Book Review || I'll Come to You (2025)
"A woman whose husband of forty years has left her for reasons he’s unwilling to share and the man who is now disastrously attempting to woo her; a couple in denial about a looming health crisis."
: 🌕 : SPOILER ALERT : 🌕 :
With care, the life of a person might be shared with those who have yet to know them; those who hadn’t previously known of their existence might also find the account pertinent. It is at the author’s discretion whether this story is worth telling. The reader will then have to decide whether they have the desire to walk sidewalks & drive beyond the pines of a small town in order to reach the quaintly nestled, purely sardined saltiness of a human life.
Because a reader can desire & alter their appreciation for any story they encounter, Kauffman’s work might be discarded. This is not to say that her fictions lack quality but rather that her books appeal to a reader who sits tenderly on the bench waiting for a single individual to pass them by, eager perhaps, to guess at the secrets of their existence.
“She felt like she was wrapped in voices. She thought that if she screamed, the scream would have no beginning and no end.”
This approach to storytelling works well for Kauffman. Her style is unique to her talent & I have found that the two books of hers that I have read, have both left me eager to meet this talent again. To my great surprise & pleasure, Kauffman’s roster has grown since first we met in the pages of “Chorus” (2022).
I readily admit that a part of me had nearly forgotten about Kauffman. Her stories carry a particular weight to them that does not bode well within the popularly shallow tales that line the shelves of the literary world today. A reader who has time for a story whose ending might not feel satisfactory & whose pacing is easy while semi-redundant, may appreciate what Kauffman offers. On the other hand, readers seeking the flamboyant fast-paced rumble of a riveting plot will be better off looking elsewhere.
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In essence, this is a story about familial burden. The domestic setting explored within this story presents readers with a complex family dynamic, though one will note that it is no more complicated than the family dynamic of the masses. Each character shares the narrative space, sometimes drawing attention to a history of pathological lying, while in other sections, their need to withhold information speaks to a deep-rooted insecurity.
The characters are not necessarily inspiring & I would argue this is in their favour. Rather than spend time crafting a story in which someone had to be grander than the common individual, Kauffman’s characters each represent a facet of what exists in the non-fictional world & might well exist in the reader themselves.
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I chose to read this book at random. I had been drawn to it thanks to the author’s reputation, but the cover art did the heavy lifting. Having finished the book, I wonder what Kauffman’s motivation was when selecting this particular art. There is greenery & foliage, a deep blue in the backdrop lined with a brilliant yellow, & in the forefront, a large cat stares curiously, drawn up in worry, to the eyes that behold the book.
These artistic choices seem to be both odd & on par with what the story is trying to communicate. Yet, I also believe that the beauty, stricken in the feline’s stare, speaks to something unwritten. With this in mind, I eagerly began reading. The flow of the chapters was utterly seamless & a total ease to work through. Kauffman does not show signs of hesitation as her pen waddles from one set of circumstances to another.
This approach will surely engage the reader, who will be poised to judge the characters & their decisions. I admit that as the story began, I was apprehensive about whether it would focus too heavily on one or another character, some of whom I found to be a total bore. I was glad to see Kauffman present the family tree as deranged & crooked, dying in some places, & falling to disrepair in others.
Mainly, I found the parents to be tiresome. As the story opens, the reader learns about the apprehension felt by a woman who has agreed to go on a date now that her husband of decades has chosen to terminate their marriage & seek greener pastures. I draw the eye here because this introductory chapter was one I found oddly charming.
The tone adopted & offered in this first chapter was reflected throughout the story in its entirety. At times, the characters fondle their needs while regretfully becoming angry at one another, their understanding of events & relationships became so entangled with their hopes & external players that the muddied water which might otherwise have proven to be deadly, revealed itself to be nothing more than a shallow puddle.
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I would like to admit that at this stage in the review, I find myself with little to say. It is odd to sit to write, knowing that one had previously thought oneself in possession of words to speak, yet finding oneself in the absence of desire.
I use this stage of the review to highlight a problem I seem to have with reviewing Kauffman’s work. While reading, I do not necessarily find myself emotionally riveted by the story. I read & I appreciate what the author has included & then it is done & I place it kindly on my shelf, but otherwise, this is but a book among many.
Yet, I reflect on the quality & feel that Kauffman has done well with her characters & efficiently insightfully translated the plot. How is a critique meant to expose the major flaw in this without nagging the scripture for a flame as yet unmentioned?
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I find myself wandering back & forth over the plot, trying to nail down some part of the fiction that might draw the eye or intrigue a future reader. The story itself, as I have said, is perhaps nothing special. I read it in a few hours over one snowy afternoon & have not thought back on it until now; as it seems important to ponder the nature of my experience & the logistics that made it so I bought the book to begin with.
Perhaps this short review will suffice. Perhaps you have come to this publication & realized that the simplistic nature of the plot, one that will offer readers the nagging reality of a family that refuses to communicate with one another, whose lies allow a person’s Dementia to advance without medical intervention, whose very nature refutes the presence of the reader whatsoever, will altogether neglect to entice anyone from choosing this book.
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The characters are at once shallow as well as earnest. The bits that Kauffman allows the reader to witness offer one enough information to continue paddling along beside them, all the while one is not left with any strong emotions.
I wonder if this is the key to the golden rule within Kauffman’s fiction. Is the author cognisant of her ability to pen plots that are feeble & simple, gifting them to a reader with the knowledge that they will do the heavy lifting? It is odd in fact to realize that one has spent a couple hours with a story that has left no impact, no trace of its depth.
All this being said, I am pleased to have spent time with Kauffman’s narrative. Perhaps this is overly kind & shadows the truth, which is that I had a book to read & I read it & the writing was fine & I had the mind of a patient listener as the tale wove onward.
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Ultimately, Kauffman’s books reside on the shelves of readers like myself who find themselves wandering the tightly packed caverns of the bookstores & libraries in their towns, wondering when the next great book will make itself known.
I am glad to have read this book, but it is not one I would recommend based on any great talent rather, it is one I would recommend to readers who wish to watch the life of another human being pivot over the turmoil they have inflicted on themselves. At the same time, a reader will note that Kauffman’s talent exceeds the confines of her books. She welcomes readers into the lives of characters whose complicity in drama & lore encourages them to be better for the generation that looms down the line.
I suppose when all is said & done, although I have said much of nothing & greatly rather little of anything at all. I will wander the same crooks & crannies of the libraries & bookstores waiting for Kauffman to appear as she has, coloured & drawn with lovely covers & taunting stories, short as the blinking life that signals the end of the evening’s playtime.
C. 💌