Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

This novel, spanning three decades, is about three friends, Sadie, Sam, and Marx, who come together to create, produce and sell video games. The themes are relationships, grief, and collaboration. You do not need to be a gamer to appreciate the story.

To begin with, this is not a happy book. The book’s title is part of a famous soliloquy in Shakespeare’s MacBeth, a tragedy. I quite disliked one of the secondary characters, which I’m sure the author intended. I also objected to the author’s need to have some trauma in each main character’s background, which apparently made them more creative.

That said, this was compelling and immersive reading. It was also interesting to see how important playing video games was to the characters, as reading books, especially fiction, is meaningful to me. The wide variety of games developed and played in these pages were richly detailed and unique; I’m sure many gamers would love to play them if they were available.

This book has been a bestseller for a whole year, and I now understand the buzz that has kept it there for so long. The characters are intriguing and the quality of the writing is excellent; I just wanted a slightly different plot.

The author’s first novel, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, is also bittersweet, and just as memorable.