Adelaide

February 27, 2023
Wheeler debuts with the emotional tale of an ambitious 20-something American woman in London and the grieving man she falls for. Adelaide Williams swears off men after breaking things off with an abusive boyfriend. Then she meets Rory Hughes, a suave Englishman who looks like a Disney prince, and quickly decides he’s her “soul mate.” But after Rory’s ex-girlfriend Nathalie is killed in a car accident, he ices out Adelaide. Adelaide despairs, which triggers her underlying depression, and she begins thinking of suicide and compares herself negatively to Nathalie, who’d just been named deputy editor of the London Times (of Adelaide, Wheeler writes, “She knew she would not be mourned by thousands, that her name would not become a hashtag on Twitter”). Thanks to a cadre of friends, though, Adelaide comes to understand that love has many guises. Wheeler perfectly captures her protagonist’s depression, anxiety, and negative self-talk—not to mention her keen agony of unrequited love—and a solid supporting cast provides Adelaide with ample emotional support. The complex heroine animates every page. Agent: Melissa Edwards, Stonesong.

March 1, 2023
At the start of Wheeler's heartfelt debut, Adelaide Williams is in the emergency room. She's made an attempt on her own life. When a nurse asks her why, Adelaide reflects on the past few years. She's an American expat in London with a family history of mental illness, but it's her trauma that has shaped her: a terrible boyfriend abused her repeatedly. When Adelaide found Rory Hughes on a dating app, everything changed. Adelaide had actually met Rory before, and she'd called him a literal Disney prince. Of course they were fated to be together, but Adelaide tried too hard to craft their happy ending. This is a portrait of a woman struggling with her empathic desire to be all things to all people and realizing that she is allowed to put herself first. While the main plot takes place in the flashback, the frame story is crucial, illustrating Adelaide's rock bottom and the path to healing. Though there's no magical component in this book, fans of The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig (2020), will identify with Adelaide's journey.

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Starred review from March 15, 2023
A young woman searches for love but ends up finding it in the wrong person. When Adelaide Williams met Rory Hughes, her life split in two. Before, she was an American grad student living a dreamy existence in London. She went dancing with her friends Madison and Celeste, hooked up with strangers in bars, and aspired to land a job in publishing. Adelaide was finally overcoming her fear of relationships after a high school experience with emotional and sexual abuse and had hoped that she would be deserving of a happy ending. She'd first met Rory, briefly, two years ago at an outdoor pub, where she, drunk and barefoot, told him he looked like a Disney prince, and then she met him again on a dating app. After that, all she wanted was him: "Adelaide had not fallen in love slowly, or carefully, or with intention. She had fallen in love the same way one slips at the grocery store, despite the CAUTION: WET signs lining any given aisle--quickly, accidentally, and fully aware of the mess into which she was getting herself." As she falls harder for Rory, it becomes apparent that he's not only emotionally unavailable, but clearly hung up on his former partner of six years, Nathalie. When an unexpected tragedy strikes, Adelaide is determined to be whatever Rory needs, but what if she has already given all of herself away? Wheeler's debut is searingly raw, and at times, Adelaide's heartbreak and desperation are difficult to read. Her whole soul is poured out onto the pages, and you'll find it hard not to feel your own heart crack and stomach turn as Adelaide tries without avail to win the love of someone who simply can't give it. Wheeler deftly relates Adelaide's journey of unbending friendship, grief, and passion, and for many readers, her tale will strike a resonant chord. Vulnerable, tender, and impossible to put down.

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