If the Fates Allow cover art

If the Fates Allow

A Short Story

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If the Fates Allow

By: Rainbow Rowell
Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman
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About this listen

After a long, lonely year, two people stumble toward each other in this holiday short story by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Eleanor & Park and Fangirl.

Social distancing came easily to Reagan. Maybe a little too easily. She’s always liked people better from afar. But Reagan doesn’t want her grandpa to be alone for Christmas this year - he’s already spent too much time on his own in 2020. So she heads back to her hometown with a dish of holiday Jell-O salad, hoping they can have a little normalcy. Hoping it will be safe...

She isn’t expecting to run into the boy next door. Mason is all grown up now. He’s considerate. He’s funny. He doesn’t mind how prickly Reagan is - he maybe even likes it. And it makes Reagan feel like her defenses are falling. She needs her defenses, doesn’t she? In a time when six feet is close enough, how long can they keep their distance?

©2021 Rainbow Rowell. (P)2021 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Anthologies & Short Stories Contemporary Contemporary Romance Fiction Romance Short Stories

Critic reviews

“Narrator Rebecca Lowman captures common feelings of uncertainty and dread in her narration of Rowell's pandemic romance, set in Nebraska. Lowman's husky, drawn-out voice creates a memorable portrayal of Reagan (from Rowell's FANGIRL).... Lowman faithfully reproduces Reagan's pugnacious, resentful thoughts about her pandemic-ignoring extended family and her interactions with her grandfather's neighbor, Mason, who turns out to be Reagan's high school acquaintance.... Lowman captures Rowell's tone and spotlights the surreal encounter that jumpstarts Reagan and Mason's romance.” (AudioFile Magazine)
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Most relevant
I thought this was wonderful. I loved getting a peek into the future of Reagan. But most of all I loved how well this captured what it’s like to be vulnerable in this pandemic, I have never felt more seen in a piece of writing and for that I am truly greatful.

A wonderful Christmas short story in the time of COVID

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The narrator was great but this story is awful. I can't say I wanted to read a book preaching about covid and vaccinations.

meh

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