling housemates at odds. Their parents Kelly and Louis, unbeknownst to their daughters, are also co-residing in unresolved silence. The "nervous, awkward, quiet" McLaughlins of Ramsey, NJ may pride themselves on "being polite, mannerly, and tough"; but their isolation and years of emotional avoidance has rendered them incapable of communicating effectively. As Catherine the 79-yr old matriarch's health declines, years of strife, compartmentalization, long-held resentments and extreme personality traits, all come to a head at a family gathering. But as ugly secrets and imperfections are revealed, rather than leading to earth-shattering disaster and hellfire, might it be that tolerance and acceptance and inner peace could prevail?

This is a re-issue of Ann’s book, first published in 2004. Ann’s two recent major blockbusters have spoiled us readers- Hello Beautiful and Dear Edward. Please consider that she could write something this good so early in her career, twenty years before she became so popular.
The plot of this story is one she writes so well: generations of family going through life, but told with a microscopic eye on emotions and unsaid words. Where does she get the ideas for the various families she’s peeled open and revealed to us in all their pain and honesty?
Gracie, who was my favorite character, is unmarried and pregnant with no plans to marry. The only family member who seems to understand is the one everyone was afraid to tell- her grandmother, Catherine. Gram is dying, but with the new pregnancy, no one seems to remember.
Gracie’s parents and the rest of the McLaughlin family are a beehive of emotions, especially Lila, the sister, who's forced to move in with Gracie for strictly financial reasons.
Ann Napolitano takes a fairly normal family and shows the reader that we all, no matter how calm our lives appear, have binding secrets, blind faith, and good in each of us.
Thanks so much to Dial Press Trade Paperback, for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. The publishing date was April 30, 2024.

After falling in love with both “Dear Edward” and “Hello Beautiful”, I was thrilled to be granted the ARC of “Within Arm’s Reach”, expecting the same beautiful prose and deeply explored characters as those two books. I had a tough time reading this book, putting it down a few times and struggling to come back to it. While this book explores the women in an Irish American family in NJ, I was left struggling to form any type of attachment to these characters. Catherine, Gram, Their struggles didn’t feel very developed and honestly, I didn’t really like any of the characters in the book, so it became hard caring what was going on in their lives. as

As this was Napolitano’s first book, I definitely wouldn’t hold this against any future books as her most recent books were absolutely beautiful, but this one just wasn’t for me. Givng this one 2.5 stars because I can see others appreciating the family story told even if it didn’t speak to me.

**Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

I wish I could have loved this as much as I loved her previous two books - Dear Edward & Hello Beautiful. Within Arm's Reach is Ann napolitano's first book, which was re-released because they were so good.
While I love a good book about a generation of families, in this case , about the McLaughlin's lead by the matriarch Catherine or Gram. While this book has everything - births, deaths, children, pregnancy, you name it, I felt it dragged on and left with a very anti-climatic ending. Boo.

However, this doesn't mean it was a bad book, I just wanted more.

Ann Napolitano brings families to life. You feel like you know them - like you’re a part of them. Love it.

I found this book rather difficult to keep the many characters and plot lines straight. Since every chapter was involving a different character and storyline there was no consistency to the flow. Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the advance of this novel; however I was a little disappointed to learn that this was in fact a re-release.

WOOOOOO this is alot. I loved Dear Edward (was one of my first bookstagram reads ever), but this was not only hard to read, but underwhelming.

I enjoyed this one so much more than Hello, Beautiful. While I loved that book as well, this one seemed a lot more intriguing to me and I felt was a whole lot more eventful.
This was an easy & quick read for me - 4 stars!

I absolutely loved Dear Edward and Hello Beautiful and was very excited to read this novel. In true Ann Napolitano style, this is a character driven family saga with flawed characters you can't help but like. Catharine is the matriarch, daughter of Irish American immigrants and tougher than nails. With her husband, she raises several children yet she is also deeply haunted by the loss of her stillborn twins and the abrupt death of their eldest daughter who was only a few years old. Now her children are grown and their children are living complicated and messy lives of their own. When Grace, her unwed, wild-child granddaughter, finds herself unexpectedly pregnant, Catharine is determined to find a way to reconnect her family, leave grudges aside and come together for the birth of their newest family member.

I truly loved Hello Beautiful so much so I was so excited to read the rerelease of Ann Napolitanos first book, Within Arms Reach.

It follows the McLaughlin family as they deal with an unexpected pregnancy. The story is told from multiple POVs to show the effect this event had on them.

