Book Review: All the Right Circles

I’ve been trying to read as much as possible this summer before I go back to work, which is in 2 days (cue the sad music). I say it all the time, but my tbr (to be read) list is so long. There are books that I personally want to read and then as a perk to my online presence I get sent books to read as well.

One book that has been on my list, literally for months and months, is All the Right Circles, by John Russell. All the Right Circles follows Jack Callahan, a successful lawyer in Raleigh, North Carolina. When the novel begins, he is separated from his wife, Pren, and recovering from a sex scandal (an affair with his secretary although he was separated). When he was a boy he moved from New York to Raleigh with his crazy, yet brilliant, mother – a writer and teacher. His whole life his mother, and then he, has worked to move in the right circles. To move from outsider to insider of the Raleigh social circles and elite. You either belonged inside the Beltline or outside the Beltline.

The novel goes back in forth in time to give the readers insight into Jack’s life and his relationships with people today i.e. how they met, what happened in the past between them etc. In present day he is working as the quasi-heir to a law firm and trying to save one of the firm’s oldest clients, a newspaper called the Criterion. He goes about some shady things to try to save the paper from being bought by super rich brothers with hopes of taking over newspapers to further their far right political agenda. The novel gives insight into how these circles of business contacts, political allies, and rich people work. Not just how people treat others, but also how people will change themselves or manipulate their image to further themselves. Jack Callahan after all was born Jacob Gold, but his mother didn’t want the people in “the right circles” in Raleigh to know of their jewish background. The book touches on how people all look out for themselves and try to advance their own agenda while trading on favors. There is that saying about how it’s all about who you know and this novel really showcases that. It makes you think whether people are really helping you out to help you or to help themselves? Jack really has to think about that and come to terms with all of this that he’s been immersed in for so long.

Honestly, I didn’t love the book, but I did find it interesting as I’m interested in the whole idea of connections and social circles and things like that. It was a pretty fast read once I got started and I wanted to see how it would all turn out.

The book is available at Barnes & Noble and Amazon as well as other retailers. I’ve linked to B&N and Amazon below!