Genre Fiction
![Tara Conklin - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B008JOA4XW.jpg)
Community Board: A Novel
The New York Times bestselling author of The Last Romantics deliversa wise, timely, big-hearted novel of unplanned isolation and newly forged community.
Where does one go, you might ask, when the world falls apart? When the immutable facts of your life-the mundane, the trivial, the take-for-granted minutiae that once filled every second of every day-suddenly disappear? Where does one go in such dire and unexpected circumstances?
I went home, of course.
MURBRIDGE COMMUNITY MESSAGE BOARD
FREE: 500 cans of corn. Accidentally ordered them online. I really hate corn. Happy to help load.
REMINDER: use your own goddamn garbage can for your own goddamn pet waste. I'm looking at you Peter Luflin.
REMINDER: monthly Select Board meeting this Friday. Agenda items: 1) sludge removal; 2) upkeep of chime tower; 3) ice rink monitor thank you gift. Questions? Contact Hildegard Hyman, HHMurbridge@gmail.com
Darcy Clipper, prodigal daughter, nearly thirty, has returned home to Murbridge, Massachusetts, after her life takes an unwelcome left turn. Murbridge, Darcy is convinced, will welcome her home and provide a safe space in which she can nurse her wounds and harbor grudges, both real and imagined.
But Murbridge, like so much else Darcy thought to be fixed and immutable, has changed. And while Darcy's first instinct might be to hole herself up in her childhood bedroom, subsisting on Chef Boy-R-Dee and canned chickpeas, it is human nature to do two things: seek out meaningful human connection and respond to anonymous internet postings. As Murbridge begins to take shape around Darcy, both online and in person, Darcy will consider the most fundamental of American questions: What can she ask of her community? And what does she owe it in return?
Where does one go, you might ask, when the world falls apart? When the immutable facts of your life-the mundane, the trivial, the take-for-granted minutiae that once filled every second of every day-suddenly disappear? Where does one go in such dire and unexpected circumstances?
I went home, of course.
MURBRIDGE COMMUNITY MESSAGE BOARD
FREE: 500 cans of corn. Accidentally ordered them online. I really hate corn. Happy to help load.
REMINDER: use your own goddamn garbage can for your own goddamn pet waste. I'm looking at you Peter Luflin.
REMINDER: monthly Select Board meeting this Friday. Agenda items: 1) sludge removal; 2) upkeep of chime tower; 3) ice rink monitor thank you gift. Questions? Contact Hildegard Hyman, HHMurbridge@gmail.com
Darcy Clipper, prodigal daughter, nearly thirty, has returned home to Murbridge, Massachusetts, after her life takes an unwelcome left turn. Murbridge, Darcy is convinced, will welcome her home and provide a safe space in which she can nurse her wounds and harbor grudges, both real and imagined.
But Murbridge, like so much else Darcy thought to be fixed and immutable, has changed. And while Darcy's first instinct might be to hole herself up in her childhood bedroom, subsisting on Chef Boy-R-Dee and canned chickpeas, it is human nature to do two things: seek out meaningful human connection and respond to anonymous internet postings. As Murbridge begins to take shape around Darcy, both online and in person, Darcy will consider the most fundamental of American questions: What can she ask of her community? And what does she owe it in return?
Editorial Reviews
"A brilliant, hilarious look at modern-day community and the distance between who we are and who we say we are. Insightful, honest, and surprisingly sly. I loved this book." - Maria Semple
"Oh, how I loved this delightful, unputdownable novel! A pitch-perfect comedy of manners, a balm for difficult times, a charming coming of age story, Community Board is ultimately the literary equivalent of a warm hug."
- Joanna Rakoff, bestselling author of My Salinger Year
"I can't believe how good this book is! Tara Conklin once again dazzles with a hilarious, heartfelt, and wholly original tale. She writes about depression and grief with such a light touch, and her mesmerizing sentences immediately draw you into this quirky and fun community-one I was sad to leave behind! Read this!"
- Etaf Rum, author of the New York Times bestseller A Woman Is No Man
"Sometimes we're not ready to jump. We need a little push. When Darcy Clipper - a heroine for the ages - gets a major shove, she finds herself in a brave new world of second chances, radical decisions, and transformative change. Funny, cinematic, and heartfelt, Community Board is a propulsive delight." - Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Exiles
"Timely and hilarious! For all its madcap glory, COMMUNITY BOARD is a sweet and surprisingly plausible tale for our time."
- Jonathan Evison, author of Small World
"Tara Conklin's brilliance jumps from the pages of this quirky delicious delight. I loved every second of this fabulous take on community and the on-line board that unites them."
