Author: Jennifer Close
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Publication Date: April 26, 2022
Book Description: Here are the three things the Sullivan family knows to be true: the Chicago Cubs will always be the underdogs; historical progress is inevitable; and their grandfather, Bud, founder of JP Sullivan’s, will always make the best burgers in Oak Park. But when, over the course of three strange months, the Cubs win the World Series, Trump is elected president, and Bud drops dead, suddenly everyone in the family finds themselves doubting all they hold dear.
Take Gretchen for example, lead singer for a ’90s cover band who has been flirting with fame for a decade but is beginning to wonder if she’s too old to be chasing a childish dream. Or Jane, Gretchen’s older sister, who is starting to suspect that her fitness-obsessed husband who hides the screen of his phone isn’t always “working late.” And then there’s Teddy, their steadfast, unfailingly good cousin, nursing heartbreak and confusion because the guy who dumped him keeps showing up for lunch at JP Sullivan’s where Teddy is the manager. How can any of them be expected to make the right decisions when the world feels sideways—and the bartender at JP Sullivan’s makes such strong cocktails?
Outrageously funny and wickedly astute, Marrying the Ketchups is a delicious confection by one of our most beloved authors.
Rating: 4 Stars
Review: A multi-generational story of the Sullivan family who are in the restaurant business, while complicated at times, is a light hearted romp.
Set just after the 2016 Presidential election and right after the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. Bud the patriarch has just passed away leaving the family to ponder their lives and what’s next for them and the restaurant.
Gretchen returns home, from leading a 90’s cover band, and comes back to help at the restaurant. Jane, her older sister, is deciding if divorce is her next step, after her husband voted for the wrong person, and is possibly having an affair. Lastly, there is Teddy who manages the restaurant and is pining away for his ex-boyfriend Walter.
This really is just a fun family read. I did not walk away with anything grand, but just enjoyed the time I got to spend with this family, where love is in abundance, but everyone has their own quirks.
Thank you NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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