I read Everything I Never Told You this year and I really liked it although the characters were heavily flawed. I kept waiting for drama or for something exciting to shake things up but by this point, for me, that was lacking. The book opens on one of the daughters weddings, from their mothers perspective. Reading this book was challenge like reading Black Leopard and Red Wolf! I just noticed how long this book is. Though this year is presented chronologically, the book also delivers numerous flashbacks that showcase virtually every significant moment in each characters life, from the parents origin story, through their four daughters childhoods, and into choices each make as adults, all leading up to this one eventful year. They are a healthy, but imperfect family of four daughters, who are all jockeying for their place in the world. Many, many character povs and lots of timeline jumps. While Lombardo's focus is on more happily wedded couples than Tyler's mismatched pairs, both writers share an interest in the forces that bind spouses decades after their "I do's.". The other 531 and a half pages are variations on Ginkgo tree worship, parents constantly reminiscing on their sex life, affluent yet thirsty sisters being snarky (and worse) to each other and their mom (because they would never talk to dad that way), and some kid reminding his recently discovered biological mother its. They're capable of coming to each other's rescue, but not dependably. " The Most Fun We Ever Had is a remarkable first-time novel offering such an intimate picture of people's interior lives I feel as if every one of these characters is now a close friend. To be sure, Lombardos characters exist in a world in which money is of no object or concern, conveniently available because of the marriages the four daughters have made generally to wealthy lawyers or businessmen who seem perpetually frazzled thanks to their jobs and often find themselves in awe of the strong women with whom they chose to spend their lives. By 2016, they have four radically different daughters, each in a state of unrest. Make harvest craft easy to trade. Copyright 2023 Kirkus Media LLC. I cared and cringed and chuckled and cried with each of the four sisters and their parents (and then theres the third gen of kids). Thanks, Emily! A family of six subsisting on one doctors salary didnt exactly equate to the lap of luxury for the four girls while growing up (which isnt to say they wanted for anything), but most of them were able to improve their circumstances even further as they reached adulthood- their own children are well-situated indeed. She was just trying to do the right thing, but that wasnt so easy, because everyone in her life had a different conception of what the right thing was, and she herself was caught somewhere in the middle.. Great review! Part One, Spring, begins with Chapter One, set in current day. I think of Grace as the color gray. When Marilyn Connolly and David Sorenson fall in love in the 1970s, they are blithely ignorant of all that awaits them. Her capacious novel also encompasses the "vast hormonal hellscape" the couple has spawned four cattily close, constantly sparring grown daughters trying to figure out their place in the world as they measure themselves against their mother and each other. If cars are often considered classics after 25 years, how does that translate to a popular cruise ship that is sailing toward its 25th birthday? The Most Fun We've Ever Had (Spoiler Free) spoiler. But heres the thing Lombardo renders that obsession with such skill and finely tuned interest that it feels like a quiet subversion of the traditional family saga, a new way for the past to bless or poison the present and an unexpected engine for the revelations about being human that she delivers so beautifully. This sounds exactly like the kind of book Ill enjoy, even if it was fine but not perfect for you. Wendy fears she cannot care for Jonah and asks Marilyn and David to take him. I also didn't like the timeline jumps. Part Three, Fall, tells how Marilyn nearly died giving birth to Grace, and Gillian Levin saved her. Marilyn Connelly and David Sorenson's love for each other has more than survived the decades, they have 4 now adult daughters, Wendy, Violet, Liza and Grace who have felt pressured to emulate the loving example of their parents. The Most Fun We Ever Had. Lastly, I sincerely hope you have a good day! Shepherd is a community of 7,000+ authors sharing their favorite books with the world. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. A room without books is like a body without a soul., [This review contains spoilers heads up!]