Will Leitch's novel How Lucky is a captivating story of friendship, relationships, and growing up. Set in a small-town community in Georgia during the mid 90s, the novel follows several characters, with focus on the main protagonist April Rose.
April Rose is a high school student and dedicated athlete. She is also, however, dealing with the recent move of her parents following their divorce, as well as issues of identity, body image, and her newly developing sexuality. Between balancing sports, academics, and her parents’ expectations, she begins to explore her newfound yearnings and attractions. With a strong customer of friends at her side, April is determined to face the joys and pains of navigating a path to adulthood.
Alongside April is her friend Sally, a drama-filled social butterfly who is determined to help a increasingly rebellious April explore her identity without resentment. The two often find themselves at odds, despite a deep, understanding friendship. Bhom, a surfer-loving loner, provides a deep and mysterious intrigue to April, while Duke, the group's token charmer, provides a spark of fun and chaos to the group dynamic. Lastly, Addison, the creative, nurturing one, often stands as the friend most willing and able to provide some needed solace and perspective to her compatriots.
Each of these characters faces their own adolescent trials as they all grow individually, while still maintaining their tight-knit group. Through their ventures, Leitch offers insight on love, family, and sexual identity that hold universal resonance. At the novel's heart is April's conviction, to both protect and explore her own identity, and the struggles of her friends to do the same.
The novel is written in a beautifully layered prose that offers both snapshots of April’s evolution and a glimpse of the insecurities and dedications of her peers. Powerful vignettes cover prepubescent anxieties, romanticized crushes, as well as the sensitive repercussions of growing up in a small town. A variety of themes are at hand – from family tensions to a culture vibrant with athletic competitions – and Leitch does a brilliant job of incorporating all of them into a bigger story of breaking free from social and personal expectation.
A combination of southern charm, character-driven journey of growth, and a remarkable exploration of youthful identity, How Lucky is an indelible way of capturing the feeling of life in small town America, as well as its unifying capacity to make each childhood experience unequivocally our own.
