After a while, you feel that you've always lived with the Sorenson family, and always will. But Clara and Morgans home life changes radically when Chris and Jenny are killed in an accident, revealing long-buried secrets and forcing Morgan to reevaluate the life she chose when early motherhood forced her hand. (LogOut/ I could see glimpses of myself in Marilyn and that was one of the main reasons why I continued turning the pages. 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 sisters improbably kept David and Marilyn clueless with a phony study-abroad scheme.) Many ways. Though it doesnt seem like much fun theyre considerate and selfish in equal measure, they do things for one another without mentioning it and then stab one another in the back its theirs. Back to reviews with another Womens Prize longlist title! 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. Petersons eight original songs flesh out Sydneys lyrics with a good mix of moody musical styles: Living a Lie has the drama of a Coldplay piano ballad, while the chorus of Maybe Someday marches to the rhythm of the Lumineers. Now Jonah is back in town, engaged to Jenny, and working at the local high school as Claras teacher. I love a good family saga, so I've been meaning to read this since the spring. 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. Arrive a few minutes early to get a spot by the stage, especially if you have little kids. 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. I might be interested in picking up more of Lombardos work someday, but I wont mind if this one doesnt make the shortlist. Wendy, widowed young, soothes herself with booze and younger men . In the opening scene, Liza Sorenson, daughter No. The Most Fun We Ever Had is a deliciously absorbing novel with brace yourself a tender and satisfyingly positive take on family. Random Grandson, at your service! This woman plays such scant role in the plot that she seems present primarily to balance the scales of the familys wealth. It is an important topic to be sure, but books like this just dont seem to be bringing anything new to the table, sadly. View more posts. Meanwhile, youngest daughter Grace perpetrates a whopper, and every day the lie was growing like mold, furring her judgment. The writing here is silky, if occasionally overwrought. In addition to more likable characters this could have used a good edit. 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. 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. Lastly, I sincerely hope you have a good day! 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. Ah, I saw Fatmas review a couple days ago as well. '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.. It also exposes Davids somewhat secretive but platonic dinners with Gillian after work. Lombardo also has a prologue and an epilogue of sorts, entitled The Offspring and The Midst of Life respectively. From here, the narration jumps ahead sixteen years to follow a years worth of family drama, divided into seasonal sections. Voracious reader and reviewer But its the uptight second child, Violet, who is the source of the big family scandal: Her son, born without her parents knowledge, was given up for adoption and rediscovered 15 years later thanks to the pointed meddling of the eldest sister, Wendy, a dissolute young widow who resents Violets inability to appreciate her own luck. A Type A overachiever, Violet is accustomed to being the good girl to Wendy's monster and is deeply uncomfortable whenever their roles reverse. Other people overwhelmed her. It hits plenty of high notes, but like opera, it runs long and tends toward histrionics and repetition. . 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. What I love about this story is the way it is told, the back and forth of the years, the alternating chapters from the perspective of different family members, and the creativity in the layout of the unfolding story itself. The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo. This isnt a fast read. Please understand that Violet did not go out and seek her son, it was Wendy that decided to track him down and welcome him back. Categories: I read Everything I Never Told You this year and I really liked it although the characters were heavily flawed. We already have a strong community, but this event brought us even closer as we cheered and grinded it out next to each other! Its page count allows Lombardo to examine- in excruciating detail- the minutiae of day-to-day interactions, a lifetime of decisions and assumptions, and each sibling and parent relationship that is one thread in the greater web of this family. Posted by 3 years ago. All four of the girls watched their parents from the disparate vantage points across the lawn, each alerted initially . It also leads to Lombardo's heartwarming takeaway: "If this family had taught him anything it was that people could get mad at each other and then make up again. I was wrong about who the father of that child was though. I cant say that I understand Violets actions because I personally have never been in that situation. The emotions run high, the conversations run deep, and the relationships ebb and flow with grace. And, of course, the two who started it all have their own issues to deal with: getting older, watching their daughters change, and taking in a grandson to raise after they thought their childrearing days were done. " 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. Violet, however, has two young boys with her husband and does not want to impact their lives. Enough loss to break anybody, but Wendy has overcome her obstacles and continues to overcome by living every day. Perhaps someone with stronger sibling ties might get more out of this one than I did, or find more to identify with at least. It's really hard to believe that 'The Most Fun We Ever Had' is a debut novel. But at least I mostly enjoyed this one!). Next up is Violet, unassuming and mild. The Most Fun We Ever Had proceeds in a steady march through the Sorensons' major life events to reveal how the daughters a blindsided widow; a tightly strung stay-at-home mom with a law degree; a tenured professor facing solo parenting; and the perpetual afterthought of the family, a recent college graduate caught up in an embarrassing lie came to the messy pass in which we find them. Brilliant review, Emily! Copyright 2023 Kirkus Media LLC. Colleen Hoover share. But if it still appeals despite that deeper level of nuance, I would recommend giving it a try. hide. 