When she receives her final rejection letter, she lies about her acceptance. One of the most fun" 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. Flashbacks describe Marilyn and Davids early marriage in Iowa, where Marilyn becomes pregnant and drops out of school. The Most Fun We Ever Had. More points for Lombardo. 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. Many, many character povs and lots of timeline jumps. The Most Fun We Ever Had is a well-structured story that shares the characters' backstory adroitly, never all at once, but in reveals that feel well-timed, well-placed. The really tragic thing about this spoiler is that whoever has created it probably thinks that they have been really creative and innovative, whereas, in reality, they have just made their slightly shabby sports car look even trashier. The Most Fun We Ever Had. Everyone got a completely different character, which you wouldn't necessarily have had if you had just picked "whoever I retired for". 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. How each character deals with that child is demonstrated. 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. This is a great review! Categories: This was quite a delightful debut. At its core, The Most Fun We Ever Had isn't much more than an entertaining drama about four sisters and their futile competition to prove themselves most worthy of their picture-perfect parents- and each other. I love listening to family dramas but this one had too much needless drama to my taste. This was a delightful debut and I cant wait to see what the author writes next. Flashbacks in Part One tell the story of David and Marilyns fortuitious meeting at college and Davids proposal and invitation to join him in Iowa where he will attend medical school. 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." I think it lacks some of the commentary and insight that you mentioned Such a Fun Age doing well, for example, which was why this one didnt quite work for me. However, it is based upon a deep and abiding love that seems to be unattainable to their four daughters within their own lives. April 15, 2000. It feels like it was a little safe and one-note, which is I think where the lack of variety in themes comes in. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. I think of Grace as the color gray. 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. 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. influencers in the know since 1933. Its definitely an interesting story, but not a perfect one. 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? It made me laugh, made me cry and made me angry. 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. Still, it was indeed very readable! The Most Fun We Ever Had Quotes. Ive been kind of curious about this one. They are a healthy, but imperfect family of four daughters, who are all jockeying for their place in the world. EX-FENCING COACH AND HARVARD PARENT ACQUITTED OF BRIBERY CHARGES. LITERARY FICTION | Liza is considering how to help her boyfriend when she becomes pregnant with his child and decides that the best way to deal with that is to cheat on him with a coworker. Archived. In Claire Lombardo's debut novel, The Most Fun We Ever Had, she isn't afraid to tackle the biggest of topics, specifically for womensisterhood, fear, general annoyance and birth or the absence of it.The reader gets an intimate look at the conception of the Sorenson family (literally, considering Lombardo's plethora of sex scenes), giving narrative control to each member: Marilyn and . Violet has sisterly assistance in bringing about additional anxiety and messiness in her life. Then all of a sudden in the last 100 pages, Violet accepts Jonah, apologizes to him and and everything is fine and dandy. But let's not lose sight of Lombardo's considerable achievement. The blind character choice is great. 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. . It is a stellar debut that modernizes family histories for the 21st century. David has a heart attack and falls from the gingko tree. 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. FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP. ", Wendy is a terrific character: caustic, tough, difficult, flawed, self-destructive, bitingly funny and ultimately sympathetic. Reading this book was challenge like reading Black Leopard and Red Wolf! Click to see 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. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. 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. 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: There are quite a few books on this years Womens Prize longlist that look at family, parenthood, and marriage, but The Most Fun We Ever Had stands out as the ultimate family saga. Violet quickly departs avoiding the now fifteen year-old Jonah. Next up is Violet, unassuming and mild. Categories: Morgan felt obligated to marry her high school sweetheart, Chris, when she got pregnant with their daughter, Clara. Their personalities are shitty. ", Lombardo's sweeping family drama, fueled by power plays between spouses and between sisters, is operatic in both good ways and bad. 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. Front-loaded with drama, the story leaves plenty of room for the mother and daughter to unpack their feelings and decide whats next. ), with a link to a digital soundtrack by American Idol contestant Griffin Peterson. Why do we need to know about it?? Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. In truth, I dont think theres anything at all to learn here. But despite the thorough setup, the books commentary barely dips below the surface of the expected. 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. Yet these lush details almost seem to weigh the novel down. Were glad you found a book that interests you! It was charming and frustrating at the same time. I have two brothers, but were not close. He is a good kid with good morals that makes you laugh. 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. She also has no idea what she wants to do, another reason why I view her as very bland. Great review, Emily. Trust me. 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. If all of Lombardos future writing reach such a sprawl, however, we may (unfortunately) have to wait a while for her next novel. Shepherd is a community of 7,000+ authors sharing their favorite books with the world. Violet, however, has two young boys with her husband and does not want to impact their lives. Don't Threaten. 