The Most Fun We Ever Had - Claire Lombardo

'A literary love child of Jonathan Franzen and Anne Tyler ... an outstanding debut, assured and highly enjoyable' Observer
'Should appeal to fans of Maria Semple, Emma Straub and Jennifer Egan ... A moving, immersive, often very funny study of family and sisterhood' Sunday Times



At a family wedding, the four Sorenson sisters polka-dot the green lawn in their summer pastels, with varying shades of hair and varying degrees of unease. Their long-infatuated parents watch on with a combination of love and concern.

Sixteen years later, the already messy lives of the sisters are thrown into turmoil by the unexpected reappearance of a teenage boy given up for adoption years earlier - and the rich and varied tapestry of the Sorensons' past is revealed.

Weaving between past and present, The Most Fun We Ever Had portrays the delights and difficulties of family life and the endlessly complex mixture of affection and abhorrence we feel for those closest to us. A dazzlingly accomplished debut and an utterly immersive portrait of one family's becoming, it marks the arrival of a major new literary voice.


'A gripping and poignant ode to a messy, loving family in all its glory' Madeline Miller, author of Circe and The Song of Achilles
'Everything about this brilliant debut cuts deep: the humor, the wisdom, the pathos' Rebecca Makkai, author of The Great Believers