She Came from Beyond!

Darling’s promising but uneven debut is, at its best, a zany but edgy domestic farce with an endearingly self-centered, clueless narrator. Easy has made a name for herself playing modern-day versions of ’60s bombshells on a sci-fi parody cable show called It Came From Beyond. She meets Harrison in an online chat room, and before she realizes that he’s married with children, she’s met him IRL (in real life) and is hopelessly smitten. When she becomes pregnant with twins, Easy’s life quickly devolves into its own parody of domestic bliss, as the couple takes in not only Harrison’s two children but also his increasingly unstable ex-wife. Much of the novel’s humor arises not only from Easy’s blithe acceptance of her home wrecker status, her campy career choices, and the culture of sci-fi fandom, but also from her own unconventional upbringing by a gay couple with domestic disturbances of their own. Easy’s carefree non sequiturs and boundless optimism studded with unexpected insights make the novel a breeze to read—until, with a marked and overly sudden change in tone, an unnecessary crisis propels it into new and jarringly dark territory. Nevertheless, in its finer moments, Darling’s debut offers an enjoyable blend of wackiness and wisdom. (Oct.)