Ahhhh, I see. Lombardo deeply understands marriage, sisterhood and plain old ordinary family dysfunction which is present on every character driven page. 'I adored The Most Fun We Ever Had. Yet these lush details almost seem to weigh the novel down. The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo The length is a stopper: 532 pages. 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. 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. Another plot line: one daughter gives a child up for adoption and that child re-enters the family's life. ISBN-13: 9780385544252. Newcomer Lombardo brews all seven deadly sins into a fun and brimming tale of an unapologetically bougie couple and their unruly daughters. RELEASE DATE: Dec. 10, 2019. 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. Oooh I hadnt noticed the emphasis on motherhood, but now that you bring it up I can definitely see it popping up in a lot of the longlisted books and yeah, I also agree I wasnt too enthused about the Womens Prize longlist this year, sadly. Four Chicago sisters anchor a sharp, sly family story of feminine guile and guilt. This secret (which Ill talk about next) is what the book pretty much revolves around. Voracious reader and reviewer 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. And that sometimes they choose zero degrees. Fast forward a few years, Jonahs adoptive parents died in a car crash, leaving him to navigate the foster system. David is trying to adjust to retirement, while Marilyn has become the owner of a hardware shop. 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. Trust me. At its core, The Most Fun We Ever Had isnt 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. Into this family arrives Jonah, the son Violet had given birth to and then had adopted, whose presence is much needed by the family as can be seen in the impact he has. CLAIRE LOMBARDO earned her MFA in fiction at the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Even family interactions elicit a mix of exasperation and comfort. By 2016, they have four radically different daughters, each in a state of unrest. A marathon of instability and hair products. Thus begins a story bristling with a particular kind of female intel. The blind character choice is great. Definitely a bit longer than it needs to be, though it wasnt a slog for me. Yet, I felt compelled to see it through and finish. How do gingkoes function as a symbol in the book? Also: David and Marilyn love each other madly. View more posts. The title really makes little sense and is only a bland reference to one scene that comes late in the book. 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. Every page contains vital information that contributes to the story. I thought I would have a better time of it but Im discovering theres a limit to my interest in family sagas, haha. She finds great comfort and solace in her husband, to whom she is inextricably bonded. 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. Instead, I found this story engrossing and fun, but surprisingly shallow. She was born and raised in Oak Park, Illinois. Courtesy of HBO. Colleen Hoover 2019 En lyckligare tid. 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. The novel continues to fill in the backstory of David and Marilyns marriage, as well as each of the Sorenson daughters childhoods, through flashbacks. " 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. 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. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. This is a great review! Ah, I saw Fatmas review a couple days ago as well. Its definitely an interesting story, but not a perfect one. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. Arrive a few minutes early to get a spot by the stage, especially if you have little kids. In addition to more likable characters this could have used a good edit. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast . 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. For Wendy it is a combination of fate and disposition. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Then all of a sudden in the last 100 pages, Violet accepts Jonah, apologizes to him and and everything is fine and dandy. 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. I think of Grace as the color gray. There are a FEW more likable characters though so its maybe not a totally lost cause! Another dysfunctional family book , 500 pages long, 4 daughters who are mostly annoying and unbearable, bring it on, this is one of the most challenging experience for me! That's the year David Sorenson, a shy premed student, and Marilyn Connolly, an outspoken English major, met and fell in love. Categories: 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. Alicia Berenson's life is seemingly perfect. They crept into my heart; it was like being a member of their family. Please enjoy my thoughts and ideas below. report. 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. Pages may include moderate to heavy amount of notes and highlighting, but the text is not obscured or unreadable. lot of improvement of the loot were (and for lot, are still) possible. But this book? I couldn't relate, emphasize, nor care about them. Every combination can work in most scenarios, and figuring out how to make it work is one of the joys of the game. The golden couple David Sorenson and Marilyn Connelly seem to have that figured out. The Most Fun We Ever Had. Marilyn wonders if she failed the girls. This was quite a delightful debut. From the beginning, I realized that Most Fun would be a new standard for me, Lombardo has a way with words and creating characters that just leapt off the page. This book give you unlimited access to everything, all the time. NOT to say that anyone who doesnt know what they want to do isnt seen as struggling. ), with a link to a digital soundtrack by American Idol contestant Griffin Peterson. PQ Spoilers: Zealot will do final exhaustion, which will also be final exhaustion for Anatomy, Trophy Hunt only needs one more unique, Helping Hand will witness it all. Why do we need to know about it?? 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. More Books by Claire Lombardo Der grte Spa, den wir je hatten. 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. The Most Fun We've Ever Had (Spoiler Free) spoiler. I have two brothers, but were not close. If youre looking for fascinating character dynamics and the questionable choices of wealthy folk rather than a lit prize masterpiece, I think this could be a decent read. 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. Wendy, widowed young, soothes herself with . FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP. 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. Lombardo wrote a fabulous book about family dynamics that was completely enthralling. April 15, 2000. On the heels of Wendys birth, Marilyn becomes pregnant with Violet and the tumultuous child-rearing years begin. 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. Violet is the daughter that did everything right. She went to college, became a lawyer, married a nice man and has two young children. 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. ; I adored the Most Fun We & # x27 ; s life seemingly! Spot by the stage, especially if you have little kids line: one daughter a... Emphasize, nor care about them much revolves around a combination of and. Votes can not be posted and votes can not be cast was growing mold!, married a nice man and has two young children and brimming tale of an unapologetically bougie and! Can work in Most scenarios, and figuring out how to make it work is one of game! Bristling with a better time of it but Im discovering theres a limit to my interest in family,... 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