The Come Apart: A Novel

by Susannah Felts

An authentic rock band story from Chicago to Nashville and, just maybe, back again

On the cusp of turning thirty, Chicago indie musician Maggie Corbin has hustled for a decade, set on making her rock and roll dreams come true. Her band, Spinning Birds, fronted by Maggie and her romantic partner Matt Turkish, releases a debut record to critical acclaim, hits the road, and begins working on a follow-up. From the outside, her path looks like success―but as streaming deconstructs the industry and Maggie’s relationships shift and slip, the question remains: Can you live for art alone?

When a sudden move back to the South forces Maggie to reframe her dreams and reckon with familial rifts and her past―while still fighting to reimagine what her future could be―a natural disaster in Nashville and a surprise encounter with a character from her childhood shift her perspective on healing, community, and the ties that bind. Drifting in and out of songwriting sessions, cozy kitchens, and moments of bearing witness to the curious power of the natural world, The Come Apart celebrates the times when we must come fully undone in order to put ourselves back together.

Genres: Fiction

256 pages, Paperback

Published June 15, 2026

Reviews

[Amelia Edelman]

Beautiful and relatable, especially for anyone who has ever tried to make a life out of art. Extremely readable: the characters, relationships, and LOLs draw you in, but you stay for the deep heart-truths of it all.

[Ellie Groden]

the come apart rocks! it is depth and delight and just. so. cool. a story for the art girlies, for the struggling creatives, for the writers !!! it’s one hell of a story.
a beautiful book for the world right now! for the small businesses, the ppl feeling consciousness and literature is at stake.

things i thought susannah did incredibly well:

she delicately tackled the gnawing of tech bros and gentrification, while deflating them. the impossible conundrum of child needing parent/ not wanting parents advice/ the child needing to be their OWN person whilst wrestling the demons of the life their parents made for them. the mundane parts of the musicians life. the persistence of the drive. the knowing quitting would be easier. the gnawing of it all. the chicago cold. the way it breaks down everyone and everything from high heels to vehicles to the male gaze and the south’s.


this book is SO. WELL. WRITTEN. 10/10

[Average Readers Book Club]

Thanks to NetGalley and Northwestern University Press for an advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Overall I really enjoyed this novel, it was beautifully written and explored complicated characters and their relationships with ease. I appreciated the non-linear storyline, I felt it kept it interesting while also being easy to follow. I also very much enjoyed how lyrics were used throughout the story, and how every day scenes would spark the main character to spit out new lyrics here and there, it really felt like you're being included in the creative process.

Did the story slow down a bit in the middle and were there some loose ends I would have liked to have seen fleshed out a little more? Maybe, but c'est la vie. Still a great story with characters you grow to love and love to watch grow.

[Stephanie Buck]

I loved this. It’s the kind of book you read slowly in order to savor every scene, every word. Right from the first couple pages, when the author mentions the bullying of Chicago winters, I felt seen, haha. As an artist and someone who has drifted back and forth between places, I found so much of this relatable. I loved spending time with these characters, loved the prose. I liked the non-linear timeline and the quiet tension. I thought it all came together beautifully in the end, and it was exactly the reminder I needed about why we make art and for whom. I can’t wait to reread this every time I need another reminder.

[Lauren]

A lovely thought provoking novel about a musician becoming an artist and finding community. Extra fun because I lived in Chicago and live in Nashville; the two prime locations in the novel so some of it felt very familiar- I have literally walked those streets and hung at those venues. Felts really has a good feel for both the nomadic life of a touring musician and an adult mourning the loss of a parent. This is a novel I will enjoy recommending to friends.

[Laura Van Lyssel]

I knew this book was for me from the first page with a vivid description of Lake Michigan in winter. The story revolves around Maggie who is striving for success with an indie band in the late 2000s when a death in the family beckons her back to her roots in Tennessee. The Chicago imagery is pitch perfect and the grief she struggles with is relatable and poignant. I hope this small press novel gets some much deserved attention!!

[Sharon Falduto]

A slightly melancholy book, but still worth the read; a young woman in a band takes a sudden leave of absence from the band for reasons that become clearer as the book goes on. It's set between late 2009 and early 2010. Lots of references to the recession, which is a plot point I don't think we need anymore, but there it is. I liked reading about Maggie and Spinning Birds and her life between Chicago and Tennessee, although the ending felt a little bit off.

[Julia Shelburne]

1.5; I enjoyed the interviews sprinkled throughout this novel, but beyond those, the writing style and non-linear timeline were not for me. I found it difficult to follow the plot. Thank you Northwestern University Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

[Susan Finch]

A beautiful story about recovering from loss. I love the way secrets are revealed throughout the story, and the narrative momentum makes it a hard book to put down! It’s a story with a little bit of something for everyone - coming of age, rock and roll, and beautiful language throughout.

[Melinda C]

Picked up at the library knowing nothing about it but the cover caught my attention. I really ended up liking it and the character growth throughout it. Dual timeline took me a minute to I get used to but it didn't distract from the story. Would have given 4.5 stars.

[Debra Erikson]

An Ode to the Indie Scene in Chicago's 80s and 90's

[Lola Estelle]

I like Chicago. I like Nashville. I like bands. So I liked this book.

[Lynn Meyer]

I found this very winey.