A moving story of friendship, loss and life in New York

December, 2008. A heavy snowstorm is blowing through Manhattan and the economy is on the brink of collapse, but none of that matters to a handful of guests at a posh holiday party. Five years after their college graduation, the fiercely devoted friends at the heart of this richly absorbing novel remain as inseparable as ever: editor and social butterfly Sara Sherman, her troubled astronomer boyfriend George Murphy, loudmouth poet Jacob Blaumann, classics major turned investment banker William Cho, and Irene Richmond, an enchanting artist with an inscrutable past.

Amid cheerful revelry and free-flowing champagne, the friends toast themselves and the new year ahead — a year that holds many surprises in store. They must navigate ever-shifting relationships with the city and with one another, determined to push onward in pursuit of their precarious dreams. And when a devastating blow brings their momentum to a halt, the group is forced to reexamine their aspirations and chart new paths through unexpected losses.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, when I started Why We Came to the City. I had picked up Jansma’s previous novel a couple of years back, but hadn’t had the chance to read it, yet. There was something about this one, though, that caught my attention and never really let go. I started reading the novel very shortly after I received a review copy from the publisher, and despite taking just a little while to get used to the style and rhythm, I was hooked. Continue reading →