- Jane L. Rosen, author of Eliza Starts a Rumor
"A bittersweet, laugh-out-loud novel...Community Board is a crafty send-up about one woman struggling to come to terms with--and rebuild--her battered self-esteem.... Darcy may seem a poor soul, but her sharp, bright, enlightened mind--and her snarky, lovably endearing narrative voice, supplemented with zany e-mails and communi...
"Oh, how I loved this delightful, unputdownable novel! A pitch-perfect comedy of manners, a balm for difficult times, a charming coming of age story, Community Board is ultimately the literary equivalent of a warm hug."
- Joanna Rakoff, bestselling author of My Salinger Year
"I can't believe how good this book is! Tara Conklin once again dazzles with a hilarious, heartfelt, and wholly original tale. She writes about depression and grief with such a light touch, and her mesmerizing sentences immediately draw you into this quirky and fun community-one I was sad to leave behind! Read this!"
- Etaf Rum, author of the New York Times bestseller A Woman Is No Man
"Sometimes we're not ready to jump. We need a little push. When Darcy Clipper - a heroine for the ages - gets a major shove, she finds herself in a brave new world of second chances, radical decisions, and transformative change. Funny, cinematic, and heartfelt, Community Board is a propulsive delight." - Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Exiles
"Timely and hilarious! For all its madcap glory, COMMUNITY BOARD is a sweet and surprisingly plausible tale for our time."
- Jonathan Evison, author of Small World
"Tara Conklin's brilliance jumps from the pages of this quirky delicious delight. I loved every second of this fabulous take on community and the on-line board that unites them."
- Jane L. Rosen, author of Eliza Starts a Rumor
"A bittersweet, laugh-out-loud novel...Community Board is a crafty send-up about one woman struggling to come to terms with--and rebuild--her battered self-esteem.... Darcy may seem a poor soul, but her sharp, bright, enlightened mind--and her snarky, lovably endearing narrative voice, supplemented with zany e-mails and communi...
Readers Top Reviews
Lynne M. SpreenKa
Darcy Clipper is about to turn thirty when her husband leaves her. Grief-stricken and unable to function, she runs home to mommy and daddy in her hometown in Massachusetts, but they've moved to Arizona without telling her. For the next few months, she squats in the house, which they've conveniently not yet sold, eating her mother's emergency stores of canned goods and reading the messages on the small community's online message board. Eventually, she is able to grow up and begin functioning again, and that journey is entertaining and fanciful. But weird. The writer has a sardonic, doleful style, with a very dry wit. It was hard for me to get into the story, since the dysfunction went on for so long and her coping strategies were pretty far-out. The ending is satisfying. An unusual and intelligent coming of age story.
Karen DElaine Car
This was cute, and the ending was very touching. I didn't love it, but it's a good palate cleanser. * Synopsis: After her husband leaves her for a skydiving instructor and her boss fires her, Darcy moves back to her parents' home in a small town in Massachusetts to find out her parents moved to Arizona. She ends up finding herself involved in the local community in completely unexpected ways! * I really liked the ending, I thought it was very cute, even if mostly predictable. And the side characters were all very charming, in a very Fredrik Backman way. I also enjoyed the interspersal of quotes from the town's online forum, some of them were very entertaining and it felt like reading NextDoor if everyone actually knew each other. * I didn't necessarily find myself particularly emotionally connected to Darcy (and I think I ended up liking some of the side characters more than I liked Darcy...) which is why I didn't end up rating it higher. I felt like she was often inconsistent as a character, in ways that go beyond just general character growth. * It was also just incredibly predictable. But it was cute. Also a quick read, I got through it in a day! And very much enjoyed the debate about LittleFreeLibraries, and loved the idea to have one entirely devoted to banned books!
Kelly J. Pramberg
Oh my gosh, I laughed out loud so many times during this story. Conklin knocks it out of the park as she writes about the main character and her return home after her husband leaves her. I especially loved the description of the Western Mass town as I live in that geographical area! Spot on! The book was very well written, and it was amazing to see the transformation that the main character goes through. I also found it super descriptive of the folks in a small town. The rants on the Community Posting Board were so authentic! I look forward to discussing this book with my friends and fellow book lovers.
SuzanneKelly J. P
COMMUNITY BOARD, author Tara Conklin’s newest novel, is engaging on many levels but suffers from inconsistent pacing. Darcy, the almost-30 year old, suddenly single protagonist reminded me most often of Hannah Horvath from GIRLS. She is an only child of two helicopter parents and has never weathered a single life stumble on her own. Faced with an impending divorce, she heads to her parents’ home, expecting their omnipresent care only to learn they are AWOL; she barricades herself in their empty house and falls apart. The vast middle of the book is by turns wonderful and annoying in almost equal parts. Darcy struggles to cope and uses the neighborhood resources in fascinating and self-serving ways. Not all of the various side stories are worth the effort for readers to follow. The ending is perfect. The book is well worth reading and very good. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.
