I think the only person I have seen read/review this is @booksnblazers. And if I remember correctly, 'twas a positive review)...enough to prompt me to choose the audiobook as one of my ALC choices with Libro.fm a month or two ago. And, here we are.

Wolfgang-Smith's writing style in Mutual Interest was a really interesting mix of classic and unique. It's a sort of rhetorical narrative style. Like, not talking directly to the reader per se, but talking as if knowing there is/will be a listener. There's a sort of a self-aware pretention to it that was both witty and high-brow at the same time. A bit of a contemporary writer’s take on the high-brow wit that the classic English lit comedy of manners (a la Jane Austen) is of classic English literature. A cerebral way of commentating on the ridiculousnesses of propriety and expectation, through fascinating flights of thought and reflection on random moments/thoughts. And of course, the glittering and gritty early 1900s boom era of NYC as the setting gave it a "mixed with Edith Wharton" vibe (a comp I am 90% confident about, based on general knowledge, but not 100%, having not read Wharton - yet - myself). Anyways, it was smart and wryly humorous in a way that took me more time than normal to settle into, and I listened to the first half of the book at a much slower speed than normal, but eventually I did settle, and enjoyed the tone immensely.  I liked this novel more, in general, but would recommend this as a comp read for anyone who enjoyed Diaz's Trust.

The framework story, that of the building of a personal care (soaps and perfumes and candles) conglomerate was quite interesting. But the real highlight of this read was, for me, the characters. From our introductions to them as separate beings to their growth into a self-proclaimed "syndicate" (both professionally and personally), I enjoyed watching them find their own ways to buck convention and make a life that matched what they wanted within the limitations of the time/society. Wolfgang-Smith storytelling does a lovely job showing the “we have always been here” truth for identities like queerness and autism spectrum/ADHD, without necessarily directly saying that. While it does put the onus on the reader to draw that conclusion, so it may be missed by those who don’t already see/agree with it, I appreciated how she communicated that message. I also really liked the way she told the story of Vivian, Oscar, and Squire with a sort of butterfly effect of actions/relationships as scaffold for their stories and effects on each other.

I also liked the inclusion of points of lesser known (or at least less famous and, therefore, less known to me) NYC history, as well as the details about the study of scents and their layering in perfuming and candlery. The finale was a (mostly - with one major exception) very internal set of culminating crises that led to an ending that, in its equal parts satisfying and unsatisfying wrap-up, was the perfect fit finale to this tale. Listening to this book was like hearing super high end gossip, like you’re on the receiving end for many really juicy secrets, but have to be quick/smart enough to catch and connect them, and I had fun with it.

“Our subject is change. Some change is so gradual it cannot be tracked with the human eye; some is cataclysmic.”

“A common enough mistake, the hope that a change of scenery will produce a change of metaphysics.”

“Is this love? Do we measure such things by intent, or result?”

“There are no stakes but the global. There is no timeline but the infinite.”

“This was how quickly desperate circumstances crowd out one’s dreams, personal and professional…”

“Consider, then, the solemn, holy, suffocating weight of institutions.”

“And the cardinal insult of womanhood was the fact that […] there was no metric to bypass even the most idiotic of husbands.”

“How many separate chambers should a healthy human mind contain?”

“It is a rare artistic soul, after all, that does not crave patronage or validation. Perhaps these impulses have always gone together - the desire to create, and the desire to be applauded for it.”

“It is not a small thing, to find that one's comforting fantasies are of one's own immediate future - of the life one has arranged for oneself. It is, perhaps, the ultimate dream of every conscious soul.”

“A reminder that not all unknowns were evil”; that some yielded immeasurable happiness - if, occasionally, via circuitous routes."

“There is a certain perverse elation, when we are in private crisis, whenever outside reality finally reflects our inner state.”

“Is it fair, to ask one’s family to read the implied shape of one’s affection in the empty spaces one leaves behind?”