Like many other Ann Napolitano fans who loved “Hello Beautiful” and “Dear Edward,” I went searching for her earlier books and found this one, her debut novel published in 2004. It was out of print for many years and re-published in 2024 when her more recent novels became best sellers, creating a new market for her earlier work. 

In the author’s note at the end, she acknowledges trepidation toward rereading a novel she had written over twenty years earlier at 32-years-old (after 2 previous ones failed to get published), especially as a mid 50s highly acclaimed author. But I appreciate how she also acknowledges that with little success in those early years, she began writing for herself, not for the single goal of publication or notoriety. 

“Within Arm’s Reach” is, like her later novels, a family story: a three generation Irish Catholic family in New Jersey experiencing various levels of unhappiness in life and marriage, various levels of economic success and hardship, and various levels of resentment, silence, and secrets. They try to communicate, and they try to be accepting, and they try to love, but they fail at much of this. Still, some scenes are tender and some are funny; many make us rethink our own family relationships.  

Told in the perspective and voices of five different family members plus one outsider gives us unique insight into their heads and hearts. At almost 80, the matriarch, Catherine (loosely based on her own grandmother), still wields most of the power, and likely did some of the damage. But she remains steadfast that a baby–a 4th generation–is what they need, saying “A family needs the old, the young, and the infants. When a family only has two out of the three, it doesn’t work…you lose your hope and you lose sight of the point when there are no little ones…you’ll see when this child is born.”

There’s probably truth to that in all families. Siblings, parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins all come together in the joy of a new baby. Problems don’t disappear but hope feels stronger. 

Not as polished or well developed as her more recent books but definitely a worthwhile read. Lots of similarities in characterization, human insight, and family challenges from her early work to her recent writing. She gets better and better.