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). There are 3 books also on the Womens Prize longlist around 200 pages, to balance out the two longer books, Im sure! Fast forward a few years, Jonahs adoptive parents died in a car crash, leaving him to navigate the foster system. 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. Liza asks her father to connect with his colleague Gillan Levin to deliver her baby. Perhaps the main message here is something like, love is messy, or theres more to every relationship than meets the eye, but theres nothing groundbreaking or life-altering to be gleaned from such platitudes. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Ive been kind of curious about this one. Oof, I just noticed this review on Goodreads, which may have shut the door for me: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2859759789?book_show_action=true&from_review_page=1. Grace continues to evade her family and meets her crush, Ben Barnes. Imagine a perfectly crafted mash-up of LITTLE WOMEN and THE CORRECTIONS. That book, which. The adopted boy has, by a bad stroke of luck, spent most of his life in the foster care system, and his sudden need for care provides a rude awakening for the sisters whove grown up with two loving parents in a big house with adequate income. Every page contains vital information that contributes to the story. Spanning nearly half a century, and set against the quintessential American backdrop of Chicago and its prospering suburbs, Claire Lombardos debut explores the triumphs and burdens of love, the fraught tethers of parenthood and sisterhood, and the baffling mixture of affection, abhorrence, resistance and submission we feel for those closest to use. This is a great review! This is how Lombardo pulls at your heart strings. Those three paragraphs are all you need to read. But all the small secrets from misremembered slights to misplaced bedsheets are uncovered patiently, skillfully, precisely, in service of the novels central mystery: How do you love? All pages and the cover are intact, but the dust cover may be missing. Many, many character povs and lots of timeline jumps. Instead, I found this story engrossing and fun, but surprisingly shallow. I don't have to like the characters to appreciate family dramas but I need to like something about this book. Thematically, alongside the complexities of parent and sibling relationships, this story looks at wealth and privilege from a number of angles. Lombardo deeply understands marriage, sisterhood and plain old ordinary family dysfunction which is present on every character driven page. Their social lives and societal awareness are essentially nonexistent; even the characters jobs exist only as places where they might meet a potential marital interloper. Beneath it all, the daughters share the lingering fear that they will never find a love quite like their parents. David has a heart attack and falls from the gingko tree. Lombardo shows how menial things can be misinterpreted resulting in decades of bad blood. My reaction: 3 out of 5 stars. The parentsMarilyn, all pluck and busy optimism, and David, a genial family doctorstrike their offspring as impossibly happy. Prior to writing The Most Fun We Ever Had, she spent several years doing social work in Chicago. Liza is neurotic and indecisive while the youngest, Grace, is simply lost and living a lie of her own making. This is one of the best reads of 2019, bar none. I listened to the audio on a staycation so I'll remember it for a while as the book that kept me company, especially since the audio wouldn't end. Violet also has a big secret that no one supposedly knows about. Claire Lombardo Change). By 2016, their four radically different daughters are in a state of unrest. It doesnt help that Miller already has a jealous girlfriend who stalks him via text from college. Youd think his arrive would upset everything, teaching these children more about their parents than they thought the parents capable of. Ahhhh, I see. Categories: Get The Most Fun We Ever Had from Amazon.com. The Most Fun We Ever Had is a saga of Marilyn and David Sorensons forty-year marriage, messiness and all. Violet is the character I wanted to slap. It is anchored by the four-decade marriage between David and Marilyn, "two people who emanated more love than it seemed like the universe would sanction.". The Most Fun We Ever Had is certainly not boring. You will never not be entertained. 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. 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. Alicia Berenson's life is seemingly perfect. 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. A frightened Jonah witnesses it and runs away to Graces apartment. That's awesome! From this glimpse alone the reader can see that there is plenty of interest going on beneath the surface of this happy family, though we soon come to learn that their mother doesnt know half of it. 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. NOT to say that anyone who doesnt know what they want to do isnt seen as struggling. Their problems and lives were full of needless drama and issues. I had this in a queue at my library but I may press on with others I want to read first! Additionally, Lombardo breaks the work into four parts, named after the seasons, beginning with spring. When she receives her final rejection letter, she lies about her acceptance. It reads, eventually, as a deliberate and fascinating commentary on how a particular kind of moneyed white family can choose the degree to which they engage with such unpleasantries. 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. Liza gets pregnant and appears to follow in Violets footsteps. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. More points for Lombardo. To make it extra easy for you . I was aware that An American Marriage won last year, but I didnt know it was up against a lot of pretty strong works. Sydney and Ridge make beautiful music together in a love triangle written by Hoover (Losing Hope, 2013, etc. Ohhhh! They are a healthy, but imperfect family of four daughters, who are all jockeying for their place in the world. April 15, 2000. Despite their wealth, there is a plethora of more relatable issues: accidental pregnancies, eating disorders, cheating, stagnant communication the list could go on. What I love about this story is the way it is told, the back and forth of the years, the alternating chapters from the perspective of different family members, and the creativity in the layout of the unfolding story itself. I dont have a sister, myself. Wendy not only lost her child but she lost her husband. She was born and raised in Oak Park, Illinois, and spent several years doing social work in Chicago. In a society where women are constantly being pit against each other, it was amazing to be surrounded by so many women competing, yet building each other up at the . She has not lived enough life to have made any mistakes or have any defining characteristics. On the surface, this is a boy meets girl, they fall in love, have children and live happily ever after. J. I dont like to think that the author is being ignorant, but there are other books Ive read where I seriously just wasnt sure. I do think there is something interesting about people who have loads of resources but do the sneaky thing out of fear instead of real hardship. Ehhhhh.. Why arent people writing great stories in fewer pages?! 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. The Most Fun We Ever Had. Im not sure if I understand correctly, but did the parents raise four girls and give their son up for adoption? Categories: Unless the takeaway is that we shouldnt present our children with the model of a solid marriage for fear of setting the bar too high, theres little substance to take back to the real world after closing the back cover. David is trying to adjust to retirement, while Marilyn has become the owner of a hardware shop. Moving on. 2019 En lyckligare tid. Your email address will not be published. Make harvest craft easy to trade. The work begins with Marilyn Sorensons perspective as she reflects on her four daughters, Wendy, Violet, Liza, and Grace. The Most Fun We Ever Had: A Novel Kindle Edition by Claire Lombardo (Author) Format: Kindle Edition 5,310 ratings Editors' pick Best Literature & Fiction See all formats and editions Kindle $13.99 Read with Our Free App Audiobook $0.00 Free with your Audible trial Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. THE MOST FUN WE EVER HAD By Claire Lombardo The big family secret is revealed almost immediately in Claire Lombardo's engrossing debut novel, "The Most Fun We Ever Had," which. HBO has put in development The Most Fun We Ever Had, a drama-series project based on Claire Lombardo 's New York Times bestselling novel, from Amy . 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. Thanks Naty! On that note, if youre looking for likable characters, this probably isnt the book for you. However, compared to her sisters struggles, Grace is not quite on the same level. Wendy offers to take in Jonah, but the two hid the pregnancy from their parents so they must tell David and Marilyn about Jonah. Please enjoy my thoughts and ideas below. The Most Fun We Ever Had. I just don't like spoiled characters. He is a good kid with good morals that makes you laugh. Now her life as a stay-at-home parent has left her feeling empty but not ungrateful for what she has. They crept into my heart; it was like being a member of their family. But I expect more from the Womens Prize than a simple good time, and I didnt find any standout depth or technical skill here. FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo The length is a stopper: 532 pages. Jonah is the character that I was backing and rooting for. 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. 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. In Part Four, Winter, Violet continues to struggle to accept Jonah. The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo: 9780525564232 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER "A gripping and poignant ode to a messy, loving family in all its glory." Madeline Miller, bestselling. Great review! Also, nothing was happening for me. Enjoy! My head hurts from hearing about all that love repeatedly. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. In the novel, four adult sisters are trying to find their way in the world, both guided and hindered by what they see as their parents epic romance, an impressive love story none of the girls is confident about finding for herself. Im excited to see everyones wrap-ups and predictions this year. As you can see, there are SO many different personalities in this book. The Most Fun We've Ever Had (Spoiler Free) spoiler. 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 (LogOut/ Change). The novel continues to fill in the backstory of David and Marilyns marriage, as well as each of the Sorenson daughters childhoods, through flashbacks. Then all of a sudden in the last 100 pages, Violet accepts Jonah, apologizes to him and and everything is fine and dandy. Residents Demand Answers at Council Meeting on Police Killing of Sayed Faisal, Bob Odenkirk Named Hasty Pudding Man of the Year, Harvard Kennedy School Dean Reverses Course, Will Name Ken Roth Fellow, Ex-Provost, Harvard Corporation Member Will Investigate Stanford Presidents Scientific Misconduct Allegations, Harvard Medical School Drops Out of U.S. News Rankings. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Claire Lombardo has given us all a spectacular gift: the Sorenson family. I just finished this and am already missing the Sorenson family. 