Pushing Closer

Inspired by novels like Joan Didion's Play It As It Lays, Pushing Closer is a candid portrayal of one woman's journey to find herself by leaving everything behind.
When an unexpected layoff gives Petra Dominick a chance to start anew, she takes it. She doesn't just leave her job, she also leaves her marriage, her home, and the state.
Petra is beautiful, with an icy demeanor and a sensitivity that requires her to block out most of the world, but when she finds herself renting a room from the eccentric Tuesday Balfour, instead of shying away, she moves closer.
In an effort to impress Tuesday, Petra slowly builds a life for herself, and in doing so yearns for more.
When Tuesday hosts a dinner party and an intriguing woman catches Petra's attention, the possibility of romance arises and an affair ensues.
With the atmosphere of a Sofia Coppola movie and laced with the wit of a Philip Roth novel, Reagan gently lets us fall in love with each of his imperfect characters.
Part sapphic romance, part coming of middle-age tale, Pushing Closer forgoes the demands of relentless plot in order to feel like a walk down a suburban street on a cool autumn night.
Carefully told and leisurely paced, Reagan's latest novel is a beautiful narrative that reminds us if you want it bad enough, anyone could be someone you could love.
Readers who enjoyed Ottessa Moshfegh's My Year of Rest and Relaxation and Jay McInerney's Calloway Trilogy will find comfort within the pages of Pushing Closer.