. It was definitely a fun read for me even though I was wishing for a bit more thematic depth. Yikes. If you ever get the chance to sail on Disney Magic or any of the Disney ships don't miss the Sail Away party that takes place shortly after the muster drill as the ship pulls out to sea. By 2016, their four radically different daughters are in a state of unrest. This Study Guide consists of approximately 52pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - We had four teams from Crossfit Alluvium this year. This is one of the best reads of 2019, bar none. The present storyline contains most of what we . But I do agree that theres tons of potential for deep exploration here, which sadly is never quite realized. Thank you! My reaction: 3 out of 5 stars. Wendy and Violet mend old wounds stemming from Wendys losses, both of her husband and her stillborn daughter. They crept into my heart; it was like being a member of their family. Some of those remarks are challenged a bit on the page, like the daughter who says her mom is in schizoid mode is berated for it right after by other characters present. I particularly enjoyed their contrariness, but it wont be the right fit for everyone. Liza becomes unexpectedly pregnant and begins an affair to avoid dealing with her relationship issues. Colleen Hoover Required fields are marked *. Liza, the second youngest, has just received tenure but is ensconced in a difficult relationship with Ryan, who is depressed. (LogOut/ Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated. I could see glimpses of myself in Marilyn and that was one of the main reasons why I continued turning the pages. And I have to agree on sister relationships seeming very different than brother-sister ones; I dont have the strongest of sibling bonds, but even in childhood when my brothers and I got along better it was NOTHING like sisterhood is generally portrayed. Ryan leaves Liza. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. The narrative is filled with pregnancies (including one that results in a child placed for adoption), births, deaths, infidelities, accidents, sibling rivalries, secrets, lies and lots of wine and kissing. Each character was individualized and any one of them could have leaped off the pages. Get help and learn more about the design. Theres an exchange near the end when Grace tells Ben shes returning home, and he recollects for her her own descriptions of her family members. Change). share. Lombardo, a Chicago native and recently minted University of Iowa MFA graduate, has crafted an intricate multigenerational saga about the vicissitudes of a passionate but not perfect marriage over a 40-year span. At the age of 20, Wendy marries Miles, a man 15 years her senior who comes from old money, to escape her family and her eating disorder. 'The Most Fun We Ever Had" is an ambitious and brilliantly written first novel, sometimes amusing and sometimes shocking, but its unrelenting nature and lack of context is ultimately off-putting.. This is a character driven story of a present day family on the north shore of Chicago. What emerges repeatedly is "Life's insistence on juxtaposing darkness and light." Moving on. I do think its appropriate for authors to include characters that are not P.C. David recovers, but fears his mortality. My Lord, did I love this novel. Only a few pages into the novel, and the reader already knows about Wendys vulnerability, characterized as vestiges of her teenage habits appeared only fleetingly for her now she still, on occasion, flirted with the idea of purging, and once in a while shed try a diet that she read about in US Weekly. When you purchase an independently reviewed book through our site, we earn an affiliate commission. There are a FEW more likable characters though so its maybe not a totally lost cause! Many ways. Now Jonah is back in town, engaged to Jenny, and working at the local high school as Claras teacher. Lombardos novel is divided into 34 chapters, with dated flashbacks interspersed throughout in order to provide deeper exposition on the relationships between characters. Get The Most Fun We Ever Had from Amazon.com. But at least I mostly enjoyed this one!). help you understand the book. I made a little list in my longlist wrap-up last year of parallels that I found between the books- Ill link that here in case youre curious! The Most Fun We Ever Had is certainly not boring. I had this in a queue at my library but I may press on with others I want to read first! There were so many great contenders on the longlist last year that I wouldve loved to see win above An American Marriage, even though AAM was a 4-star read for me. What a fantastic debut novel by Claire Lombardo! This thread is archived. Basically, a book with loads of potential to explore something interesting, but doesnt go there? because there are loads of those people out there, even if theyre only saying horrible things to someone in a close circle and not in public. The novel is absolutely a pleasant and enjoyable read, but is in no way gritty.. All the characters, with vastly differing perspectives, are written with clarity. I love listening to family dramas but this one had too much needless drama to my taste. Amy Adams, Laura Dern to Produce 'The Most Fun We Ever Had' Adaptation at HBO By Joe Otterson Doubleday/Claire Lombardo HBO is developing a series adaptation of the Claire Lombardo novel "The. After a