“[A] well-crafted and cunning debut novel…a testament to the resilience of the human spirit.”
—Publishers Weekly

The Summer We Fell Apart by newcomer Robin Antalek is a poignant, funny, and totally engrossing novel of family disasters and sibling rivalry—and it marks the debut of a pitch-perfect new voice in contemporary American fiction. Antalek’s tale of the trials and many tribulations of the hapless and more than a little dysfunctional Haas family recalls the work of Sue Miller and Ann Beattie—and is a wonderful introduction to a superb writer whose short fiction has been nominated for numerous awards, including the Glimmer Train’s Family Matters and Short-Story Award and the Bellingham Review’s Tobias Wolff Award for Fiction.

The children of a once-brilliant playwright and a struggling actress, the four Haas siblings grew up in chaos—raised in an environment composed of neglect and glamour in equal measure. When their father dies, they must depend on their intense but fragile bond to remember what it means to be family despite years of anger and hurt. These brothers and sisters are painfully human, sometimes selfish, and almost always making the wrong decisions, but their endearing struggles provide laughter through tears—something anyone who’s ever had a sibling can relate to.

About Robin

After making a career out of changing careers, from PR to tending bar, and from waitressing to managing a modern dance company, Robin Antalek eventually gave in to the voices in her head and began writing fiction. She studied at The New York State Writer’s Institute at the State University of New York at Albany, and has published in many literary journals: Sun Dog: The Southeast Review, Literary Mama, among others, and has twice been a finalist in Glimmer Train’s Family Matters contests as well as a finalist for The Tobias Wolf Award for Short Fiction. You can also find her nonfiction essays monthly on the web at The Nervous Breakdown.

The Summer We Fell Apart is her first novel. She lives in a very needy Victorian house in Saratoga Springs, New York, with her husband, two daughters, and three dogs.

Visit Robin Antalek’s website.

Check out the book trailer below!

Robin’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS

Monday, January 18th: Regular Rumination

Thursday, January 21st: Dolce Bellezza

Tuesday, January 26th: Take Me Away

Thursday, January 28th: Booksie’s Blog

Tuesday, February 2nd: Books and Movies

Thursday, February 4th: Raging Bibliomania

Tuesday, February 9th: Lit and Life

Thursday, February 11th: BookNAround

Tuesday, February 16th: Write Meg

Wednesday, February 17th: All About {n}