In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume

“Miri was not happy when Rusty showed up at the Osners' party. And even less happy to see she was wearing her good black dress, her dress shoes and stockings with seams. Then there was the hair. Rita Hayworth hair. To her shoulders. Heads turned when Rusty came into the living room.” 

I have had this in my ‘to be read’ pile for what seems like an eon. The reason? Well, the usual times I’d pick up a 400 plus page books for some quality reading usually involve plane travel. Generally, I don’t want to be reminded of the prospect of plane crashes when travelling. In fact, it seemed like every time I reached for this copy someone I knew and cared about (if not myself) was sitting on a plane or about to board one. 

My memories of Judy Blume novels from childhood are indelible. To this day I think of every penis I see as secretly being called Ralph and I crave peanut butter and jelly – both of these things I attribute to devouring her works as a young child. They were illicitly thrilling because they spoke to the young mind and reminded us that our thoughts had merit, that the world was scary and confusing, but that we weren’t alone in our experiences. Needless to say, diving into her novel for the adult market, I held ridiculously high expectations, that weren’t immediately met. 

The pacing and the blunt trauma of the beginning of the novel made it hard to traverse. There were so many characters and so much going on, including different time references. This was a novel that needed some dedicated time to ‘take it all in’ so to speak. Perseverance was definitely worth it, because what the author has delivered here is an amazing picture of the impact of unbelievable childhood trauma mixed in with the usual challenges of coming of age, growing older and becoming the adult, you never expected to be. 

I found myself almost in tears at times and that I’d adopted new families of characters that I really cared about. Rushed marriages, unwanted pregnancies, affairs, hearing voices, anorexia, orphans – there is a lot going on here and that’s not even the highlight reel. Perhaps the moments that shone brightest were the snatches of quick lived joy or the recognition of understanding by others. Such as when Henry says to Miri ““sweetheart—life is hard…but it’s worth the struggle.” 

When three planes fall from the sky in the one town (the story is based upon some real tragedies in the fifties), perhaps the resulting tragedy acts as a parable to go out and live our best lives, because who knows how long they will last. 


5 out of 5: stick with it and take your time