while, you feel that you've always lived with the Sorenson family, and always will. Grace, the baby, tries to see how long she can live a lie. Gloomhaven is a cooperative game of tactical combat, battling monsters and advancing a player's own individual goals in a persistent and changing world that is played over many game sessions. As you can see, there are SO many different personalities in this book. Gingko leaves and trees show up many times during the course of the novelduring the opening scene and when David and Marilyn first fall in love, just to name a couple. She wonders how her daughters could have all turned out so markedly different, not only from one another but also from her. Yet, I felt compelled to see it through and finish. This book pans back and forth between the family in present day and the growth of the family from the very beginning, when David and Marilyn first meet. RELEASE DATE: March 18, 2014. She finds out after the fact that Ridge already has a long-distance girlfriend, Maggieand that he's deaf. Books that follow a group of characters over decades have always been the kind that speak to me in a special way, namely, The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer - a gold standard that Ive held many other books to over the years. https://literaryelephant.wordpress.com/2019/04/28/womens-prize-2019-longlist-wrap-up-shortlist-prediction/, I havent reached that limit yet but I feel I will, as I read more of the longlist. A multigenerational novel in which the four adult daughters of a Chicago couple--still madly in love after forty years--recklessly ignite old rivalries until a long-buried secret threatens to shatter the lives they've built. Having sailed on Disney Cruise Line's newest ship, Disney Wish, which is still in its first year of operations, along with both Disney Dream and Disney Wonder, I was curious h I wouldve loved to see a bit more variety in content this year and a few less books about motherhood! PQ Spoilers: Zealot will do final exhaustion, which will also be final exhaustion for Anatomy, Trophy Hunt only needs one more unique, Helping Hand will witness it all. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE | The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides The Silent Patient is a shocking psychological thriller of a woman's act of violence against her husband-and of the therapist obsessed with uncovering her motive. (LogOut/ Liza has her baby and David, initially standoffish, agrees to watch her when Liza returns to work. Oooh, interesting. When Marilyn Connolly and David Sorenson fall in love in the 1970s, they are blithely ignorant of all that's to come. I love domestic fiction, especially ones that examine marriages, sibling rivalries, and socioeconomically differences. Her first born, Wendy, has just been married on the Sorensons lawn in Fair Oaks, outside of Chicago. Things seem to snowball out of control, and perhaps for a reader it seems like a bit much, but Lombardos inclusion of all the minutiae are also true to life: This is how life actually is. By 2016, their four radically different daughters are each in a state of unrest: Wendy, widowed young, soothes herself with booze and younger men; Violet, a litigator-turned-stay-at-home-mom, battles anxiety and self-doubt when the darkest part of her past resurfaces; Liza, a neurotic and newly tenured professor, finds herself pregnant with a It was charming and frustrating at the same time. If I'm to be honest I found myself bored at times and absolutely enthralled at others. The parentsMarilyn, all pluck and busy optimism, and David, a genial family doctorstrike their offspring as impossibly happy. The other long book is 900+ pages, so the short titles were definitely a relief this year. Dang it. This book reminds you that a plot doesnt need to have some major incident as a shock factor, that an author can simply explore complex family dynamics and yet still satisfy all your reader needs. In addition to more likable characters this could have used a good edit. Wendy, widowed young, soothes herself with booze and younger men; Violet, a litigator turned stay-at-home mom, battles anxiety and self-doubt when the darkest part of her past resurfaces; Liza, a neurotic and newly tenured professor, finds herself pregnant with a baby shes not sure she wants by a man shes not sure she loves; and Grace, the dawdling youngest daughter, begins living a lie that no one in her family even suspects. