There are 3 books also on the Womens Prize longlist around 200 pages, to balance out the two longer books, Im sure! My head hurts from hearing about all that love repeatedly. I read Everything I Never Told You this year and I really liked it although the characters were heavily flawed. 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. But flashbacks to exhausted, fraught times make clear that the Sorensons' relationship hasn't been as smooth as it appears. The Most Fun We Ever Had is a brilliant, if meandering, portrayal of family ties, with a sharp eye for dialogue and an acute understanding of familial and sibling relationships. Not only did I get to read about whats going on presently, but I got to dive into the history and background, to see how each sisters childhood and her birth order shaped her. The novel is told from the third-person, and provides perspectives from numerous characters. 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. Voracious reader and reviewer Newcomer Lombardo brews all seven deadly sins into a fun and brimming tale of an unapologetically bougie couple and their unruly daughters. A superb debut novel by Claire Lombardo! The author hinted that the child's mother had sex with someone another sister would find upsetting. "The Most Fun We Ever Had" is a novel about a family and follows in the footsteps of other reknown novels the chronicle the intricate complexities of close relationships. Ah, I saw Fatmas review a couple days ago as well. Knopf Doubleday. (LogOut/ Signs of wear can include aesthetic issues such as scratches, dents, worn and creased covers, folded page corners and minor liquid stains. Shepherd is a community of 7,000+ authors sharing their favorite books with the world. help you understand the book. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. We already have a strong community, but this event brought us even closer as we cheered and grinded it out next to each other! Yikes. Title: The Most Fun We Ever Had: Author: Claire Lombardo: Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2021: ISBN: 0525564233, 9780525564232: Length: 640 pages: Subjects: By 2016, their four radically different daughters are each in a state of unrest. Their parents were good with them but I guess, too good. FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP. By 2016, they have four radically different daughters, each in a state of unrest. hide. Required fields are marked *. This Study Guide consists of approximately 52pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - Ahhhh, I see. I particularly enjoyed their contrariness, but it wont be the right fit for everyone. The two begin a songwriting partnership that grows into something more once Sydney dumps Hunter and decides to crash with Ridge and his two roommates while she gets back on her feet. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Meet Me The Person Behind Books and Bowquets. Liza gets pregnant and appears to follow in Violets footsteps. The flashbacks and cast of characters large enough to people a sitcom give the reader someone to root for, and one could read all 500 pages in a week like one might binge a soap opera. How do gingkoes function as a symbol in the book? Theres four of you? he asked. I just don't like spoiled characters. 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? This sounds exactly like the kind of book Ill enjoy, even if it was fine but not perfect for you. Liza has her baby and David, initially standoffish, agrees to watch her when Liza returns to work. Archived. Change). There was nothing redeemable about them. 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. When you purchase an independently reviewed book through our site, we earn an affiliate commission. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. The central story unfurls over a single event-choked year, begun by Wendy, who unlatches a closed adoption and springs on her family the boy her stuffy married sister, Violet, gave away 15 years earlier. There are a FEW more likable characters though so its maybe not a totally lost cause! A dazzling dictionary of book blurbs, filled with writing tips, literary folklore and publishing secrets A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 'A small masterpiece. influencers in the know since 1933. I was confused at first, too! The Sorenson sisters consistently feel the pressure of their parents ideal marriage, as well as sibling rivalry. This time were looking at Claire Lombardos The Most Fun We Ever Had, one of the largest books on the list at over 500 pages. This book makes you feel emotions you never knew you had. We get it. . The Sorenson daughters all witness their parents sharing an intimate moment beneath the gingko tree and are awestruck at their love. When tragedy strikes, a mother and daughter forge a new life. When Marilyn Connolly and David Sorenson fall in love in the 1970s, they are blithely ignorant of all that's to come. https://literaryelephant.wordpress.com/2019/04/28/womens-prize-2019-longlist-wrap-up-shortlist-prediction/, https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2859759789?book_show_action=true&from_review_page=1, Book Review: The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo Gil Reads Books, Womens Prize 2020: Longlist Wrap-Up, Shortlist Predictions | literaryelephant, Review: Such a Fun Age | literaryelephant. Which also happened to qualify as "sidequests" for that goal, Which triggered the personal quest "Have two team mates retire", And it was our 15th total scenariowhich triggered that personal quest. A Rich, Engrossing Family Saga, Spiked With Sisterly Malice, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/25/books/review/most-fun-we-ever-had-claire-lombardo.html, Claire Lombardo describes how she arrived at the Iowa Writers Workshop with a very messy, 813-page draft.. All the characters, with vastly differing perspectives, are written with clarity. Those three paragraphs are all you need to read. We had lots of flashbacks and secrets that didn't get revealed till later on in the plot but the flashbacks were just too many to my liking. When she receives her final rejection letter, she lies about her acceptance. The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo. Arrive a few minutes early to get a spot by the stage, especially if you have little kids. Sadly the shortlist seemed a bit uninspired compared to the longlist, so Im very curious to see which books will make the cut this year- hopefully not the disappointing ones! Great review, Emily. Colleen Hoover It will make you feel sad for some characters, be rooting for others and want to reach through the book and slap another. Part One, Spring, begins with Chapter One, set in current day. Claire Lombardo's debut is a fascinating epic character driven, multi-generational Chicago family drama with all its complexities through the decades from the 1970s. Jonah calls Wendy from Montana and she retrieves him. Many, many character povs and lots of timeline jumps. I just noticed how long this book is. The book primarily focuses on Jonahs integration back into the family. The project is based on the. I do think its appropriate for authors to include characters that are not P.C. easter egg, The Last of Us | 1.2K views, 27 likes, 0 loves, 1 comments, 1 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Nerdist: Every easter egg in The Last of Us episode 7! 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. But she became comfortable with her body in adulthood after her husband, after her abbreviated pregnancy in a way that surprised her.. Claire Lombardo has given us all a spectacular gift: the Sorenson family. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE | 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. 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. Lombardo levels this vision by interspersing chapters of the Sorenson parents early lean times with chapters about their daughters wobbly forays into adulthood. Please enjoy my thoughts and ideas below. The Most Fun We Ever Had? We picked entirely on the icons, and they went against type. I am calling it this book will win all of the awards. Ohhhh! Wendy, widowed young, soothes herself with booze and younger men . Wendy also has a knack for speaking her mind and exhibits no shame in any of her actions. Other than an event which I found hard to fathom, this is a realistic and intimate look at an affluent Chicago family as they love, laugh, annoy, clash, and support each other over the course of forty-odd years. Great review! 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. 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. 4 retirements within one scenario, how is that even possible? 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. Next up is Violet, unassuming and mild. Pre-publication book reviews and features keeping readers and industry The work begins with Marilyn Sorensons perspective as she reflects on her four daughters, Wendy, Violet, Liza, and Grace. There is certainly some redemptive growth, but its a long journey getting there. Lastly, I sincerely hope you have a good day! The characters were flawed sure but also horrible. The Most Fun We Ever Had Claire Lombardo, 2019 Knopf Doubleday 544 pp. Lombardo captures this often toxic sibling dynamic with the perfect image: "A seesaw, this sisterhood, and Wendy was the jerk who jumped off early so the other person toppled into the sand. 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. At a family wedding, the four Sorenson sisters polka-dot the green lawn in their summer pastels, with varying shades of hair and varying degrees of unease. Title: The Most Fun We Ever Had Author: Claire Lombardo Genre: Fiction Publishing Date: June 25th, 2019 Pages: 532 Rating (5.0 Scale): 5.0 Synopsis (from cover): When Marilyn Connolly and David Sorenson fall in love in the 1970s, they are blithely ignorant of all that's to come. A character driven book needs characters that I actually like. Yet, I felt compelled to see it through and finish. 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! 8 comments. David is trying to adjust to retirement, while Marilyn has become the owner of a hardware shop. The only thing that the daughters have over their parents is sisterhood. Brilliant review, Emily! It looks like the judges were just very interested in books about parenthood this year for some reason! Violet, however, has two young boys with her husband and does not want to impact their lives. Im definitely looking forward to wrap-ups and predictions as well. Lombardo deeply understands marriage, sisterhood and plain old ordinary family dysfunction which is present on every character driven page. Back to reviews with another Womens Prize longlist title! 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