A novel about characters who suffer from family.
I have always loved books where the characters suffer from family, and the Sorenson family suffers from and with each other. Claire Lombardo has written a beautiful book about a couple and their four adult daughters, and all the dramas that come with a family of four daughters. It's a long book, but it is like taking a long luxurious vacation, even with all the drama.
I loved the characters, and as much as I don't want to tell you what I'm about to tell you, I think it's important. Claire Lombardo is 30. THIRTY! And that is only important because she is so attuned to Marilyn and Dave who are in their sixties, that I just kept wondering how she did it.
So, to be clear, I'm not pointing out that the author is thirty years old because I'm shocked she writes well. Of course a thirty-year-old woman can write a beautiful and engaging book, I tell you that because she knows the inner lives of people twice her age as well as she does.
That being said, the book is beautiful. And though it is long, it was a pretty quick read for me because the pacing is so well-done that you don't notice the length. My only complaint was that the ending wrapped up a little more neatly than I wanted, but it was still satisfying, and not distracting enough to change my opinion of the novel.
This one is one of my summer favorites, and I'd say it will be in the top 10 for the year.
Don’t we all suffer from a bad case of Family every now and then? If mama isn’t happy, no one is happy, or so the sentiment goes. But the reality is when one kid is a mess, everyone is a mess.
So, while Marilyn and David are madly and deeply in love after 40 years together, their four daughters are all in varying stages of chaos and drama. One is teetering on alcoholism and has a bad habit of picking up younger men. One is riddled with anxiety and wrestles with crippling self-doubt because of a dark moment in her past. One is pregnant with a baby, and not in a happy way; she’s not sure she wants a baby or the man that comes along with a baby. And the youngest daughter has the deepest secret of all.
The novel spans half a century and explores the bonds of marriage, sisterhood, parents & children; it is the story of one family’s becoming.