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. The Most Fun We Ever Had: A Novel Hardcover - June 25, 2019 by Claire Lombardo (Author) 6,526 ratings Editors' pick Best Literature & Fiction See all formats and editions Kindle $12.99 Read with Our Free App Audiobook $0.00 Free with your Audible trial Hardcover $31.66 135 Used from $1.64 2 New from $31.60 13 Collectible from $8.01 Paperback In painting this luminous portrait of a familys becoming, Lombardo joins the ranks of writers such as Celeste Ng, Elizabeth Strout and Jonathan Franzen as visionary chroniclers of our modern lives. This really looks like the literary version of a telenovela, and while I do sometimes enjoy some melodrama its not something I would expect either from a longlisted title. Wendy not only lost her child but she lost her husband. Clara dreams of being an actress and has a crush on Miller, who plans to go to film school, but her father doesn't approve. Another plot line: one daughter gives a child up for adoption and that child re-enters the family's life. The Most Fun We Ever Had. CLAIRE LOMBARDO earned her MFA in fiction at the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Perhaps someone with stronger sibling ties might get more out of this one than I did, or find more to identify with at least. By Marilyn wonders if she failed the girls. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. By 2016, their four radically different daughters are each in a state of unrest. The story is divided into two storylines. Thanks! This is a emotionally engaging read, if overlong, well written, with great character development, and which resonates in its detailed and often realistic depiction of family life and dynamics. Claire E. Lombardo is a fiction writer from the Chicago area. Structured in a way that moves back and forth in time and allows different characters to be the focus, it is never hard to follow. We were quite in agreement on this one! Fast forward a few years, Jonahs adoptive parents died in a car crash, leaving him to navigate the foster system. 650 puslapi ir baigta dar viena mano MET knyga. Enough loss to break anybody, but Wendy has overcome her obstacles and continues to overcome by living every day. characters the right way, I did think she failed to dig into the criticisms enough to make them strong themes in the book, which definitely explains to me how readers arent tolerating those moments well, whether they see the purpose behind them or not. Feeling betrayed by the adults in her life, Clara marches forward, acting both responsible and rebellious as she navigates her teenage years without her father and her aunt, while Jonah and Morgan's relationship evolves in the wake of the accident. As the work closes, David and Marilyn find contentment and comfort in one another as they marvel at the brood they have created, out of their extraordinary and enduring love. Another dysfunctional family book , 500 pages long, 4 daughters who are mostly annoying and unbearable, bring it on, this is one of the most challenging experience for me! We all desperately want your life and we all know well never have it, the third-oldest, Liza, confesses in a moment of truth. Ive been kind of curious about this one. Yet these lush details almost seem to weigh the novel down. The Most Fun We Ever Had. Hilarious one moment, haunting the next, and always -- always -- so authentic and deeply felt. I could not understand why she wasnt viewing this chance as an opportunity. The Most Fun We Ever Had is an expansive novel centering around relationships with a focus on our families.Written by Claire Lombardo, a Chicago native and Iowa Writers' Workshop graduate, her debut novel based in her home state captivates with precise prose and well-developed, realistically flawed characters. This was a delightful debut and I cant wait to see what the author writes next. I love books that make me feel. . (LogOut/ We first meet the Sorensons in 2000, at the backyard wedding of their oldest daughter, Wendy, an unapologetic gold digger who has struck it rich with an old-money millionaire she's genuinely wild about. To make it extra easy for you . I have two brothers, but were not close. A few themes are replayed so often David and Marilyn's canoodling, Violet's uptight rigidity that the book would have benefited from judicious trims, particularly in the flashbacks. All of her complaints are definitely in the book. He is a good kid with good morals that makes you laugh. She sets the plot in motion by springing a terrible surprise on Violet, whose perfect life is just too much for her to swallow after she suffers a series of unhappy blows. Their parents were good with them but I guess, too good. 49,240 Ratings A multigenerational novel in which the four adult daughters of a Chicago couple--still madly in love after forty years--recklessly ignite old rivalries until a long-buried secret threatens to shatter Want to Read Rate it: Bibliographic information. Please enjoy my thoughts and ideas below. The outside world barely enters into the cosseted lives of the Sorensons. The Most Fun We Ever Had. hide. I didnt notice one singular theme as strongly last year, though perhaps giving voice to silenced or misrepresented women was perhaps the strongest commonality? Pages may include moderate to heavy amount of notes and highlighting, but the text is not obscured or unreadable. I think they mean that the characters all met their retirement goals during the same scenario, not that they met them after playing only one scenario. At one point Wendy wonders whether all Asians are prim and conservatively dressed