Summary. 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." Violet finally speaks to Wendy and learns that Jonah is in foster care as his adoptive parents died in an accident when he was young. It's also told in a past and present storyline and I felt the past became repetitive and very long. His foster parents are moving abroad so Wendy is hoping Violet might take him in. Theres four of you? he asked. Your email address will not be published. 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. 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 present storyline contains most of what we . This isnt a fast read. Trust me. Claire Lombardo has given us all a spectacular gift: the Sorenson family. 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. Whats that like? Her retort: Its a vast hormonal hellscape. 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. 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 study guide contains the following sections: This detailed literature summary also contains Quotes and a Free Quiz on She finds great comfort and solace in her husband, to whom she is inextricably bonded. Grace, the baby, tries to see how long she can live a lie. Please enjoy my thoughts and ideas below. 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: October 15, 2019 11:00am. Jonah lives with Wendy and then moves to his grandparents house, but never lives with Violet and her family. It is a stellar. 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! My party is about to do so in our next scenario for example. Engrossing and fun but surprisingly shallow seems like a succinct way to say it. DNF 55%. 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. Reading this book was challenge like reading Black Leopard and Red Wolf! We get it. Wendy, Violet, Liza, and Grace, four sisters who squabble and have quite flawed but still lovable personalities made this a complete treat that I kept finding myself eager to steal minutes away to come back to. We already have a strong community, but this event brought us even closer as we cheered and grinded it out next to each other! Violet also makes amends with Jonah. 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. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Meet Me The Person Behind Books and Bowquets. by Claire Lombardo. I was cautiously optimistic about this years list at first since so many of the titles surprised me- I was hoping that Id find some hidden depths to these titles that I hadnt been expecting, but unfortunately its not turning out that way. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Magazine Subscribers (How to Find Your Reader Number), Mantel, Woodson on Womens Prize Longlist. Her boys adore him but she continues to be wary. It hits plenty of high notes, but like opera, it runs long and tends toward histrionics and repetition. Thats even more interesting! Here it is in writing, in January of 2019, and I can't wait to look back on this and know how right I was. 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. 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. This is a really fun and strong team with lots of synergy. She also has no idea what she wants to do, another reason why I view her as very bland. The central narrative arc of the work begins in Chapter One with the Spring of 2017, and ends on December 10, 2017, in The Midst of Life. The novel focuses on the extraordinary marriage of Marilyn and David Sorenson, and the byproduct of their incredible union, the four Sorenson girls. I think there are actually some similarities to Fleishman in this book, especially with characterization and marriage commentary, so Im not sure youd enjoy this one much! Ahhhh, I see. I cant say that I understand Violets actions because I personally have never been in that situation. If I'm to be honest I found myself bored at times and absolutely enthralled at others. 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. 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. Violet also has a big secret that no one supposedly knows about. Every page contains vital information that contributes to the story. In fact, it creates opportunities for sexy nonverbal communication and witty text messages: Ridge tenderly washes off a message he wrote on Sydneys hand in ink, and when Sydney adds a few too many es to the word squee in her text, Ridge replies, If those letters really make up a sound, I am so, so glad I cant hear it. While they fight their mutual attraction, their hope that maybe someday they can be together playfully comes out in their music. Its definitely an interesting story, but not a perfect one. Ah, sorry you didnt enjoy this one! The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Lombardo, Claire. It may not be the most fun youve ever had, but it has to be darn close. But she secretly got along much better with Chris thoughtful best friend, Jonah, who was dating her sister, Jenny. The author hinted that the child's mother had sex with someone another sister would find upsetting. Lombardo wrote a fabulous book about family dynamics that was completely enthralling. Where to start this book was amazing in so many different ways. 