REVIEW: Party Lines by Emma Barry
Dear Ms. Barry:
This is one of those books to which I hate assigning a grade. In the past I’ve avoided political books primarily because of the current political climate is so toxic. It feels like as a citizen you vote, write/call your Congressperson and even donate money to candidates but the end result is acrimony and stasis.
Living in Iowa, I am subject to politics nearly all of the time. The midterm elections have barely passed and we already have candidates here positioning for the 2016 presidential election. The cycle of news and politics here is never ending and it’s not like rational debate. It is sound bite, tearing down the other side, and never about actual real policies or change.
The previous two Barry books I read and enjoyed much to my surprise so I had no hesitation starting this one. The two previous books dealt with politics but in such a way that it was more about the people and less about the process. This book is all about the process and it takes place during the Iowa primary season.
Part of why I responded so negatively to this book was, in part, how accurately the book seems to describe the confusing Iowa caucus system and did so in a way that did not make Iowa look like backward hicks (as many coastal authors who depict the Midwest tend to do).
The two main characters are staffers for presidential hopefuls. Michael Picetti is a long time Democrat field worker who has backed a candidate only to find out that he wants to leave his wife for a small time journalist. Picetti and his team convince the Democrat not to withdraw and they’ll cover this infidelity up. Only it’s not just the one, but a string of “ones” that they end up having to overcome. Worse, I don’t get a sense from the book why this man should be president. Picetti doesn’t give me sufficient reasons why his guy should win over any other guy. In fact, Picetti’s reasons for backing his guy is solely because of the guy’s electability.
On the other side we have Lydia Reales. She’s somewhere lower on the food chain of political operatives on the campaign and she wants to be noticed. She has a conversation with Picetti and determines that Picetti looks unhappy and therefore there must be something wrong with Picetti’s candidate. Reales is determined to find the dirt on Picetti’s candidate so that her candidate can win and she can look good.
Neither Picetti or Reales came off as individuals who actually believed deeply in their cause. They came off as individuals who want to win and they espouse certain beliefs because that’s what they’ve espoused for so long, because that’s the belief of their candidates.
Mandi at SmexyBooks loved this book and she was right that the romance between the two candidates was fun and tender. Reales, the Latina Republican, actually does believe her candidate is better for the job–at least better than Picetti’s candidate. Gratefully, both characters present a more refreshing side of politics–meaning they disagree without acrimony.
On top of their political differences, which fade in importance as their feelings grow, is that Michael is weary of the road and campaign life whereas Lydia is not. She’s just starting out. She’s fresh, new and excited and full of ideas and Michael wants to settle down and have kids. That conflict seemed impossible to overcome.
BUT! the election, of course, is not about principles. It is about who has the dirtiest secrets and which party can find those and leverage that into a political win. I have to give credit for the realism that is baked into the story. It really does read like it could be the true account of two staffers on Election Road.
Even though the romance is well crafted and woven throughout story, I still read it with one hand over my eyes and the outcome, the end of the political story, made me feel less than hopeful. It’s well-written, authentic, and the romance is believable but I still didn’t like it because I couldn’t separate my real life feelings and biases from the storyline itself. Still, I’m giving it a B.
Best regards,
Jane
AmazonBNKoboAREBook DepositoryGoogle
Aww man. I have loved the last two Emma Barry books, but damn it, I want escapism with my realism. This one sounds like it would depress me. I guess I’ll save it for when I’m feeling more hopeful in general.
@leftcoaster: I feel like such a curmudgeon for not liking this book more.
Sometimes the truth just hurts too much. I feel like with each passing year my ability to weather the shit happening around me with my heart intact decreases on a logarithmic scale. I sort of want to blame parenthood but maybe it’s just called being in my 40s.
I enjoy Emma Barry’s writing so everyone else go read this one…she’s awesome.
Well, I hate politics but I really liked this book. It must really be a drag to live in Iowa, though. I grew up in Nebraska but in the Sioux City media area and it just never goes away. I don’t miss that.
The cynicism was part of what I liked about this book. It rang true to me, especially for Michael. I think Lydia was slightly more idealistic and I really liked her comment in the epilogue where she showed that she had become a bit more accepting of the pragmatics of politics but was still convinced it was worth doing her bit. I guess for me this felt like politics actually is rather than my idealist’s view of how I might like it to be. I’d probably enjoy a romance in a more fantasy political setting, but I liked this too. I think it’s the best of the series.
I read the first few chapters of this book and put it aside. It was too much like a busman’s holiday for me, and I have enough trouble teaching about politics without sounding completely jaded and fed up. I do think that choosing to write about political operatives sends you down Cynicism Boulevard in a way that other characters who live and work in the political world don’t necessarily. It’s like writing a book with political opposition researchers as the main characters; you can’t talk about the job without it being depressing. Political-rivals-attract was more appealing when things were somewhat less toxic, maybe because it wasn’t just a fantasy but we saw examples of it pretty often. Now it just feels like a reminder of how much of a fantasy cross-party cooperation has become.
I thought the characters were well drawn and the writing was good, but I couldn’t stick with the subject matter.
I can’t even imagine what it’s like to live in Iowa. It’s bad enough being a neighboring state and always having students and friends involved in political campaigns. I feel for you, Jane.
@Sunita: Yeah, it’s much easier for me to read and enjoy because it’s not part of my day job, and even if it were, it wouldn’t be US politics. I was in the US for most of the presidential election for Obama’s first term and it was pretty overwhelming and exhausting, even when I wasn’t directly involved in any of it.
If you think it’s exhausting living in Iowa, try living in Washington, DC. I love the city but it’s very hard to escape politics. Where I lived before (Arizona, Massachusetts) there are local, state, and national politics, but living here it’s pretty much national politics all day, every day. Even on the local level we live with the results of everyone else’s elections because Congress must approve the DC budget. Do not get me started on the hypocrisy of members of Congress who go on (and on and on) about wanting to reduce federal involvement in everything but then are only too happy to get involved in the city’s affairs.
I recently read Barry’s first book, Special Interests and I’m considering checking this one out, too. The premise reminds me a bit of James Carville and Mary Matalin’s real life courtship while working on opposing campaigns during the Clinton-Bush race of 1992. They even wrote a book about it, with the clever title All’s Fair. Amazingly, they’re still married all these years later!
Janine, I’m pretty sure that’s one of the things Barry cites as inspiration for her book.
I love her writing, so grabbing in spite of the subject matter. But considering how many political emails I get even when there’s NOT an election on, I’m a little worried. (Not worried enough to stop me from buying the book though… I really do adore her books).
I cringed big-time when I saw this was about politics. Because I can’t. I’m so bitter about US politics, so angry at our politicians and so cynical about everything to do with elections/government and the party divide. I avoid politics in my every day life (the news just brings pointless anxiety) and I refuse to engage with it in my reading material.
I liked and read Emma Barry’s historical, Brave in Heart (I think?!), though. Just hoping she writes about something unrelated to modern politics. She has a good voice and writing style, imo.