a confusing question to ask when she must encounter Asians every day right outside her luxury apartment, on the streets of the third largest city in America. RELEASE DATE: June 25, 2019. (The sisters improbably kept David and Marilyn clueless with a phony study-abroad scheme.) just keep the good things of the last league, and improve some things, with a good league mechanic, would have been enough to be as good or better than the last league. Set in the Chicago suburbs, Lombardo's book has been compared to The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen's seminal ode to a dysfunctional Midwestern family. Wendy offers to take in Jonah, but the two hid the pregnancy from their parents so they must tell David and Marilyn about Jonah. save. Claire Lombardo's The Most Fun We Ever Had debuted on the New York Times bestseller list an impressive start for this first-time novelist who started life in Oak Park. The ruthless competitiveness between these sisters is the driving force of the novel. 'The Most Fun We Ever Had' is an intense, edgy family drama brimming with sibling rivalry, marital distress, and soul-binding love that will leave you with an onslaught of emotions. Lombardo deeply understands marriage, sisterhood and plain old ordinary family dysfunction which is present on every character driven page. This isnt a fast read. It certainly made the book more bearable because I wouldn't have lasted till the 50% mark if I was reading the book. It's really hard to believe that 'The Most Fun We Ever Had' is a debut novel. Claire Lombardos dbut, The Most Fun We Ever Had, chronicles the life of a family over the course of a year, yet it passes as quickly as the pages turn. I do think Lombardos a good writer- I loved seeing how well she fleshed out all of these characters, how the four very different sisters personalities tracked across decades of their lives and how they all interacted with each other. Victory was a critical part of sisterhood, shed always thought.. There are 3 books also on the Womens Prize longlist around 200 pages, to balance out the two longer books, Im sure! Violet confronts the son she gave up for adoption 15 years ago while grappling with her growing sense of powerlessness in her role as a stay-at-home mother. However, it is based upon a deep and abiding love that seems to be unattainable to their four daughters within their own lives. Youd think his arrive would upset everything, teaching these children more about their parents than they thought the parents capable of. I mean, having caring parents and a stable household doesnt necessarily guarantee a happy childhood and eventually happy adulthood, but it seemed there should be a better way to go about making that point than blaming the people whove had good luck and put hard work into their relationships. Jonah lives with Wendy and then moves to his grandparents house, but never lives with Violet and her family. Staff writer Cassandra Luca can be reached at cassandra.luca@thecrimson.com. Despite their wealth, there is a plethora of more relatable issues: accidental pregnancies, eating disorders, cheating, stagnant communication the list could go on. I hope youll have a good time with it if/when you pick it up! by Claire Lombardo. Completing the quartet is the recently tenured professor Liza, whose own crumbling relationship is constantly falling short of David and Marilyns union. The Most Fun We Ever Had is a deliciously absorbing novel with brace yourself a tender and satisfyingly positive take on family. But while I thought a lot of those details were just characterization tactics and a critique of wealthy white suburbia, it is definitely understandable that they would be unpleasant to read anyway. In this "rich, complex family saga" ( USA Today) full of long-buried family secrets, Marilyn Connolly and David Sorenson fall in love in the 1970s, blithely ignorant of all that awaits them. Its a love story, its a coming of age story, its a generational story, and yet despite everything the book encompasses, its primary purpose seems to be entertainment. Sydney and Ridge make beautiful music together in a love triangle written by Hoover (Losing Hope, 2013, etc. But she became comfortable with her body in adulthood after her husband, after her abbreviated pregnancy in a way that surprised her.. Courtesy of HBO. We get it. ", Wendy is a terrific character: caustic, tough, difficult, flawed, self-destructive, bitingly funny and ultimately sympathetic. The main action of this notably apolitical, all-white, all-straight novel takes place over four seasons, beginning in the spring of 2016 which finds just about every member of the Sorenson family in turmoil. Claire Lombardo's dazzling debut, The Most Fun We Ever Had, is a rich, multigenerational novel that tells the story of four adult daughters of a Chicago couplestill madly in love after forty yearswho recklessly ignite old rivalries until a long-buried secret threatens to shatter the lives they've built.
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