The People We Keep

The People We Keep by Allison Larkin is an internationally best-selling book originally published in August 2021. The book is particularly popular among book clubs. The title references the book’s primary theme of Chosen (Rather Than Found) Family; other themes include Expression Through Lyrics and The Nature of Romantic Relationships.

This guide references the First Gallery Books trade paperback edition of June 2022.

Content Warning: The novel contains discussion of sexual violence, a relationship between a minor and an adult, child abandonment and abuse, drug use, and anti-gay prejudice.

Plot Summary

April Sawicki, the novel’s narrator, is a 16-year-old girl living in Little River, New York, in 1994. The novel opens with April “borrowing” her neighbor’s car to drive herself to an open-mic night at a nearby bar. She sings two original songs and feels confident after her successful performance. She returns home to her motorhome (which lacks a motor) and revels in the possibilities this night could open for her. She is alone, however, as her mother abandoned her family when she was young and her father has since moved on to a new family across town.

Life in Little River is simple for April. She has a boyfriend, Matty, and a job at Margo’s Diner. She loves Matty but is concerned that his hopes for their future together will stifle her dreams. Margo, her father’s ex-girlfriend, acts as April’s mother and cares for her in every way she can, giving her a job and providing advice. April struggles to coexist with her father when he is around, as he gives all of his financial and emotional attention to his new girlfriend, Irene, and her son. The tension culminates in two major confrontations in which April’s father breaks her guitar and hits her. April in turn steals the ring he intends to give Irene.

These confrontations push April to run away from Little River. She steals Irene’s car, packs up, and leaves. On her way out of town she breaks up with Matty, knowing that it is the only way she can truly live a future that she wants. She settles in Ithaca, where she finds a job at a coffee shop and receives assurance from Margo that her father won’t come after her. At first, April stays in a campground, but at the repeated insistence of a customer named Adam, she finally agrees to stay in his apartment. After some awkward stumbles, the two begin a relationship, and April experiences stability for the first time in her life. However, her lies about her age jeopardize their relationship and cause her intense anxiety.

As Christmas approaches, April becomes friends with her coworker Carly, supporting her through a bad breakup. Their closeness angers Carly’s ex-girlfriend, who steals April’s license at a concert and later confronts April about the lies about her age. In a panic, April leaves Ithaca to protect Carly and Adam, leaving Adam nothing but a note and the ring she took from her father. On her way out of the apartment, April finds the guitar Adam intended to give her for Christmas and takes it with her. After a tearful goodbye with Carly, April hits the road.

Three years later, 19-year-old April is now living on the road and performing in bars for money. In Brewster, New York, April agrees to a date with an audience member. When she goes to his house, he does cocaine and assaults her, demanding sex. She escapes, but the incident leaves her shaken. Changing her plans, she meets Matty in New York City. Matty, however, is a wholly different person than she remembers. He was “discovered” and is now cast in a popular soap opera. Having hoped that he would comfort her and make her feel as though she were home, April leaves disappointed.

Her next stop is Binghamton, New York, where she plays a gig at a bar she frequents. While there, she rekindles her connection with Justin, a college student she has known for years. The two decide to take a road trip to Florida so that Justin can rebel against his father. As the trip progresses, April struggles to reconcile their different levels of privilege, and after Justin’s father cancels his credit card, she becomes responsible for the trip’s expenses. In Florida, April lies to Justin, telling him that the house they are staying in is her uncle’s, when in reality they broke into it. While the trip is fun, Justin soon uncovers April’s deception and turns on her, flying back home.

Lost and alone, April decides to stop in Asheville, North Carolina, hoping that it will evoke memories of Ithaca. While performing in a park, she meets Ethan, who takes her in and gets her a job performing at his friend Robert’s bar and restaurant. The three quickly become a small family, and Ethan and April help each other heal from the trauma of past relationships. When Ethan is attacked by his ex-boyfriend, Ivan, April intervenes and is hurt herself. This brings the two closer and April finally tells someone about her entire life. April also grows close with Robert, and the two enter a romantic relationship. April becomes pregnant, and Robert and Ethan are ecstatic. April, however, drowns in anxiety after discovering that the baby is actually Justin’s. April cannot bring herself to lie to Robert and Ethan, so she leaves Asheville.

Four months later April is performing and waiting tables in Florida; she hopes to afford an apartment by the time her baby, Max, arrives. When April calls to check in with Margo, she learns that her father is dying of lung cancer and races back to Little River. She is too late; her father has refused treatment and dies before her arrival. April reunites with Margo, who does everything in her power to support April in her pregnancy. April visits her old motorhome but refuses to go to her father’s funeral. In the parking lot, she meets her half-sister, July, who was born right after April left. She has a brief run-in with Irene, and the two discuss her father’s failings before April leaves town.

April drives to Binghamton to tell Justin about Max but is disappointed when he rebukes her and refuses to recognize Max as his child. Hurt, April returns to Ithaca, believing that both Carly and Adam have likely left. However, April finds Carly working at the same cafe they worked in years before. While Carly is in the back room, April sneaks in and leaves letters that she has been writing but not mailing to Carly for years. April plans to leave Ithaca, but first she visits the campground and holds a funeral of her own for her father. Afterwards, April goes into labor and falls, knocking herself unconscious. Carly finds her and brings her to the hospital, where April delivers Max. Margo arrives at the hospital, and April is surprised by the appearance of Ethan, who moved to Ithaca after April left. As the novel concludes, April finds herself surrounded by the people who care for her most and revels in the knowledge that she has chosen a family that will love her and Max forever.