--- product_id: 221345249 title: "Fleishman Is in Trouble: A Novel" brand: "taffy brodesser-akner" price: "£10.18" currency: GBP in_stock: true reviews_count: 9 url: https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/221345249-fleishman-is-in-trouble-a-novel store_origin: GB region: United Kingdom --- # Fleishman Is in Trouble: A Novel **Brand:** taffy brodesser-akner **Price:** £10.18 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Fleishman Is in Trouble: A Novel by taffy brodesser-akner - **How much does it cost?** £10.18 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.uk](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/221345249-fleishman-is-in-trouble-a-novel) ## Best For - taffy brodesser-akner enthusiasts ## Why This Product - Trusted taffy brodesser-akner brand quality - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Fleishman Is in Trouble: A Novel ## Images ![Fleishman Is in Trouble: A Novel - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91FrdXgQGXL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars One of my all-time favorites! *by C***E on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 18, 2023* This book is so much more than a father going through a divorce who suddenly finds himself with full custody of his children. This book shows you gender roles in marriage, work, society, and friendship and how they can affect the married couple. With that said, this book is somewhat relatable for mothers/wives who have clueless husbands, or husbands who simply have too much on their plate… for example - pay attention to your other half to help prevent them from spiraling out of control, because chances are, you will notice they are spiraling before they can tell what's going on with them, and you can help them or find help before the worst part of the damage is done and to help catch you when you fall. This book shows you that you need someone, whether it is a spouse or friend, but preferably both of those.I loved the writing style of this book and the narration by Allyson Ryan. I can't wait to read Taffy's coming works and see what the future holds for her.THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU IF: You love a glimpse into a failing marriage with some modern takes and struggles that will keep you guessing and on the edge of your seat. ### ⭐⭐⭐ 3.0 out of 5 stars Before You Read This, Know What You're Getting: It's ChickLit, Not Literature as the Awards Suggest *by C***Y on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 18, 2021* Reminiscent of Lauren Groff's brilliant novel "Fates and Furies," this remake is whiny, whiny, whiny, as well as a quite daringly sexy read, but most important it is not as erudite, intelligent, or shocking as Groff's literary masterpiece. In all fairness, author Taffy Brodesser-Akner probably doesn't think of this book as a "Fates and Furies" remake, but because the plot/structure similarities are unmistakably alike it's hard not to compare them.And "Fleishman Is in Trouble" is a poor runner-up.This is the plot set-up: Toby Fleishman, M.D. is a top hepatologist at a top New York City hospital, making a respectable quarter of million dollars a year. But that's not enough for his wife, Rachel, who has her own creative agency representing actors and makes five times what her husband pulls in. This is Manhattan in the 2000s and it's all about money because it takes a lot of it to buy the lifestyle of a tony apartment with the right address, private schools for the children, a house in the Hamptons, and vacations in Europe. She is greatly annoyed that Toby just doesn't care about any of that. Rachel is all about the money and prestige and impressing others. Toby is all about loving the children. Rachel and Toby's love story dissolves. They separate. They work out child custody. But before the divorce is final, Rachel disappears and goes completely incommunicado, leaving Toby (who has recently discovered sexy dating apps and has become weirdly obsessed with them) with the children.The novel has three chapters, all told by the narrator—unnamed for quite some time, which is incredibly confusing, if not actually disconcerting—who is an old friend of Toby's named Libby whom he met in Israel during their junior year abroad and hasn't seen since. Libby is a former magazine writer turned happily married, stay-at-home New Jersey suburban mom. The first chapter is from Toby's point of view. The second chapter is mostly from Toby's point of view with a lot of Libby interjecting her own story, while the third chapter is from all three points of view. After all, every marriage—and its disintegration—has two sides.I am willing to stretch my imagination for every novel I read and give the author a lot of artistic license. But Libby as the narrator is just too much—even for me. Libby is a distant friend, but somehow Libby knows intimate, incredibly personal details about both Toby and Rachel. It is completely, eye-rollingly implausible.And did I mention it is whiny? Oh, so very, very whiny. Uber-privileged, rich white people who have everything in the world kind of whiny.One more thing: The ending is awful. Very, very disappointing.Longlisted for the National Book Award, this is a well-written, satirical novel that is amusing and entertaining, although quite pretentious, but it absolutely does not rise to the level of great literature as its National Book Award nomination would suggest. It is ChickLit. And because of all the whining, it's not even very good ChickLit. Just know you're getting ChickLit and not literature before you buy the book. I have no idea why it's so highly overrated. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, complex narrative that may just double as free therapy *by J***D on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 31, 2019* I couldn't put this book down, reading it in two sittings where I normally only get to devote 30 minutes at a time (weekends only) to engage in leisure reading. I liked the author's writing style from an unrelated article some several months back but honestly wouldn't have put her name together with this book, nor maybe even have run across the book at all, but for her appearance on a podcast I listen to daily. That one episode- not particularly focused on the book itself- made me immediately order the book, and I wasn't disappointed.Aside from a rare talent for description that digs deep and then surfaces a distilled understanding that makes perfectly clear the underpinnings of the scene, the author equips readers with the ability to follow the characters lock-step in a way that feels personal, revealing, and uniquely participatory. Think: If Bob Ross were to have broken down the unforgiving/unforgivable ennui and tortuous stagnation rewarded to women siloed by gendered expectations of career/partnerhood/motherhood/ambition/sexuality/aggression/fulfillment in the same way he could dismantle, clarify, and reconstitute a landscape into its component parts. Even the delivery of this story, which is accomplished by following the challenges posed to the (sympathetic) male hero, embodies the concepts explored in the book that a woman's story can only be told (accepted?) through the male experience. We like Toby, we root for Toby, and his experience is no less valid or significant... But the unheard story is that of Rachel, whose half of the marital decline is summed up in only a few pages- a footnote to the story of Toby.The point is not that the book focused on Toby and his experience, but is much deeper; would the story, if told exclusively from the position of Rachel, be palatable? As sympathic? Would Rachel also be seen as the hero/victim, or as an ungrateful, dissatisfied, and overly ambitious semi-villain who selfishly placed her material wants over family and a devoted partner? Would this book even be received by readers if it told the story of a driven woman who was forced to balance, somewhat precariously, a career and children and found her life unsatisfactory despite undeniable success, relative wealth/privilege, and a supportive husband? Or would its "acceptance" be another "the future is female" empty gesture at best, at worst a nagging, self-indulgent example of a third wave feminist trope? The author seems to suggest, through the side story of the narrator, that this focus- the lens that transforms the counternarrative of Rachel into a digestable, secondary story- is a deliberately covert way to make this point. And it's effective.The book tells a good story. But more significantly, reading it was therapeutic. All the frenetic, painfully conflicted ways of thinking about paths and paths not taken, the tradeoffs required to aim high (but not too high), to be a partner (but too often more paternalistic than partnered in the uneven negotiation of egos and expectations), and the unwavering guilt of it all... The way these considerations are put on us and put on ourselves, the way even women judge other women- directly or indirectly, these things aren't talked about. Not really.This book presents a kind of comfort in knowing that one's experience and ways of processing and feeling aren't unique. That your variety of madness and disquiet aren't personal. And that if, when you read Toby's story, you both sympathize and instinctively feel the presence of the anti-matter in that universe, that of Rachel's experience, you are not selfish or alone. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/221345249-fleishman-is-in-trouble-a-novel](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/221345249-fleishman-is-in-trouble-a-novel) --- *Product available on Desertcart United Kingdom* *Store origin: GB* *Last updated: 2026-05-17*