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 . ISBN-13: 9780385544252. As the novel moves through the single tumultuous year following the arrival of Jonah Bendt given up in a closed adoptions by one of the daughters fifteen years before we are shown the rich and varied tapestry of the Sorensons past: years marred by troubled adolescence, infidelity and resentment, but also the transcendent moments of joy that make everything else worthwhile. Back to reviews with another Womens Prize longlist title! Naturally, from the inside it is not without its peaks and valleys. ", Lombardo's sweeping family drama, fueled by power plays between spouses and between sisters, is operatic in both good ways and bad. April 15, 2000. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Sorry, Ive been struggling with explanations lately I guess! Of course its not the responsibility of every novel to wrestle with cultural shifts, with politics and war, but the near total absence of even a whiff of non-Sorenson-related events over 40 years and 500-plus pages must be a conscious choice. 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. 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. 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. Enough loss to break anybody, but Wendy has overcome her obstacles and continues to overcome by living every day. Liza asks Gillian if she ever slept with David. I was confused at first, too! By 2016, their four radically different daughters are each in a state of unrest. "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. We had four teams from Crossfit Alluvium this year. 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. 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. Completing the quartet is the recently tenured professor Liza, whose own crumbling relationship is constantly falling short of David and Marilyns union. Many thanks to Orion. This thread is archived. Too long for the lack of plot and underwhelming and boring characters. Wendy, widowed young, soothes herself with . She was born and raised in Oak Park, Illinois, and spent several years doing social work in Chicago. Their long-infatuated parents watch on with a combination of love and concern. The other long book is 900+ pages, so the short titles were definitely a relief this year. Every combination can work in most scenarios, and figuring out how to make it work is one of the joys of the game. , i read this book last year and didnt like it at all, so its been so interesting to see what people have been saying in their reviews of it now that its on the womens prize longlist! Jonah and Jenny eventually broke up, but years later they had a one-night stand and Jenny got pregnant with their son, Elijah. Doubleday, 2019. Their personalities are shitty. i definitely agree with you in that it wasnt anything groundbreaking; when i was reading it i felt like it was the same as pretty much every other story out there about fairly privileged dysfunctional suburban families. 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. The parentsMarilyn, all pluck and busy optimism, and David, a genial family doctorstrike their offspring as impossibly happy. Points for Lombardo, again. Categories: Jonah was placed many times in different homes, none very permanent. That said, the characters are not immune to the human condition. Wendy, widowed young, soothes herself with booze and younger men . Claire Lombardo is the next Kingsolver. Lastly, I sincerely hope you have a good day! It will reel you in and not let you go from the moment you read the first word till the last; Lombardo's powerful depiction of her characters, of . 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. A famous painter. 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. Ryan leaves Liza. Ah, I saw Fatmas review a couple days ago as well. In addition to more likable characters this could have used a good edit. Next up is Violet, unassuming and mild. I also have a brother and though were close, I find sister relationships (at least the way theyre portrayed in books) to be an entirely different thing. Imagine a perfectly crafted mash-up of LITTLE WOMEN and THE CORRECTIONS. Marilyn and David Sorenson are two such people, and their four daughters Wendy, Violet, Liza, and Grace are simultaneously spellbound by them and over it. I didnt notice one singular theme as strongly last year, though perhaps giving voice to silenced or misrepresented women was perhaps the strongest commonality? 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? It is an important topic to be sure, but books like this just dont seem to be bringing anything new to the table, sadly. I am calling it this book will win all of the awards. . But at least I mostly enjoyed this one!). Yet, I felt compelled to see it through and finish. This book gives you a behind the scenes look into this familys life and I was so grateful for it because most times we leave books wanting more information. RELEASE DATE: Dec. 10, 2019. ), with a link to a digital soundtrack by American Idol contestant Griffin Peterson. 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. He is a good kid with good morals that makes you laugh. 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. It certainly made the book more bearable because I wouldn't have lasted till the 50% mark if I was reading the book. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Newcomer Lombardo brews all seven deadly sins into a fun and brimming tale of an unapologetically bougie couple and their unruly daughters. Lombardo also has a prologue and an epilogue of sorts, entitled The Offspring and The Midst of Life respectively. The work begins with Marilyn Sorensons perspective as she reflects on her four daughters, Wendy, Violet, Liza, and Grace. 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