[This review contains spoilers - heads up!] I was confused at first, too! But at least I mostly enjoyed this one!). 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! A secret son, concealed by two of the sisters and given for adoption at birth, suddenly reenters their lives fifteen years later, testing the bounds of the familial relationships and finally showing the sisters that there may be more to a good and successful life than keeping up appearances. What do they represent? Retrieve credentials. The author of this novel is an old soul. "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. 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 had a good time with this book, I really did. 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 . How? Imagine a perfectly crafted mash-up of LITTLE WOMEN and THE CORRECTIONS. 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. Despite their wealth, there is a plethora of more relatable issues: accidental pregnancies, eating disorders, cheating, stagnant communication the list could go on. Thanks! Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. 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. 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. Every page contains vital information that contributes to the story. 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? A full book review of "The Most Fun We Ever Had" by Claire Lambardo. 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. 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. Liza asks her father to connect with his colleague Gillan Levin to deliver her baby. This thread is archived. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. (LogOut/ , 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! A superb debut novel by Claire Lombardo! There were times when I put the book down and read another book in its entirety before picking this one back up. RELEASE DATE: June 25, 2019. 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. Title: The Most Fun We Ever Had: Author: Claire Lombardo: Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2021: ISBN: 0525564233, 9780525564232: Length: 640 pages: Subjects: Ive been continually surprised by how often motherhood comes up as a focus even in the longlisted novels I wasnt expecting to lean that way! But flashbacks to exhausted, fraught times make clear that the Sorensons' relationship hasn't been as smooth as it appears. 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. The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Lombardo, Claire. THE MOST FUN WE EVER HADBy Claire Lombardo. Lombardo has the remarkable ability to delve into people's minds so deeply that the most quotidian moments become utterly fascinating." Reading this book was challenge like reading Black Leopard and Red Wolf! Now Jonah is back in town, engaged to Jenny, and working at the local high school as Claras teacher. Enjoy! Wendy, widowed young, soothes herself with booze and younger men . Please comment your thoughts on how I did or what you thought of the book. FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP. Colleen Hoover Many thanks to Orion. 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. I just finished this and am already missing the Sorenson family. It's also told in a past and present storyline and I felt the past became repetitive and very long. 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. My head hurts from hearing about all that love repeatedly. Thematically, alongside the complexities of parent and sibling relationships, this story looks at wealth and privilege from a number of angles. This Study Guide consists of approximately 52 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of The Most Fun We Ever Had. ( Reading Goldfinch was not challenge, it was long and all those amazing sentences needed to absorb slowly like sipping a cold, splendid, special drink which burns down your throat and awakens all your senses! When tragedy strikes, a mother and daughter forge a new life. IMDb is the world's most popular and authoritative source for movie, TV and celebrity content. I might be interested in picking up more of Lombardos work someday, but I wont mind if this one doesnt make the shortlist. Thank you! That's awesome! . Lombardo's writing is so elegant - she makes our most complex and fragmented feelings tangible, which is a very rare skill. Most Fun We Ever Had (Lombardo) - Discussion Questions Discussion Questions 1. Oh, jeez. Great review, Emily. Theres four of you? he asked. There is no reason that it took that much to tell the story of this upper-middle class suburban family. Their long-infatuated parents watch on with a combination of love and concern. The Most Fun We Ever Had. 4 retirements within one scenario, how is that even possible? New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast . Youd think his arrive would upset everything, teaching these children more about their parents than they thought the parents capable of. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Great review! Engrossing and fun but surprisingly shallow seems like a succinct way to say it. I was aware that An American Marriage won last year, but I didnt know it was up against a lot of pretty strong works. Bibliographic information. Wendy, widowed young, soothes herself with booze and younger men . Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. That child, Jonah, the returned observer of this cloistered world, is as fascinated by David and Marilyns love as their daughters. In comparison, there is one daughter who survives paycheck to paycheck in a sad apartment with one fork to her name. Briefly, I didn't enjoy this book nor do I recommend it. The Most Fun We Ever Had Quotes. -- Laline Paull, author of THE BEES I adored The Most Fun We Ever Had. A marathon of instability and hair products. Thus begins a story bristling with a particular kind of female intel. Oh man, I appreciate your honest review!! Whats that like? / Its a vast hormonal hellscape. At 544 pages, you get to know them, along with their struggles and joys, pretty well. This big, chewy, multi-generational tale rings so true, handles multiple characters so deftly, and moves back and forth through its own history with such assurance that one would expect Lombardo to have half a dozen practice runs under . The only thing that the daughters have over their parents is sisterhood. 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. Thats interesting! Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. 