Connie Willis
Del Rey
October 4th, 2016
Briddey Flanagan is a woman with more than her share when it comes to communication. Everyone wants to talk to her at once, all the time: her assistant at the communications company she works for, Suki the office gossip, her Aunt Oona who’s always worrying about her, her sister Mary Clare who’s always worrying about her daughter Maeve, and her sister Kathleen, who’s always dating the wrong guy. No one seems to have any understanding of privacy or boundaries. Which is why the office weirdo, C.B. Schwarz, thinks it strange that she wants to get an EED with the only person she really wants to communicate with–her boyfriend, Trent. With an EED, both of them will always know what the other is feeling, and it’ll bring them closer.
C.B. tries to talk her out of it. It is brain surgery, after all.
These things always have their unintended consequences.
Crosstalk is a novel about communication. Some parts of the novel are actually uncomfortable to read–which is brilliant. We begin to understand how bombarded Briddey is by just the communication from her family, and how it wears at her. That, coupled with the expectations of her job make for a rocky start for Briddey. The book begins with a comedy of errors, everything going far sideways from where Briddey expected, and she finds out far more about her family than she’d ever known–despite the constant calls and talking from each of them.
Funny and fascinating, Willis entertains and delights with quirky characters you can’t help but cheer for. It goes in directions you don’t quite expect, and ties everything up in the end in a satisfying way that tells us some communication is hard won, but worth it.
JL Jamieson is a strange book nerd who writes technical documents by day, and book news, reviews, and other assorted opinions for you by night. She is working on her own fiction, and spends time making jewelry to sell at local conventions, as well as stalking the social media accounts of all your favorite writers.