That’s Not How It Happened

Thomas, cocreator of the TV show How I Met Your Mother, debuts with a heartfelt dramedy of marriage and the film business. Screenwriter Rob McConnell is married to Paige, who years ago gave up her journalism career to care for their son, Emmett, who has Down syndrome. As the couple’s younger daughter, Darcy, begins her last year of high school, Paige writes a memoir detailing her experience raising Emmett, now an adult living in a group home. The book, which also describes her advocacy for people with disabilities, becomes a bestseller when it’s touted on social media by middle-aged movie star Merritt Berkshire, who buys the film rights and gives herself the starring role. Rob is hired as the screenwriter, and the McConnells fight over their differing views on how to tell the story. Things come to a head when the mostly male production team convinces Rob to cut the material on Emmett’s early childhood, prompting Paige to ruminate on how her “very female book stumbled her way into such a raging sausage party.” Thomas alternates between the family members’ perspectives, laying bare Rob’s resentment at his wife’s success and Darcy’s frustration at always having to fight for attention. This well-rounded narrative crackles with life. Agent: Christy Fletcher, UTA. (Nov.)