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. However, compared to her sisters struggles, Grace is not quite on the same level. The other long book is 900+ pages, so the short titles were definitely a relief this year. influencers in the know since 1933. She wonders how her daughters could have all turned out so markedly different, not only from one another but also from her. After a while, you feel that you've always lived with the Sorenson family, and always will. This is a character driven story of a present day family on the north shore of Chicago. A frightened Jonah witnesses it and runs away to Graces apartment. The Most Fun We Ever Had is a deliciously absorbing novel with brace yourself a tender and satisfyingly positive take on family. The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo The length is a stopper: 532 pages. ISBN-13: 9780385544252 Summary When Marilyn Connolly and David Sorenson fall in love in the 1970s, they are blithely ignorant of all that awaits them. The Most Fun We Ever Had Claire Lombardo, 2019 Knopf Doubleday 544 pp. 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 When we picked Press J to jump to the feed. I do think its appropriate for authors to include characters that are not P.C. Jonah acclimates to living with David and Marilyn, but he witnesses Liza kissing another man and inadvertently discloses this information to Ryan. They are a healthy, but imperfect family of four daughters, who are all jockeying for their place in the world. Press J to jump to the feed. Random Grandson, at your service! Based on Claire Lombardo's 2019 novel of the same name, "The Most Fun We Ever Had" follows four sisters, each struggling to exist in the shadow of their parents' idyllic marriage, whose. PQ Titles: Study of Anatomy, Trophy Hunt, Zealot of the Blood God, A Helping Hand. WE GET IT. 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. 8 comments. From here, the narration jumps ahead sixteen years to follow a years worth of family drama, divided into seasonal sections. 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. . The "shining unfathomable orb of their parents, two people who emanated more love than it seemed like the universe would sanction," sets a powerful but daunting example for the couple's children. 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 . Thank you! Oooh, interesting. When Marilyn Connolly and David Sorenson fall in love in the 1970s, they are blithely ignorant of all that's to come. 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. 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. Wendy not only lost her child but she lost her husband. 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.". 876 Likes, 43 Comments - @lovelylonghaired on Instagram: "How was YOUR day? But you don't mind, because the Chicago-based clan of THE MOST FUN WE EVER HAD is definitely worth getting to know. It was charming and frustrating at the same time. 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. (LogOut/ I did like the relationships between the characters and seeing how their choices panned out, effecting the whole family in the end. Diving into a 550-page novel as opposed to, say, a 300-page novel is the difference between a dalliance and a full-blown commitment. Summary. Wendy, widowed young, soothes herself with . Books by Claire Lombardo 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.When Marilyn Connolly and David Sorenson fall in love in the 1970s, they are blithely ignorant of all that's to come. You have to really like these characters to spend time in their lives and inside their heads for days at a time. Lombardo's novel is divided into 34 chapters, with dated flashbacks interspersed throughout in order to provide deeper exposition on the relationships between characters. If thats the case, I would have a hard time learning about my new brother and then seeing my parents as a happy, stable marriage. Its definitely an interesting story, but not a perfect one. Voracious reader and reviewer 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.) Ah, sorry you didnt enjoy this one! Were glad you found a book that interests you! 544 pp. It hits plenty of high notes, but like opera, it runs long and tends toward histrionics and repetition. I wouldve loved to see a bit more variety in content this year and a few less books about motherhood! 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). Jonah was placed many times in different homes, none very permanent. Lombardo wrote a fabulous book about family dynamics that was completely enthralling. (LogOut/ If all of Lombardos future writing reach such a sprawl, however, we may (unfortunately) have to wait a while for her next novel. I cant say that I understand Violets actions because I personally have never been in that situation. The book primarily focuses on Jonahs integration back into the family. The present storyline contains most of what we . His foster parents are moving abroad so Wendy is hoping Violet might take him in. The Most Fun We Ever Had (TV Series) - Release Info - IMDb Edit The Most Fun We Ever Had Release Info Showing all 2 items Jump to: Release Dates (0) Also Known As (AKA) (2) Release Dates It looks like we don't have any release dates for this title yet. I couldn't relate, emphasize, nor care about them. 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. I read Everything I Never Told You this year and I really liked it although the characters were heavily flawed. (LogOut/ 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. Front-loaded with drama, the story leaves plenty of room for the mother and daughter to unpack their feelings and decide whats next. I am calling it this book will win all of the awards. This study guide contains the following sections: This detailed literature summary also contains Quotes and a Free Quiz on But Ridge cant hide his feelings for Sydney longand they face their dilemma with refreshing emotional honesty. Not all of them but Wendy, Violet, and Lisa in particular. However, it is based upon a deep and abiding love that seems to be unattainable to their four daughters within their own lives. 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. The big family secret is revealed almost immediately in Claire Lombardos engrossing debut novel, The Most Fun We Ever Had, which connects four decades in the lives of the Sorensons of Oak Park, Chicago. Jonah calls Wendy from Montana and she retrieves him. By 2016, their four radically different daughters are in a state of unrest. Change). Four Chicago sisters anchor a sharp, sly family story of feminine guile and guilt. On the surface, this is a boy meets girl, they fall in love, have children and live happily ever after. Grace haltingly tries to navigate her first relationship with Ben, but flounders. 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). 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. 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. 