{"product_id":"9781399608220","title":"Same As It Ever Was : The immersive and joyful new novel from the author of Reese's Bookclub pick THE MOST FUN WE EVER HAD","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"+1\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Witty and insightful. A powerful exploration of marriage, motherhood, and self' BONNIE GARMUS, author of \u003ci\u003eLESSONS IN CHEMISTRY\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'\u003cb\u003e'It was such a pleasure to bury myself in this book, a literary novel of family life which moved and surprised me. Y\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eou read on ravenously' \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eCLARE CHAMBERS, author of \u003ci\u003eSMALL PLEASURES\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe author of THE MOST FUN WE EVER HAD returns with a brilliantly observed family drama, in which a long marriage faces imminent derailment from events both past and present\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/font\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt fifty-seven, Julia Ames has found herself with an improbably lovely life. Despite her inclination towards self-sabotage, she has a husband she loves, two happy children and a quiet, contented existence in the suburbs.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut, out of the blue, things begin to change.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHer always well-behaved son, Ben, is acting strangely, and will soon make a shocking announcement.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHer beloved but belligerent teenage daughter is about to depart for college, leaving Julia unexpectedly terrified of an empty nest.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd, in the local grocery store, Julia encounters a woman she hasn't seen for 20 years - a woman whose friendship was once both her lifeline and, very nearly, her downfall.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eConsumed with her checkered past and the chaos of her present, Julia starts to spin out of control, at risk of destroying all she most loves.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFollowing Julia over the course of a few tumultuous months, bookended by a birthday party and a wedding, and examining the fifty-plus years before, \u003ci\u003eSame as It Ever Was \u003c\/i\u003eexamines the complete and complicated trajectory of one woman's life and asks what it takes to make - and to not break - a family.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cfont size=\"+1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003ePRAISE FOR CLAIRE LOMBARDO:\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A literary love child of Jonathan Franzen and Anne Tyler' \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eGUARDIAN\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Lombardo juggles a huge cast of characters with seeming effortlessness, bringing each to life with humour, vividness and acute psychological insight' \u003cb\u003eMADELINE MILLER, author of \u003ci\u003eSONG OF ACHILLES\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Lombardo has a wry, often spiky humour and tightly written style that should appeal to fans of Maria Semple, Emma Straub and Jennifer Egan' \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSUNDAY TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rye Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45477945475293,"sku":"9781399608220","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0064\/1368\/0730\/files\/9781399608220.jpg?v=1720433922","url":"https:\/\/ryebooks.co.uk\/products\/9781399608220","provider":"Rye Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}