A Quick Note On This Review: This article includes affiliate links to Bookshop.org as a way of supporting both local bookshops and my own ability to write.
The Sorenson family had its issues long before Jonah came into it. And yet, they’ve grown adept at pushing it down, forgetting its existence until the child Violet put up for adoption fifteen years before comes crashing back into their lives and it becomes impossible to ignore all the rivalries that came between the four Sorenson daughters. Meanwhile, Marilyn and David, as parents who have been married for forty years, have to find a way to reinvent themselves and their family so that their children and Jonah can find a way to coexist harmoniously.
On listening to The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo on audiobook, I found it initially difficult to get into the flow of the story because of the structure of the prose and the plot. It was technically correct, and the plot followed an internal logic, but it seemed a bit mundane to me as the novel recounted the mundane, if sometimes peculiar moments of everyday life. I struggled to understand what Lombardo wanted to show the reader, even as she delved more deeply into the lives of the Sorenson family with occasional interjections of Jonah’s life.
However, as I got further along, I began to see the way Lombardo was using the flashbacks and other scenes to illustrate different facets of relationships. In particular, I found it interesting how she portrayed the marriage between David and Marilyn, even if the primary focus of the novel was on their four daughters and Jonah, because it contained a realism that could resonate with anyone who picked up the book. Lombardo showcased the complex ways that couples make assumptions about one another, disappoint each other, and come back together to form the love that so many romanticize and wish for without really understanding the amount of hard work it requires. In some ways, David and Marilyn’s marriage was a character that worked alongside every character because of the profound impact their love had on their children and, eventually, Jonah.
While ultimately a novel that I’d peg as a bit on the intellectual side rather than accessible, if someone’s looking for a book that deals with the complexities of family life, I don’t think I’ve come across a better, all-encompassing portrait. While Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy may showcase a better juxtaposition between idealized love and reality, The Most Fun We Ever Had is ambitious in its portrayal not just of love shared by two people, but how that impacts the nuclear family they eventually create, complete with the sacrifices each parent makes to enable the happiness of those around them, whether they are a spouse, child, or grandchild.
For writers, I think The Most Fun We Ever Had can offer valuable lessons on ways to think about portraying love. Lombardo’s clear-eyed view on the pitfalls of relationships and the way she chooses to talk about them would give a framework for any writer that wants to include a relationship element to their stories a baseline set of tools that would set them up for success.
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What’s Next?
I am an avid reader and have quite a few thoughts on how some books could benefit both people that want to be entertained and those looking to sharpen their literary skills.
If you’re interested in finding out more about what I’ve been reading – and how it could benefit you – I will be publishing those thoughts on Fridays on a weekly basis. Check back next week for a discussion of R. F. Kuang’s The Poppy War!
The Writerly Review 