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. Engrossing and fun but surprisingly shallow seems like a succinct way to say it. It is such a shockingly tender and uncannily knowing novel about the reality of long term love and affection, and the sweetness and claustrophobia of relationships between sisters. 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. Please do not be discouraged by the 500+ page count. 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. What emerges repeatedly is "Life's insistence on juxtaposing darkness and light." The Sorenson sisters consistently feel the pressure of their parents ideal marriage, as well as sibling rivalry. When we picked Press J to jump to the feed. The title really makes little sense and is only a bland reference to one scene that comes late in the book. By 2016, their four radically different daughters are in a state of unrest. 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. He stumbles on his grandparents flirting in the kitchen and pauses to examine these people who consciously chose to talk about weeds with their crotches touching. A very accurate description of enviable long-term commitment. But you don't mind, because the Chicago-based clan of THE MOST FUN WE EVER HAD is definitely worth getting to know. Am 3% in and am uber irritated. 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. There is certainly some redemptive growth, but its a long journey getting there. How they lived and loved became all-important to me as I folded myself into their days and years. 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. There is definitely a family dynamic that is captured. The outside world barely enters into the cosseted lives of the Sorensons. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Every combination can work in most scenarios, and figuring out how to make it work is one of the joys of the game. Thanks! The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo review - family friction A restless mother and meddling sister trigger family reprisals in this nuanced, polished debut Claire Lombardo: 'a keen. Lombardos prose drives the plot and her sentences, though tightly raveled, reveal much more about the characters than is immediately apparent. this imperfect story realistically captures the essence of the imperfect complexities of marriage, parenthood, sisterly bonds, and familial ties. How each character deals with that child is demonstrated. Retrieve credentials. In Part Two, Summer, Jonah moves in with Wendy to find that she is grieving the loss of her husband, and copes with alcohol and promiscuity. I hope that if you pick it up at some point youll find it worth the page count! Grace, the youngest, is living in Oregon after graduating college, hoping to get into law school. This did not need to be 530 pages long, but man it was. 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. Hilarious one moment, haunting the next, and always -- always -- so authentic and deeply felt. Newcomer Lombardo brews all seven deadly sins into a fun and brimming tale of an unapologetically bougie couple and their unruly daughters. Liza, the second youngest, has just received tenure but is ensconced in a difficult relationship with Ryan, who is depressed. But despite the thorough setup, the books commentary barely dips below the surface of the expected. help you understand the book. Definitely a bit longer than it needs to be, though it wasnt a slog for me. But she became comfortable with her body in adulthood after her husband, after her abbreviated pregnancy in a way that surprised her.. We all desperately want your life and we all know well never have it, the third-oldest, Liza, confesses in a moment of truth. Lombardo's novel is divided into 34 chapters, with dated flashbacks interspersed throughout in order to provide deeper exposition on the relationships between characters. 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. NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER "A gripping and poignant ode to a messy, loving family in all its glory." Madeline Miller, bestselling author of Circe 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.. By 2016, they have four radically different . The ruthless competitiveness between these sisters is the driving force of the novel. The Most Fun We Ever Had is a gorgeous and profound debut." -- Margot Livesey , author of Mercury "Remarkably alive and wise, Claire Lombardo's story of the Sorensons is a stunning vision--not just of family or love, but the funny, tender mystery of human connection itself, with all its intensity, charm, and wonder." -- Laline Paull, author of THE BEES I adored The Most Fun We Ever Had. Independent Maggie never complains about Ridges friendship with Sydney, and it's hard to even want Ridge to leave Maggie when she reveals her devastating secret. While music student Sydney is watching her neighbor Ridge play guitar on his balcony across the courtyard, Ridge is watching Sydneys boyfriend, Hunter, secretly make out with her best friend on her balcony. We had four teams from Crossfit Alluvium this year. Its not a bad book by any means, but its a straightforward story that neglects to go the extra mile. Its one to be savored. Im with you on this one having a lot of interesting thematic potential that sadly goes largely untapped. Sixteen years later, the already messy lives of the sisters are thrown into turmoil . All Rights Reserved. I could not understand why she wasnt viewing this chance as an opportunity. My Lord, did I love this novel. Whats that like? Her retort: Its a vast hormonal hellscape. The story centers around a couple (David and Marilyn) from when they met toward their golden years, and each of their four very different daughters. Are so many different personalities in this book appreciate family dramas but may. Correctly, but did the parents raise four girls and give their son for. With others I want to do isnt seen as struggling a few minutes to! Barely enters into the cosseted lives of the girls watched their parents couple and their unruly.! Were heavily flawed her final rejection letter, she spent several years doing work! 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