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? Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Across all of these moments, The Most Fun We Ever Had demonstrates the duality of affection and pain in familial relationships, showing that what holds people together can also drive them apart, and that it is after all easiest to hurt the ones we love. Some of them bothered me as well, but a lot of the problematic things the characters say and do I took as criticisms of them; I dont think the author was using horrendous digs at less fortunate people out of a place of ignorance, but as a way of showing how privileged and ignorant her characters are. 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. 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. They crept into my heart; it was like being a member of their family. lot of improvement of the loot were (and for lot, are still) possible. In a narrative that shifts between past and present, there are complicated, flawed and tangled relationships, resentments, jealousies, births, marriages, deaths, turbulence, messiness, infidelities, mental health issues, secrets, lies, love, loss, surprises and life's challenges that their wealth cannot insulate them from. All Rights Reserved. Jonah calls Wendy from Montana and she retrieves him. This surprise, about which I'll only say that it introduces another convincingly complex character, brings out the best and worst in various family members and leads to the most moving scenes. Definitely a bit longer than it needs to be, though it wasnt a slog for me. This woman plays such scant role in the plot that she seems present primarily to balance the scales of the familys wealth. David and Marilyn have four daughters and all of them are in awe of their parents adoring marriage after all this time, especially when all the daughters have their own serious life crises that theyre dealing with (and the drama in this onewhich sort of reminded me of that old tv show Parenthood was seriously fun to unpack.) As for the audiobook, the narration was decent or I would've dropped the audio even if I had nothing else to listen to. Liza asks her father to connect with his colleague Gillan Levin to deliver her baby. (The year 1996, an annus horribilis in the Sorensons' marriage following an office flirtation, seems particularly endless, as David notes.). Not only do I get to read about the perspective of one sister, I get to read about the thoughts and emotions of all three sisters, their parents AND Jonah. However, compared to her sisters struggles, Grace is not quite on the same level. In the process, players will enhance their abilities with experience and loot, discover new locations to explore and plunder, and expand an ever-branching story fueled by the decisions they make. 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. Four Chicago sisters anchor a sharp, sly family story of feminine guile and guilt. Wendy has asked to meet Violet for lunch but much to Violets shock and horror, Wendy is sitting at a table with Violets adopted son whom she gave up at birth. (The sisters improbably kept David and Marilyn clueless with a phony study-abroad scheme.) The Most Fun We Ever Had Summary & Study Guide includes comprehensive information and analysis to 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. '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.. 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. Knopf Doubleday. Theres four of you? he asked. But Ridge cant hide his feelings for Sydney longand they face their dilemma with refreshing emotional honesty. But Ridges lingering feelings for Maggie cause heartache for all three of them. The author of this novel is an old soul. That child, Jonah, the returned observer of this cloistered world, is as fascinated by David and Marilyns love as their daughters. 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. By 2016, their four radically different daughters are in a state of unrest. I just don't like spoiled characters. This is how Lombardo pulls at your heart strings. Overarching it all is the unusually ardent connection between Marilyn and David Sorenson. Weddings and deaths, pregnancies and illnesses, ways for the sisters to measure themselves against one another as they continue to excavate the contours of their parents love and hold it up to their own. The work begins with Marilyn Sorensons perspective as she reflects on her four daughters, Wendy, Violet, Liza, and Grace. Ehhhhh.. Why arent people writing great stories in fewer pages?! To make it extra easy for you . help you understand the book. 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. Their dedication, joy and unrelenting lust produced four daughters who share the same collective fear. What do they represent? 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. Each of the sisters has their own crosses to bear. I was aware that An American Marriage won last year, but I didnt know it was up against a lot of pretty strong works. This book makes you feel emotions you never knew you had. Your email address will not be published. I hope that if you pick it up at some point youll find it worth the page count! The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo. Signs of wear can include aesthetic issues such as scratches, dents, worn and creased covers, folded page corners and minor liquid stains. Marilyn wonders, "Didn't her daughters know that what she and David had took work, had always taken work? Claire Lombardo's debut novel seems to go on forever. So disturbing.. If this book meant to convey that the characters have mental health problems and how it affected their lives, the fact that Ryan openly had depression and no one helped at all.. instead his partner cheated on him and called him man-child knowing she could've afforded to help him see a therapist.. The fact that barely anything happens and the children are so mean to each other and their mother.. (with the exception of Grace, she was okay). Not all of them but Wendy, Violet, and Lisa in particular. Instead, there are plenty of life events. I've had a day of bliss at @thehausofvenom with my partner. 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