An artist recovering from an abruptly severed marriage finds consolation in the sport of pickleball in the competitively spirited rom-com Pickleballers, a fun first novel by Ilana Long.
Seattle, Wash., resident Meg Bloomberg is emotionally unmoored and struggling since her dentist husband of two years walked out on her. But when her best friend encourages Meg to take up pickleball, she admits it's a great "mental distraction from her loneliness" and soon finds meaning and purpose for her life again.
Meg crosses paths with a variety of players, each with personal problems of their own. But as she sets out to competitively master the game, Meg learns that her local pickleball courts are facing closure, because environmentalists are intent on restoring the area to a nature preserve. This sends Meg to practice with her partner on nearby Bainbridge Island. On the 35-minute ferry crossing back to Seattle, Meg is drawn to a charming stranger with "dreamy eyes," with whom she makes a connection, only to discover that he is working with the conservationists intent on closing her local Seattle courts. This sets up a host of complications for Meg, on and off the court.
Pickleball history and lore, as well as nuances of the game, flesh out this amusing, flirty rom-com. With a background in stand-up and sketch comedy at Second City in Chicago, Long serves up witty volleys of banter and clever plot twists that play out with winning aplomb. --Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines