Critical Praise

"In her wonderfully cohesive debut novel, short-story writer Tedrowe graduates to elegant novelist with a winding, convincing familial drama about the ties that bind and the bonds that bend to the breaking point…The author’s deft handling of a large and distinctive cast should win raves…A lovely and literate family drama that wins bonus points for its sincerity and open-hearted delivery."

—Kirkus

"“[Emily Gray Tedrowe] shows great promise in her compassionate, nuanced depiction of love --- among the old and young alike --- and her confident handling of alternating, multigenerational narrators."

—Publishers Weekly

"In her wonderful and original novel Commuters, Emily Tedrowe explores the reconfigurations of a family and the strange alliances that can occur between young and old, love and work. And she writes brilliantly about money. Reading these absorbing pages, I couldn’t help longing for each of her richly imagined characters to get his or her heart’s desire. A deeply satisfying debut."

—Margot Livesey, author of The House on Fortune Street

"In Commuters, Emily Gray Tedrowe gives voice to the old, the young, and the indifferent as they muddle their way through the expectations and disappointments of passionate and familial love in all its manifestations in this affecting debut novel. A poignant meditation on desire, heartrending loss, and dreams deferred, author Tedrowe explores the idea of second chances: of a surprising love late in life, of an addict choosing to stay alive, of a desperate woman mourning the dual loss of a healthy husband and the home they shared, and an adult daughter refusing to come to terms with her father’s decision who makes her own devastating choice that will ultimately unravel them all. With pitch perfect clarity, Tedrowe’s story will stay with you long after you turn the final page."

—Robin Antalek, author of The Summer We Fell Apart