Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
The New York Times bestselling author of THE MOST FUN WE EVER HAD ("wonderfully immersive...deliciously absorbing"--NPR) returns with another brilliantly observed family drama in which the enduring, hard-won affection of a long marriage faces imminent derailment from events both past and present. At fifty-seven, Julia Ames is living an improbably lovely life. Despite her inclination toward self-sabotage and prickly alienation, she has found herself with a husband she loves, two happy children, and a quiet, contented existence in the suburbs. When she bumps into an old friend that she hasn't spoken to in years--a friend who almost ended her marriage decades prior--Julia finds herself reexamining her supposedly happy life. Compounded with a bombshell announcement from her son and her daughter's impending departure for college, this chance meeting threatens to send Julia spinning out of control.
Daunted by a looming empty nest, Julia becomes consumed with her checkered past--and with the chaos of her present. She grapples with a complicated new daughter-in-law, the reappearance of her own estranged mother, and the forbidden allure of rekindling a relationship that was once both her lifeline and her downfall. The novel follows Julia over the course of a few tumultuous months as well as the fifty-plus years that preceded them, from her chaotic childhood in Chicago to her fraught early days of marriage and motherhood. SAME AS IT EVER WAS ultimately examines the complete and complicated trajectory of one woman's life and asks what it takes to form--and keep--a family.
Synopsis
THE MAGISTERIAL NEW NOVEL BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE MOST FUN WE EVER HAD ("Wonderfully immersive...deliciously absorbing"--NPR) Featuring a memorably messy family and the multifaceted marriage at its heart, Claire Lombardo's remarkable debut was praised by Jane Smiley in the Washington Post as "ambitious and brilliantly written," and dubbed "the literary love child of Jonathan Franzen and Ann Tyler" by The Guardian. In her astonishing follow-up--another elegant and tumultuous family saga in the tradition of Elizabeth Strout, Ann Patchett, and Celeste Ng--Lombardo introduces us to another unforgettable cast of characters, this time by way of her singularly complicated protagonist.
Julia Ames, after a youth marked by upheaval and emotional turbulence, has found herself on the placid plateau of mid-life. But Julia has never navigated the world, its highs or its lows, with the equanimity of her current privileged class. Having nearly derailed her life several times in the past, making desperate bids for the kind of connection that always felt inaccessible to her, she finally feels, at age 57, that she has come to terms with whatever life can throw at her.
She's unprepared, though, for what comes next: a surprise announcement from her straight-arrow son, an impending separation from her spikey teenaged daughter, and a seductive resurgence of the past, all of which threaten to draw her back into the patterns that kept her on a razor's edge for most of her life.
Traversing the rocky terrain of family life--and exploring new avenues of maternal ambivalence, intergenerational friendship, and the happenstantial cause-and-effect that governs all our lives--Same As It Ever Was showcases the consummate style, signature wit, and profound emotional intelligence that made The Most Fun We Ever Had one of the most beloved novels of the past decade. Delving even deeper into the nature of family relationships--how they grow, change, and sometimes end--Lombardo proves herself a true and definitive cartographer of the human heart and asserts herself among the finest novelists of her generation.
Synopsis
THE MAGISTERIAL NEW NOVEL BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE MOST FUN WE EVER HAD ("Wonderfully immersive...deliciously absorbing"--NPR) Same As It Ever Was showcases the consummate style, signature wit, and profound emotional intelligence that made The Most Fun We Ever Had one of the most beloved novels of the past decade. Featuring a memorably messy family and the multifaceted marriage at its heart, Lombardo's debut was dubbed "the literary love child of Jonathan Franzen and Ann Tyler" (The Guardian) and hailed as "ambitious and brilliantly written" (Washington Post). In this remarkable follow-up--another elegant and tumultuous story in the tradition of Elizabeth Strout, Ann Patchett, and Celeste Ng--Lombardo introduces us to an unforgettable cast of characters, this time by way of her singularly complicated protagonist.
Julia Ames, after a youth marked by upheaval and emotional turbulence, has found herself on the placid plateau of mid-life. But Julia has never navigated the world with the equanimity of her current privileged class. Having nearly derailed herself several times, making desperate bids for the kind of connection that always felt inaccessible to her, she finally feels, at age fifty seven, that she has a firm handle on things.
She's unprepared, though, for what comes next: a surprise announcement from her straight-arrow son, an impending separation from her spikey teenaged daughter, and a seductive resurgence of the past, all of which threaten to draw her back into the patterns that had previously kept her on a razor's edge.
Same As It Ever Was traverses the rocky terrain of real life, --exploring new avenues of maternal ambivalence, intergenerational friendship, and the happenstantial cause-and-effect that governs us all. Delving even deeper into the nature of relationships--how they grow, change, and sometimes end--Lombardo proves herself a true and definitive cartographer of the human heart and asserts herself among the finest novelists of her generation.