Come As You Are

"The 1990s-set flashbacks capture the carefree spirit of the era and are full of references to iconic bands and venues, contrasting effectively with adult Skye’s complex entanglements with both Aaron and Zane, and her desire to give Montana a better life. Readers of character-driven relationship fiction will be drawn into Skye’s story." – Booklist

"In Jennifer Haupt’s keen-edged, intimate novel Come As You Are, an intense, imperfect bond yields to more expansive resilience." – Foreword Reviews

A Katie Couric Must-Read of 2022
 
"Offering complicated, flawed, yet deeply sympathetic characters, Haupt asks what it means to atone, to survive grief both alone and together, to stand on one's own feet as a woman who has been hurt or as a man who has done harm."
 – Gina Frangello, bestselling author of A Life in Men and Every Kind of Wanting
 
"A tender novel of messy relationships linked by love and tragedy. From the smoky bars of 1990's Seattle to the beautiful vistas of New Mexico ten years later, Haupt skillfully weaves together threads of regret and forgiveness into a warm-hearted tale of moving forward."
 –Luisa Smith, Buying Director, Book Passages, San Francisco, CA
 
"A poignant and memorable story of a single mother struggling to transcend a past of abandonment, secrets, and false dreams."
 – Anna Quinn, Bestselling author of The Night Child
 
"Come As You Are reminds us that we all can get lost on the path to becoming good humans, even as it teaches us that better is possible."
– Erica Bauermeister, author of The Scent Keeper
 
“Heartfelt and insightful, Come as You Are is a delightful read. Haupt’s complex characters come to life on the page. Poignant and uplifting.” — Jean Kwok, NYT Bestseller author of Searching for Sylvie Lee, a Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick
"Haupt’s incandescent new novel centers on characters all desperate to find their best selves, each so rich and indelible, you’ll feel you grew up with them. Complex and unforgettable."
– Caroline Leavitt, NYT Bestselling author of Cruel Beautiful World and With or Without You
Jennifer Haupt, in her prior novel, In the Shadow of 10,000 Hills, effortlessly blended the American Civil Rights Movement with the 1994 Rwandian genocide. In her newest novel, Come as You Are, she just as easily dovetails the West Coast "Seattle Grunge" music scene with the New Mexican Native American milieu. Zane and Skye are teenaged best friends/lovers who plan to move to LA, Zane planning to hit it big in music while Skye works on her art. Things go screwy when her sister, Lauren, dies and, shortly thereafter, Skye discovers she's pregnant. To escape the tensions at home, she bails out and heads to Montana. He soon follows her but becomes too messed up by drugs to be a good partner for Skye or father to their daughter, the eponymously-named Montana. Eventually, Skye moves to New Mexico. She is too damaged by her past to recognize the potential of the second family she forms with Aaron and his mother, Enola.
 
Come as You Are is a haunting novel about trauma, love, healing, forming new connections and new families while learning to deal with the old. It's also about how traumas spiral around, revisiting families in new ways. The music references are spot-on. The emotions portrayed are grim, haunting, and ultimately uplifting. -- Suanne Schafer * Midwest Book Review *