Four Seasons at Angelinos

By: Atiya Irvin-Mitchell

After an ugly breakup and the revelation that she’s running out of time to have children Charlotte McPherson, an unlucky in love publicist, gives herself a year to find true love. Although in Caroline McBride’s Four Seasons at Angelinos the author was seeking to write a novel in the spirit of beloved romantic-comedies such as When Harry Met Sally and Noting Hill, she instead creates a painful to read three-hundred-page pity party layered in privilege, insulting microaggressions and a lack of self-awareness that rivals reality television stars.

On the heels of her boyfriend revealing that he has no intention of leaving his wife, a heartbroken and underappreciated Charlotte decides it’s time to get serious about personal life. For her this means getting a raise at a job where she is overworked and underpaid and finding a husband. During the four seasons this story takes readers and the 35-year-old all over the world as she laments watching family and friends plan baby showers and weddings while she’s stuck in the same place. On the surface this story filled with idyllic travel destinations and a plot of a Lifetime holiday movie should make for a fun read. Unfortunately, the most attractive thing about this novel are countries described in Charlotte’s travels.

It should be said that unlikable and or morally gray characters can still make for compelling fiction; however, the main character’s victim complex—not to mention the narrative validating her victim complex —makes seeing the world through her eyes excruciating. Charlotte is a Carrie Bradshaw wannabee with all of the desperation, entitlement and obliviousness of the late 90s without any of the charm. Many of her problems are those of her own making, which in of itself is not a problem; the issue is that she borders on being incapable of learning from her mistakes and the narrative behaves as if anyone who doesn’t coddle her is the villain.

Some readers might find the fact that without a shred of irony the main character repeatedly compares her failed relationships to the pain of losing a parent insulting. However, more insulting is the author’s own tone-deafness. Throughout the story McBride leans into a host of offensive and racially insensitive remarks and, at one, point the complexity of trans-racial adoption. As if this weren’t bad enough, while Charlotte’s often hostile work environment is cause for sympathy, the frequency with which she complains about getting to go to places like India and Japan reek of privilege.

Four Seasons at Angelinos is a novel with a cute premise and could’ve been a relatable story about seeking to find fulfillment in one’s professional and personal life. Despite parts of Charlotte’s career woes being compelling, author McBride fails to create characters readers can root for by leaning into antiquated gender roles, offensive stereotypes and creating a whiny and judgmental main character that never realizes she’s the villain in her own story. Read Four Seasons at Angelino for the travel descriptions, but don’t go in expecting well-written characters.