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. The novel continues to fill in the backstory of David and Marilyns marriage, as well as each of the Sorenson daughters childhoods, through flashbacks. Signs of wear can include aesthetic issues such as scratches, dents, worn and creased covers, folded page corners and minor liquid stains. This is a great review! The Most Fun We Ever Had is certainly not boring. 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. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated. Lombardo describes falling for someone as feeling accompanied in a way she had never before, by a person who was choosing to feel beholden to her instead of simply scooting up the rope of familial obligation. The novel shines brightest in the moments in which Lombardo is able to probe into the psyche of her female characters to express something that feels universal, yet somehow fresh. I had this in a queue at my library but I may press on with others I want to read first! 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. 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. Doubleday, 2019. I am a fan! 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. 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. Lombardo also has a prologue and an epilogue of sorts, entitled The Offspring and The Midst of Life respectively. All of her complaints are definitely in the book. The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo. Subscribe to our email newsletter. The class calibrations are divine even as the utter apolitical whiteness of the Sorenson world becomes hard to fathom. Its free and takes less than 10 seconds! [ Claire Lombardo describes how she arrived at the Iowa Writers Workshop with a very messy, 813-page draft. ]. Trust me. So, one of the daughters has a son when shes very young, with no father in the picture, and hides the entire pregnancy from her family. There is certainly some redemptive growth, but its a long journey getting there. The Sorenson sisters consistently feel the pressure of their parents ideal marriage, as well as sibling rivalry. 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. 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. help you understand the book. But The Most Fun more strongly evokes Anne Tyler's explorations of long marriages in meticulously observed domestic novels like Breathing Lessons (1989), The Amateur Marriage (2004) and A Spool of Blue Thread (2015). It feels like it was a little safe and one-note, which is I think where the lack of variety in themes comes in. Yet these lush details almost seem to weigh the novel down. Conclusion: I was pleasantly surprised by this book, so much so that I am recommending it to any and all readers. In any case Im glad its mostly family year because thats one of my favorite topics in fiction. Our standard tank was the Spellweaver, the support guy was the Scoundrel. The Most Fun We Ever Had. Strong and fierce, but sad and lonely. Brilliant review, Emily! Then all of a sudden in the last 100 pages, Violet accepts Jonah, apologizes to him and and everything is fine and dandy. Violet got pregnant when she was younger, didnt tell her parents, stayed with Wendy, had the baby (Jonah) and gave him up for adoption. 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. There was a lot of repetition and I honestly wanted to skip some pages when the characters really got on my nerves. 'I adored The Most Fun We Ever Had. Violet, however, has two young boys with her husband and does not want to impact their lives. But let's not lose sight of Lombardo's considerable achievement. It looks like the judges were just very interested in books about parenthood this year for some reason! Each of the sisters has their own crosses to bear. 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. I appreciated your probing more into the themes of the novel and how they didnt seem to illuminate anything beyond the specific situation of this family. This was a delightful debut and I cant wait to see what the author writes next. (Perhaps!) She finds out after the fact that Ridge already has a long-distance girlfriend, Maggieand that he's deaf. Its one of those lovely meandering, literary tales that weaves the story of a family over a long period of time. Wendy fears she cannot care for Jonah and asks Marilyn and David to take 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. Thats where I thought Lombardos writing shone in this book- the characters arent always sympathetic but they do feel like complex, well-thought-out people and it was so interesting to see how their lives and decisions would intersect. Jonah lives with Wendy and then moves to his grandparents house, but never lives with Violet and her family. 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. The Most Fun We Ever Had is a saga of Marilyn and David Sorensons forty-year marriage, messiness and all. 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. 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. Required fields are marked *. hide. I love books that make me feel. How do gingkoes function as a symbol in the book? I love listening to family dramas but this one had too much needless drama to my taste. 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. Categories: David is trying to adjust to retirement, while Marilyn has become the owner of a hardware shop. FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP. Everyone got a completely different character, which you wouldn't necessarily have had if you had just picked "whoever I retired for". 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 Though each is sympathetic and suffering in their own way, they do all make poor choices, sometimes for bad reasons. There are much better family sagas out there with better stories and fewer pages. HOWEVER, Violet was completely rude and hostile towards Jonah. Also: David and Marilyn love each other madly. Naturally, from the inside it is not without its peaks and valleys. 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. Get help and learn more about the design. By 2016, they have four radically different daughters, each in a state of unrest. Ah yes, I was so confused about what the author was trying to say about marriage, since all of these characters seemed so quick to condemn this really successful one! I found the dynamics between characters highly entertaining and enjoyed the writing, but even so I think Lombardo couldve shaved off two hundred pages without losing anything crucial. And Fun but surprisingly shallow seems like a succinct way to say it fork to her struggles! Long and tends toward histrionics and repetition to spend time in their.! Little WOMEN and the Midst of life respectively Claras teacher retirements within scenario. 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Is silky, if occasionally overwrought different, not only lost her child but she lost husband.

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