Rowell’s novel is charming and hard to put down

If this were June, I’d call Rainbow Rowell’s “Attachments” a great beach read. Instead consider the novel a pleasant way to spend a spring weekend.

Think romantic comedy in the tradition of the 1940s and ‘50s, or maybe in the mold of the Brat Pack — if we met up with them after they had graduated from college and were established in early careers.

It’s 1999. Good friends Beth and Jennifer work at an Omaha newspaper as a film critic and a copy editor, respectively. The newsroom has been introduced to e-mail, and their messages to each other are how we follow what is happening in their lives.

Of course, they’re not supposed to be discussing personal stuff in their e-mails. And the publisher has hired an IT guy to read flagged e-mails so he can issue warnings to people breaking the rules.

Of course, Beth and Jennifer’s e-mails are flagged and Lincoln, the watchdog, knows they should be warned. But a funny thing happens. Instead of just reading the start of the e-mails and deleting them, Lincoln gets drawn into the two women’s lives and reads every word.

So half of the novel is written as e-mail back-and-forths. It sounds off-putting, but don’t be put off. It soon feels natural. The story, which really is Lincoln’s story, runs smoothly thanks to Rowell’s facile way with words and humor.

Like Lincoln, readers will be drawn to the women’s friendship and their relationships: Beth loves a rock singer who doesn’t really appreciate her and happily married Jennifer is struggling with whether she’s ready to have a baby.

I dare any female reader not to fall for Lincoln, whose story is told in standard prose. He’s a shy guy, kind of a computer nerd who doesn’t realize his better qualities (he finds out through the e-mails that he’s handsome and manly). He’s been hurt by his high school sweetheart who dumped him after he followed her to California (if the book has a villain, she’s it). He treats almost everyone with respect. He’s struggling to be more self-confident and leave everything that’s safe to stand on his own.

He also finds himself falling in love with Beth.

How that love story plays out and how everyone finds their paths in life is what makes Rowell’s story so charming and hard to put down. The mood easily, seamlessly swings from playful to poignant to satisfying. This isn’t a book of action sequences; the writer tells a quiet tale and you really want to see how it turns out.

Rowell also can be very funny. A lot of the dialogue and humorous situations will make readers laugh out loud. I was going to quote some of the funny lines, but being taken out of context just doesn’t seem to do them justice. It’s more fun to stumble on them as you read.

There is a section early in the book that Rowell’s fellow newsroom employees will laugh at. It describes Lincoln’s job as the newspaper’s e-mail monitor and continues:

“There was a whole list of red flags: nasty words, racial slurs, supervisors’ names, words like ‘secret’ and ‘classified.’

“That last one, ‘classified,’ beached the entire network during (the) first hour by flagging and storing each and every e-mail sent to or from the Classified Advertising department.”

Area readers will find all kinds of references to take them back to 1999 or to help them picture what’s happening by knowing the Omaha locations. For example, Beth is covering the efforts to save the Indian Hills Theater from demolition. Places where the characters hang out will be familiar or you’ll have fun trying to guess where they are.

If I have any criticism, it has to do with the book’s cover. I just don’t find it interesting and I’m afraid people might overlook the book with nothing to draw their attention.

All in all, though, “Attachments” is a sweet, fun way to spend some time with characters you’ll come to like a lot.

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