Town & Country

By: Brian Schaefer

Narrated by: Daniel K Isaac

A 2025 MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK: Town & Country • LGBTQReads • Kirkus Reviews

“Refreshingly thoughtful...Town & Country is never short of engaging.” —The Washington Post

A “big-hearted and true” (Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize winner) debut novel set in a small rural town amid a congressional race that forces the candidates, their families, and a clique of gay second homeowners to confront lies, betrayals and shifting allegiances.

The trendy rural town of Griffin has become a popular destination for weekenders and the city’s second homeowners, but now a congressional race in this swing district is highlighting tensions between life-long residents and new arrivals. The campaign pits local pub owner and town supervisor Chip Riley against the wealthy young carpetbagger Paul Banks, challenging the social and political loyalties of their families and friends with lasting repercussions.

Diane Riley, Chip’s wife, is a religiously devout real estate agent who feels conflicted about selling second homes—including to Paul and his much older husband, Stan. Their elder son, Joe, is grieving the recent overdose death of his best friend and spiraling into drugs himself, while their younger son, Will, is a newly out college student seduced by the decadent lifestyle of Paul’s circle.

Meanwhile, Stan Banks uses the race to give purpose to the pain of losing a loved one to AIDS, even as he begins to doubt Paul’s readiness for office. And within their growing fraternity of city transplants, Eric Larimer finds unexpected connection with a local farmer that opens his eyes to the region’s complexity as Leon Rogers, still reeling from a divorce, becomes increasingly desperate to infiltrate the Banks’s exclusive crew.

Spanning six months from Memorial Day to Election Day, Town & Country paints a kaleidoscopic portrait of a community in flux. For readers of Fredrick Backman and Jen Beagin, this “powerful and extremely well-written book” (Colum McCann, National Book Award winner) asks the essential and timeless questions: What makes a home, and what do we owe our neighbors?

Critic reviews

"Daniel K. Isaac's performance reminds listeners that there’s always more than meets the eye in seemingly charming small towns. In Griffin, New York, the unseen has started bubbling to the surface. Listeners become immersed in the town's conflicts over a congressional race, struggles with addiction, history of ignorance and prejudice, and present-day gentrification. The complex lives of the transplants and the homegrown are treated with respect as Isaac recounts in a level, tranquil tone the circumstances that have brought each character to the town. Isaac’s delicate narration smoothly shifts from scene to scene and character to character. An excellent listen for political junkies, relocated city dwellers, and those hungry for a slice of small-town America."

Inwardly Thought Provoking.

Having grown up in a small farming town not unlike Griffin, the setting of our story here, I felt a sense of uncomfortable familiarity with this town and the locals who make up its inhabitants. As a gay man, the cast of duffles came with their own familiarity to me. The debauchery of pleasure and self love in the face of cruel misunderstanding judgement was something I know all too well.
Brian paints a complex picture here in Griffin that our world is made up of not just ourselves but people alongside us who have stories we will never hear. And exploring people I myself may have judged prematurely gave me a glimpse of the world I can now idealize.
This book left me surprised more than once and kept me wanting more after every chapter. A really interesting read and I can’t recommend it enough.

Wanted to like but couldn't get past narration

The narrator just didn't differentiate the characters enough and I kept getting lost. A little more inflection would have made this a more enjoyable listen. This title may be a better read than a listen, just wasn't able to get into it enough to finish.

Terrific and Emotionally Resonant Story!

I really enjoyed the book and found it quite moving. With a great deal of empathy and sly humour, the author illuminated the divide between town and country folk with characters on each side of the conflict put in complex situations that tested their mettle.

An election in a small town is a great arena to explore some of the challenges that we're presented with on a national level: gay and straight tensions, issues of rural drug abuse, hard-nosed politics and youthful striving for identity were beautifully captured. I think it would make a great movie!

The narrator was also quite good... once I speeded him up -- for me, 1.2 x speed was perfect!

Just keep reading!

BLUF: this is an amazing book.

I will admit, the first 3 chapters of this book were a struggle to get through. The authors voice is very smooth and easy going, but does not change for the multiple characters. I had to rewind at least 30 times in the first few hours of this read to understand what was going on. Some of the characters, although complex later on, have similar stories and attributes in the first few pages, making it hard to follow along when there is a quick character change. I even texted a friend who recommended this book to me to ask him why he recommended it. But… I could tell once I figured the characters out it would be fantastic. I think if I would have read the book instead of listened to it, I would have had a more enjoyable beginning to the book.

Finally- I asked AI to give me a 3 sentence run down on each main character without a spoilers, I screenshotted it, and referenced it while I listened.

After I got the characters down, I could not book this book down. Amazing story about a small town that is experiencing changes, a population boom, and people different from them are moving it. At one point I disliked every single person in the story (lol), but the characters are so dynamic and relatable.

After my initial struggle to get into the book- I could NOT put it down and found myself listening in the car, at the gym, and before bed endlessly until I finished.
I would highly recommend.

One dimensional

I was excited to read this, but unfortunately was disappointed. The characters all seemed superficial -- and where depth is sought it felt stereotypical.