--- title: Review: Landline by Rainbow Rowell description: A screenplay waiting to happen, Landline offers another reason to get excited about Rainbow Rowell—even if it falls short of her other books. canonical: https://time.com/2969872/rainbow-rowell-landline/ author: Nolan Feeney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-09T20:36:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T09:02:55.042Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Review: Landline by Rainbow Rowell og:description: A screenplay waiting to happen, Landline offers another reason to get excited about Rainbow Rowell—even if it falls short of her other books. og:url: https://time.com/2969872/rainbow-rowell-landline/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt15713fe84e333428/69869b07cd68481d9d095941/rainbow-rowell-landline.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2500 og:image:height: 1406 og:image:alt: Landline by Rainbow Rowell og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Review: Landline by Rainbow Rowell twitter:description: A screenplay waiting to happen, Landline offers another reason to get excited about Rainbow Rowell—even if it falls short of her other books. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt15713fe84e333428/69869b07cd68481d9d095941/rainbow-rowell-landline.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Rainbow Rowell's _Landline_ is a Screenplay Waiting to Happen > Sponsored content. 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No monthly maintenance fees. No overdraft fees, no hidden fine print, no hoops for better rates. * 24/7 human support from real humans, not bots. ### FAQ #### Who is Ally Bank? Ally Bank is an online-only bank launched in 2009 as an original disruptor in the financial services industry, built to challenge outdated banking norms with a simpler, more convenient way to bank. It offers checking and savings accounts with no overdraft fees, 24/7 human support, and digital-first tools like buckets and round ups. Deposits are FDIC-insured up to the maximum amount allowed by law. #### Is Ally good for everyday banking? Ally is built for everyday banking, spending, and saving. Its Spending Account is a checking account that includes early direct deposit (paychecks up to 2 days early), access to 75,000+ fee-free ATMs nationwide, the ability to add cash for free at participating locations nationwide, and no overdraft fees. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Jul 9, 2014 8:36 PM UTC  Landline by Rainbow Rowell Landline by Rainbow Rowell St. Martin's Press  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Jul 9, 2014 8:36 PM UTC Rainbow Rowell made a name for herself penning last year’s funny and heartfelt young-adult fiction novels _Fangirl_ and _Eleanor & Park,_ the latter of which is [headed to the big screen](http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/04/02/eleanor-park-dreamworks-picks-up-film-rights-to-rainbow-rowell-novel-exclusive/) and has already been labeled “the next _The Fault in Our Stars_.” (As if a great YA novel can’t stand on its own.) Her fourth book, _Landline_, is the best-selling author’s first novel of adult fiction since her 2011 debut, _Attachments_, but the labels aren’t worth stressing: _Landline_ might not have any teenage protagonists, but it does have all the pleasures of Rowell’s YA work — immediate writing that’s warm and energetic — even if it’s not her strongest love story to date. In _Landline_, out now, television writer Georgie McCool gets stuck at work the week of Christmas while her fed-up husband Neal takes the kids to Omaha for the holidays, leaving Georgie to wonder if the rift in their marriage has finally reached its breaking point. When she discovers a magical landline in her childhood home that connects her to a Neal from the past, she has a chance to save their marriage — or save them the trouble and prevent it from happening. If that all sounds like a great premise for an offbeat rom-com, you’re right — _Landline_ probably should be. Reading the dialogue-heavy novel at times feels like reading a script that’s meant to be fleshed out on screen later. While moments of stream-of-consciousness narration captured the intense, messy thoughts of two teenagers falling in love in the excellent _Eleanor & Park_, similar moments and inner monologues border on repetitive in _Landline_. That’s not to say grown-ups with kids can’t ever think like teenagers (or vice versa), it’s just that these characters aren’t Rowell’s most memorable: Georgie’s back-and-forth fretting about Neal doesn’t have the same stakes when readers don’t get to know the couple or their marriage as well as they did, say, Cath and Levi, characters from _Fangirl_ who felt so real and complete it’s no surprise they’ve inspired volumes of fan art. There are other frustrations. Rowell has a knack for toying with readers’ instincts — leading them toward one conclusion for pages and pages and then suddenly and thrillingly confirming or subverting those suspicions — but one of _Landline_’s twists, if you can call it that, is too predictable to be truly satisfying. The novel also sets out to explore a number of worthwhile questions, like whether Georgie can achieve the oh-so-elusive work-life balance, but instead of answering them all, it leaves a few hanging. Despite these complaints, though, _Landline_ won’t do much to diminish enthusiasm for Rowell or her upcoming projects. When the author announced she’d be handling the screenplay for the _Eleanor & Park_ movie, Rowell was up for the challenge. “I have never written a screenplay” [she told MTV](http://www.mtv.com/news/1725386/eleanor-and-park-rainbow-rowell-movie/?utm=share%5Ftwitter), “but I had never written a book before I wrote a book. I’m going to do my best.” If _Landline_ is any indication, she has little to worry about. The book’s most enjoyable moments — like the quippy banter between Georgie and her family — are the same ones most deserving of a screen adaptation. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2969872/rainbow-rowell-landline/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2969872/rainbow-rowell-landline/"},"headline":"Rainbow Rowell's Landline is a Screenplay Waiting to Happen","datePublished":"2014-07-09T20:36:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:02:55.042Z","description":"Landline offers another reason to get excited about Rainbow Rowell—even if it falls short of her other books","url":"https://time.com/2969872/rainbow-rowell-landline/","keywords":["Books"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt15713fe84e333428/69869b07cd68481d9d095941/rainbow-rowell-landline.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt15713fe84e333428/69869b07cd68481d9d095941/rainbow-rowell-landline.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Landline by Rainbow Rowell","caption":"Landline by Rainbow Rowell","creditText":"St. Martin's Press","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2969872/rainbow-rowell-landline/","name":"Rainbow Rowell's Landline is a Screenplay Waiting to Happen"}}]}] ```