ABOUT THE BOOK
At turns funny and heartbreaking, a goldfish named Ian escapes from his bowl and, plummeting toward the street below, witnesses the lives of the Seville on Roxy residents.
A goldfish named Ian is falling from the 27th-floor balcony on which his fishbowl sits. He’s longed for adventure, so when the opportunity arises, he escapes from his bowl, clears the balcony railing and finds himself airborne. Plummeting toward the street below, Ian witnesses the lives of the Seville on Roxy residents.
There’s the handsome grad student, his girlfriend, and the other woman; the construction worker who feels trapped by a secret; the building’s super who feels invisible and alone; the pregnant woman on bed rest who craves a forbidden ice cream sandwich; the shut-in for whom dirty talk, and quiche, are a way of life; and home-schooled Herman, a boy who thinks he can travel through time. Though they share time and space, they have something even more important in common: each faces a decision that will affect the course of their lives. Within the walls of the Seville are stories of love, new life, and death, of facing the ugly truth of who one has been and the beautiful truth of who one can become.
Sometimes taking a risk is the only way to move forward with our lives. As Ian the goldfish knows, “An entire life devoted to a fishbowl will make one die an old fish with not one adventure had.”
PUBISHED BY ST MARTIN’S PRESS
MY REVIEW
This is book 19 of my 20 books of summer 2020.
Yes I have just read a book about a goldfish – Ian! – falling from the top of a building and absolutely adored it!! I was a little unsure when I picked it up but I was intrigued and am so glad I read it as it was just one of those books that I got completely absorbed by.
There’s an amazing cast of characters and you get to see their lives as events unfold around ‘that’ day and see what has led up to the point of Ian plummeting through the sky! There’s a huge nod to the act of ‘fate’ – being in the right place at the right time – and the coincidences that link people and being in the right place at the right/wrong time!
Ian is the star of the show, obviously, and he’s a happy little goldfish! His short term memory helps with that! He doesn’t dwell, he doesn’t ponder – a lesson to us all I’m sure! We all need to be more Ian!! And as we see his story unfold, we get introduced to the residents of the apartment block and how their varied lives are unfolding – the dramas, the fears, the highs and lows. It is human life in all its’ many forms! I loved these little glimpses into such a wide cross section of people – showing life in all the various guises and for many it isn’t pretty! From the introverted Claire, the pregnant Petunia, Garth with his secret life,Herman the boy being home schooled after being bullied, Jimenez the maintenance man, Connor the owner of Ian, about to be visited by Katie who is trying to work out how serious their relationship is – to name but a few, I just loved the mix of personalities and stories they all had to tell… and that Ian got to glimpse as he sailed past their windows!
This was a light and dark read, snappy, edgy and a very funny book!! A treat to read!
★★★★★
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