I liked the book but didn’t love it. I felt like I needed so much more from it. I did love that they portrayed a family who didn’t particularly like each other but did love each other. They didn’t have much in common besides just being family and I feel like I can relate to that a lot. I’m definitely planning on continuing to read everything Ann Napolitano puts out.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

A reissue of Ann Napolitano's first novel, Within Arm's Reach tells of a sprawling Irish-American family, told mostly through the inner lives of its women. The story is based on three generations of women in an Irish American family. The McLaughlin clan is an Irish American Catholic family living in New Jersey. The reader learn's of the complex dynamics of the Irish-American McLaughlin family, weaving together perspectives from three generations to tell their story. I thought the inclusion of a family tree diagram at the beginning of the book helped in understanding each family member, given the narrative's shifting viewpoints. Each chapter is narrated by a different family member. Grandmother Catharine reflects on how self-control and lack of communication and reluctance to express feelings of grief and loss scars both children and parent. Catharine's granddaughters, Gracie and Lila, daughters of eldest daughter Kelly, have never achieved adulthood and direction. Gracie, a self-described slut, sleeps with a series of men. Lila, a medical student on hospital rotation, is having problems in her third year of school. Her photographic memory which made her so successful in school is failing her in knowing how to treat both patients and medical staff. This beautifully crafted story, following the changes that Gracie's pregnancy brings to everyone and the changes in the lives of Catharine, her two granddaughters and yes, even in her daughter and son-in-law helps us understand that it is indeed never too late to mend fences and make lives make sense. It’s impossible for the reader to not think about their own family… their immediate family: parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and our own children. It’s also an opportunity to take a look at being the outsider…marrying into an already-set-in-their ways- family—with strong briefs. The McLaughin family represented power, prestige, righteousness…..and ver bal suppression. There were feelings of resentment, guilt, betrayal, and loyalty. The two most prominent characters are Gracie and Lila, young women who are bright but lacking in self-confidence. For each of them, an unlikely man emerges as someone significant. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley.

Having absolutely loved Hello Beautiful and Dear Edward I was so looking forward to Within Arm’s Reach, without realizing that this was Ann Napolitano’s first novel. I admit to being somewhat overwhelmed keeping the characters straight in the beginning - three generations of sisters, daughters, aunts - but then they all separated and it was easier to follow each of their stories. The ones that stood out to me were Lila and Gracie who had the most compelling storylines. There was so much potential for Ryan’s story but it never seemed to go anywhere, especially after the fire. Even though these sisters stood out I did not feel a connection to any of the characters. Clearly that was Napolitano’s strength in Hello Beautiful and Dear Edward.
This read kept me engaged waiting for both a birth and a death. I was a bit disappointed in the ending, wanting to know more about their futures. As my father’s family was Irish much of the stereotypes were familiar to me. I did appreciate Catherine’s connection with her mother towards the end. That was very touching.
Many thanks to Ann Napolitano, the Dial Press, and NetGalley for providing me with an arc of this multigenerational story.

Within Arm’s Reach is Ms. Napolitano’s first novel, originally published in 2004 and presumably reissued after the publication of the very popular Dear Edward and Hello Beautiful.
The novel tells the story of three generations of the McLaughlin family and their lives in NJ: relationships, conflicts, and lots of family drama, while they’re all in search of happiness and satisfaction with their lives.
There are six different narrators and many characters (the McLaughlins were a big family after all), but the story is really told by Catherine (the family matriarch), Kelly and Louis (daughter and son-in-law) and their two daughters, Lila and Grace.
The sisters couldn’t be more different but at their encouragement of their grandmother, they’re sharing a house and forced to be part of each other’s lives. Lila is a seemingly driven medical student who’s more comfortable with books than people, while Lila is living a simpler life and trying to find her passion.
Ms. Napolitano tells a slow burning story about an interesting family and how different their lives were. The McLaughlins were a fairly dysfunctional family and perhaps the novel would have been stronger if there were fewer family members! There were a lot of issues and some were only really presented on a surface level that didn’t add to the story. This was a book that called out for an epilogue (so I was somewhat disappointed with the rather abrupt ending).
After having read and loved all of Ms. Napolitano’s other novels, in Within Arm’s Reach, you can see how her writing style and storytelling abilities have grown and developed.
Thanks to Netgalley and Dial Press Trade Paperback for the opportunity to read Within Arm’s Reach in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Random House and The Dial Press for an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion. I picked up a copy of Within Arm's Reach for my mom, as I know it's right up her alley.
A character-driven family drama, Within Arm's Reach is Ann Napolitano’s first release, originally published in 2004. Having gone out of print, It was recently re-released, and the beautiful cover reminds me of the cover of last year’s release, Hello Beautiful. The family drama in this book is similar to that one, too, with chapters that alternate points of view among mostly female characters. I did a mix of reading and listening to the audiobook, which has a full cast of narrators. I definitely recommend this one, either in book or audio form, especially if you are a fan of well written family drama from the lens of women's fiction.

A beautifully written family drama from Ann Napolitano. I enjoy dramatic slice of life stories that examine the dynamics of life, love, and relationships. Well written and thought provoking