Reviews
"[Ireland] keeps readers engaged even while making clear that not every question has an answer. . . .Strongly recommended."—Library Journal
"Chatty in tone, this appropriately titled debut novel features a cast of characters who converse and think in clipped sound bytes. Initially distracting, the author's peripatetic pacing mirrors the media-generated background noise that accompanies contemporary life. As the story of Michael and Sarah, a middle-aged couple whose marriage is challenged by the appearance of a daughter Michael never knew he had, evolves, the slice-of-life plot is bolstered by the almost omniscient television and radio reports chronicling the political and cultural fallout of a landscape steeped in the tensions generated by the ever-present threat of global terrorism. When the quirky, dialogue-heavy narrative is read between the lines, an eventually affirmative portrait of a modern relationship resonates with hidden depths."--Booklist
"Reading Chatter is not unlike using the television remote to flip back and forth between a compellingly hour-long dramedy and CNN; it's a dark romantic comedy punctuated by bursts of post-9/11 chatter, a novel that conjures the discomforting way news flashes and other bits of information peck at our psyche every day. . . . Ireland's clever, believable voice expertly conveys the uncertainty of life and love, at home and in the terror-crazed world."—More magazine
"[Perrin Ireland] has crafted a wonderful novel that balances humor and terror, growing apart and finding the way back. She has a deft touch and a great ear for dialogue, delivering complex and memorable characters."—Charleston Post and Courier
"[A] humor-terror nexus that Ireland so charmingly brings to life"—New York Times Book Review
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