Rob and Paige live in New York now, but they used to live in L.A., back when he was young and had written that movie EVERYONE had seen and loved. The Subway Series was a well-known rom-com and it made them rich. He then worked primarily as a script doctor who fixed bad scripts and saved bad movies as they lived the California good life.This changed drastically when their first child, Emmett was born with Downs Syndrome, and immediately needed lifesaving surgery. Even though Paige dropped her own career to be his protector, she found she couldn't cope without a help-mate or safety net, so she insisted that they move back to New York. Even though Rob felt that this was a bad career move, they came back and soon had another child, Darcy.
As any parent of a developmentally delayed child knows, childhood services and school help immensely while they are young but eventually will disappear as the young adults grow older. With Rob still jet-setting back and forth to L.A. to keep his anemic career going, Paige must be the parent who solves everything. Emmett has aged out-what now? They still have some money saved from Rob's big movie and Paige gets creative. She starts by purchasing an apartment that she turns into a group home so that Emmett and his three friends can have a great place to live. She then buys a storefront and Cafe Everyone becomes the answer to Emmett's employment problem, this coffee shop employs everyone, disabled and temporarily abled alike. Amazingly, both projects are successful and Emmett now has the independence he's been craving-maybe he can take his and his girlfriend's relationship to a higher level now. As for Darcy, she seems to be doing fine in school, she's shooting mini-documentaries and nobody worries much for her. But she does not feel seen or cared for, and her parents don't bother to check.
The inspiration for Subway Series was the actual story of how Paige and Rob met at a Mets game. The movie ended with a kiss shown on the kiss cam, but Paige always wondered what would happen when the happily ever after ended and reality kicked in. Darcy is about to go to college, Emmett is fairly independent and happy, and now she has to reinvent her life without being a full-time parent.
She decides to write a family memoir and calls it Now What? It sells to a small publisher, it doesn't make too much of a splash in the publishing world, so she is shocked to hear from a famous movie star (think Oprah) who wants to make it into a movie! She has a production company who will buy the rights, and she will star as Paige-it will be a boost to her career and will showcase a woman who has achieved greatness in a small but significant way. Not only that, but Rob will be tapped to write the screenplay of her book...how could Paige say no?
It's not a spoiler to say that reality kicks in fast and things don't go the way they're supposed to, like in the movies. Lots of things happen and not all of them are wonderful, but maybe some of them are. Thomas Craig, screenwriter for How I Met Your Mother, knows the ins and outs of Hollywood and adds them generously into his novel. He is also the father of a child with a rare genetic disease and understands first-hand what that can be like. Craig can mix sadness and happiness together in the same sentence, and makes this book a joy to read. Hooray for Hollywood!
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