While I’m generally the first person to champion beautiful writing for the sake of itself, I struggle with these more self-indulgent novels by established male authors who spend most of their pages riffing on whatever has captured their interest at the moment with little regard for the narrative that has to exist as a path through these things.

There were some salient points made here, some beautiful passages, some moments of solidly written humor. But most of the book feels like a very thin narrative constructed to prop up the current pet subjects of the author.

If you want to share a lot of discordant thoughts without having to make most of them plot-relevant, then making your protagonist a hospitalized schizophrenic is an effective if not in particularly good faith way to do that. To me it was pretty transparent, and that lack of authenticity makes it even more exhausting to follow the story in and out of a number of meandering rabbit warrens of text.

If you like riffing for riffing’s sake, you may enjoy this more than I did. But this novel doesn’t inspire much connection with the reader and has a lot of structural issues.

I love St. Aubyn’s characters and his sense of humor. You really had to read the prior novel, Double Blind to fully appreciate the plot and characters. that book was so memorable that I could recall an amount that amazed me.
Certain relationships came to fruition to my great enjoyment. If there is a third novel with these characters I’ll be there.

I absolutely love how St Aubyn approached Sebastian's character. Often representations of severe mental illness miss the personality beneath someone's diagnosis. Instead, here story we see Sebastian make psychological progress, despite a fragile plan to meet his biomom, and handle new situations with humor, play, and curiosity.

Parallel Lines can function as a standalone novel but is also a sequel to St Aubyn's Double Blind, which I have not yet read. Jumping into this story first, it is clear the characters have a lot of backstory the reader is not immediately aware of. Yet, rather than this being cumbersome, it made the depth of characters immediately apparent. Aside from Sebastian and his psychological issues stemming from a rough childhood, we also see the story lines of his doctor's family: his wife Lizzie who is also a psychoanalyst but currently enjoys spending time with her grandson, Olivia, who is working on a podcast about potential extinction events, her husband Francis who continues his work in rewilding, their son Noah who is fixated on dinosaurs for longer than expected. In addition, we get characters who are friends with Olivia (Lucy and Hunter, who seem to feature more strongly in Double Blind), an artist Sebastian met in the psych ward, and yet never does it feel there are too many characters to keep track of. Their stories initially run parallel to one another but, as expected, eventually converge.

Some of the dialogue was more than I wanted. In particular, the family discussions with the two psychoanalyst parents were often tiring, but overall I found the prose and banter to be witty. There are deep observations about how we make our choices, how our futures are determined, and the way we affect others, but even with such heavy subject matter I found myself smiling more often than not.

The plot of this book sounded so intriguing to me. As a daughter to a mother with schizophrenia this hit a bit closer to home for me. I was not aware that this was a second book in a series which bummed me out. I wish I had known before getting into the book. I thought the story telling and writing in this book was just great. It moved well and I thought it was paced nicely. I liked the balance between Dr. Carr and Seb. I would recommend this and I would also recommend starting with Double Blind. Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for this eARC.

Having read and admired the predecessor, Double Blind, I was excited to be given early access to this remarkable book. What I said about that earlier book I could repeat here. He covers a lot of territory with relatively few words. There promises a third installment, and I look forward to it.

This book was so hard to read that at times I felt like throwing it away. But other than that, it was really interesting.

A heartbreaking and profound read. If you like reading complex and emotional novels then this book is for you. We follow a handful of characters as they cope with personal and professional challenges. This book will tug at your heartstrings. It’s not my favorite book of the year, but it’s still a solid and rewarding read.

I admired this more than enjoyed it. I'm certain St Aubyn's legions of fans will appreciate the multiplex of characters in Sebastian's troubled world. Know that you likely will get more from it if you've read Double Blind (I have not) which introduces the people, places, and issues explored here. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. Over to other fans of literary fiction. .

Parallel Lines by Edward St. Aubyn follows a group of seemingly unrelated characters whose lives unexpectedly intersect. As Sebastian grapples with his mental health and quest to connect with his biological mother, others, like his therapist and Olivia, face their own struggles with family, loss, and purpose. With wit and depth, the novel explores themes of connection, fate, and the lasting impact of our choices.

Thanks to Netgalley and Knopf for the ebook. Filled throughout with incredible verbal gymnastics, Sebastian, who is just starting to see some light at the end of his long mental health issues, meets his twin sister, Olivia, who he did not know existed. This book shows how they meet and deal with one another in the backdrop of their friends and family.

Greatly enjoyed this. St Aubyn is a technical wizard and his evocation of Sebastian’s disturbed ,mind is both compelling and convincing, indeed is the throbbing heart of the book. One might argue about the length of time spent with the ultra rich Hunter, and the ecological dimension, which are tied into a tidy package by the end, but I’m not quibbling. This is a strong and delectable work which I will be recommending.

4.5, rounded down.

I've read almost everything St. Aubyn has put out, so I started this with great anticipation ... but I got to 9% and something seemed off - I just wasn't connecting to what was happening. So I started again and got to 17% - and then realized the problem was that this was actually a sequel to 2021's Double Blind - which I HAD read, but I have a mind like a sieve and could barely remember anything about it. So - I went back and reread THAT - and then moved on to this.

That was a great help, and although this potentially COULD be read as a stand-alone - it makes MUCH more sense as part two of single cohesive work. That said, this ALSO ends on a distinct hint that there will be at LEAST a third part, and hopefully some dangling threads (not least Lusy's struggle with a brain tumor!) will be resolved there.

Be that as it may, this was largely a delight to read, although some parts did tend to get bogged down and sometimes a bit 'preachy'. But St. Aubyn's wit and erudition made such minor complaints rather nil.

Thanx to the author, Netgalley and Knopf for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Picking up from characters in the brilliant 2021 novel Double Blind, St. Aubyn returns with edgy wordplay and humorous reflection on the hopeless but hilarious human condition.

Sebastian (Seb) is a fast-witted, rapid-fire speaker, thinker and schizophrenic. His twin sister Olivia was adopted at birth by Seb's eventual therapist. While she was nurtured, Seb wasn’t so fortunate. Characters orbit the twins and create a vivid galaxy whether artist, TV producer, tycoon, pilot or cancer survivor. St. Aubyn uses professions and labels with unbound freedom, creating plot lines that feel limitless. Clever storytelling and scene setting make this a highly entertaining read.

Parallel Lines is smart without feeling forced. While it may not carry the same literary heft as the generational achievement of the Melrose novels, it is giddy fun and composed beautifully. This novel works well as a stand alone or as a complement to Double Blind.

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for the review copy.