Jessa Hastings, best known for her cult-favorite Magnolia Parks series, shifts her literary compass from the pulsing romance of London’s elite to the quieter, emotionally explosive territory of family, identity, and legacy in her latest novel, The Conditions of Will. This is not merely a book about love or loss—it’s a masterclass in psychological realism, unspoken grief, and how silence can fracture the very foundation of kinship.
Blending romantic tension with literary introspection, Hastings brings to the page a story that simmers with emotional restraint while probing the depths of human vulnerability.
Re-entering the Family Fold: Plot Overview
Georgia Carter is a professional lie detector. Literally. Trained in reading microexpressions and body language, she’s built a life for herself in London far removed from her Southern roots. When the news of her father’s sudden death arrives, Georgia is forced back to South Carolina—back to the family she’s long since exiled herself from.
What she doesn’t expect is to cross paths with Sam Penny—her brother Caleb’s Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor. Sam is gentle, grounded, and quietly magnetic. Georgia finds herself drawn to him in ways she can’t rationalize. But Caleb’s feelings for Sam are also painfully real. In the complex web of familial loyalty and romantic longing, Georgia must navigate her heart without tearing apart the only true bond she still values.
And then comes the final twist—their father’s will includes an inheritance to a complete stranger, stirring unresolved questions about his past and unlocking family secrets no one was prepared to confront.
Literary Strengths: What Makes It Work
1. Layered Character Development
Georgia is as sharp as she is emotionally brittle. Her observations are cutting, often devastating, but what Hastings achieves so artfully is showing how intellect doesn’t shield us from emotional pain.
- Georgia’s internal monologue is rich with self-doubt, analytical precision, and vulnerability.
- Caleb, her brother, emerges as one of Hastings’ finest characters to date—a gay man still grappling with self-worth, familial rejection, and sobriety.
- Sam is less a love interest than a grounding force, a moral compass that shifts based on who’s asking for direction.
2. Atmosphere and Setting
Hastings uses place as metaphor. London is where Georgia is in control—logical, compartmentalized. South Carolina is memory-laden, raw, and emotionally unpredictable. The contrast isn’t just geographical—it mirrors the internal fragmentation of the protagonist.
3. Narrative Craftsmanship
Unlike the fast-paced drama of Magnolia Parks, The Conditions of Will thrives on slow burns. Every conversation is a chess move. Every silence is intentional. Hastings trusts the reader to sit with discomfort, to understand that what’s left unsaid often speaks the loudest.
Thematic Core: Inheritance Beyond Bloodlines
This is a novel about more than the legal reading of a will. It explores:
- The legacy of shame and silence, especially in families that equate conformity with virtue.
- Queerness and belonging, as seen through Caleb’s strained relationship with their religious, conservative family.
- The ethics of love, particularly when love exists in a triangle of loyalty, pain, and mutual desire.
- Truth as both weapon and balm, demonstrated through Georgia’s profession and how little it helps when emotions are at play.
Jessa Hastings’ Evolved Style
In The Conditions of Will, Hastings moves away from the stylish angst of her earlier work and into more grounded, emotionally intricate terrain. Her prose remains poetic and intuitive, but it’s more mature, measured, and introspective.
Hastings refrains from dramatics, allowing tension to bloom naturally through dialogue and atmosphere. She is at her most controlled here—and it’s captivating.
Critique: Where the Book Falters
While The Conditions of Will offers a deeply affecting narrative, it’s not without missteps:
- The middle act stretches, with several introspective scenes that could have been tightened. Readers craving plot-driven pacing may find themselves momentarily adrift.
- Secondary characters—particularly Georgia’s older siblings—lack the nuance afforded to the main trio. Their presence is functional rather than transformative.
- The resolution of the father’s secret feels emotionally satisfying but slightly underwhelming in scope compared to the buildup.
These are minor grievances in a novel that otherwise delivers an intimate, heart-wrenching story with emotional precision.
Not Just a Romance: A Literary Exploration of Will and Wounds
The Conditions of Will stands at the intersection of romance, literary fiction, and family saga. It resists easy classification—and that’s part of its brilliance. It doesn’t rush toward closure. It lets grief breathe. It shows love that is both beautiful and deeply inconvenient.
This is a book about loving the people you shouldn’t, mourning the parents you never fully knew, and deciding what to do when the emotional inheritance you’ve received threatens to bury you.
Ideal Readership
This novel is best suited for readers who enjoy:
- Literary fiction with romantic undertones
- Emotionally driven narratives about family dynamics
- Slow-burn storytelling and richly drawn characters
- Books like Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng or Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
How It Sits in Hastings’ Oeuvre
Where Magnolia Parks is fiery, youthful, and unrestrained, The Conditions of Will is mature, bruised, and contemplative. It signals Hastings’ ability to evolve beyond genre tropes and create something that’s not only emotionally resonant but also artistically refined.
She hasn’t lost her gift for portraying longing—but she’s found new, more nuanced ways to express it.
Final Thoughts
The Conditions of Will is a thoughtful, emotionally intelligent novel that asks its readers to think deeply about loyalty, loss, and the damage passed from one generation to the next. Its characters are bruised but never broken. Its romance is quiet but profound. And its truths—painful, necessary, healing—arrive not with thunder, but with a whisper.
This is Jessa Hastings’ most mature work to date, and while not flawless, it’s undeniably powerful.
Other Books You Might Enjoy:
- This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel
- Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
- The Past by Tessa Hadley
- Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro