Description: "Valdin is still in love with his ex-boyfriend Xabi, who used to drive around Auckland in a ute but now drives around Buenos Aires in one. Greta is in love with her fellow English tutor Holly, who doesn't know how to pronounce Greta's surname, Vladislavljevic, properly. From their Auckland apartment, brother and sister must navigate the intricate paths of modern romance as well as weather the small storms of their eccentric MÄori-Russian-Catalonian family"--
Brief description: Rebecca K Reilly (Ngaati Hine, Ngaati Rehua Ngaatiwai ki Aotea), born 1991, is a Maaori novelist from Waitaakere, New Zealand. She has a BA (hons) in German and European studies from the University of Auckland and an MA from the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University of Wellington, where she won the Adam Foundation Prize in Creative Writing for 2019.
Review Quotes: Selected Praise for Greta & Valdin "Generous [and] tender. . . Reilly's warm, overflowing novel defies categorization because its characters are too complex and multifaceted to be easily summed up. They're too alive in their messiness. If this novel shows us anything, it's that love-of family, of romantic partners, of community-is most joyful when it's without limits." -The New York Times "Say hello to your new favorite fictional family. In the wrong hands [Greta & Valdin] could all be quirk for quirk's sake, or a half-baked hybrid of Schitt's Creek and The Royal Tenenbaums. But Reilly's humor is so riotously specific, and the many moments of true poignancy so gently infused with that same humor, that the Vladisavljevics seem like no one but themselves. [. . . ] If Reilly won't give us a sequel, then we can at least hope she won't make us wait too long for her next novel. -Kirkus Reviews (*starred*) "The laughs start early and go strong throughout this winsome story." -San Francisco Chronicle, "Most Anticipated Reads of 2024" "Quintessential rom-com meets the delicious family sprawl of a Russian classic." -Vanity Fair, "11 Books to Read This Month" "Within the first few pages of Greta & Valdin, I was already struggling not to laugh aloud in my crowded office. I wanted to tap my colleagues on the shoulders and read lines to them, in the hopes they, too, would cherish Rebecca K Reilly's little kernels of humor and truth." -Elle, "The Best (and Most Anticipated) Fiction Books of 2024, So Far" "Reilly writes with a dry, sly humor and great love for her characters. She brilliantly builds the world of the siblings bit by bit, like a jigsaw puzzle. . . All combine not just to make the world feel real and lived in, but also to explain why Greta and Valdin are the way they are. . . Ultimately joyous and life-affirming, Greta & Valdin is Reilly's first novel. This reviewer is eager to see what she does next." -BookPage "Charming. . . This offbeat millennial comedy has universal appeal." -Publishers Weekly "Yes, [Greta & Valdin has] all the trappings of a very modern romcom, but it's the pair's relationships with and places within their complex, sprawling, loving Russian-Maori-Catalonian family that is the beating heart of their story, and this novel is all the richer for that. A huge hit when it was published in New Zealand, fingers crossed its considerable charms chime with an international audience-such success very much deserves repeating." -Marie Claire "Reilly creates charming multicultural characters whose struggles feel at once modern and universal." -The Washington Post, "10 Noteworthy Books for February" "In this cracking debut novel, Rebecca K. Reilly lets us look over the shoulders of siblings Greta and Valdin as they navigate the intricacies and disappointments of relationships, work, and family in their twenties. Written with a shrewd eye and a ruthless sense of humour, Reilly has barbs for everyone, including pretty much the entire city of Auckland. On a personal note, I was banned from reading this book at bedtime because of my excessive giggling." -Electric Literature, "10 Must-Read Novels Set in Aotearoa New Zealand" "A heartfelt portrait of a complex family." -People Magazine, "Best Books to Read in February" "Greta & Valdin is hilarious, touching and hotly sublime. The kind of novel that simultaneously makes me wish I were funnier and absolves me from the need to try-I'll never be as funny as Rebecca K Reilly (and that's OK)." -Julia Armfield, author of Our Wives Under the Sea "I can't remember the last time I read a book that was as genuinely and uniquely funny as Greta & Valdin. But it's also so much more than that. Reilly's voice is wise and full of life, and her observations about queer love, heartbreak, and the complexities of family are poignant without ever succumbing to sentimentality. This is a wholly original, laugh-until-you-ugly-cry-on-the-subway debut." -Grant Ginder, author of The People We