Evergreen Tidings from the Baumgartners
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Book Overview
Look for Gretchen Anthony's hilarious, timely new novel, The Kids Are Gonna Ask. Best Books of Fall 2018 Selection by PopSugar "Stunning... An intricately satisfying story about love and understanding that is full of both nostalgia and surprising optimism." --Kirkus Reviews "A propulsive and endearing debut." --J. Ryan Stradal, New York Times bestselling author of Kitchens of the Great Midwest A formidable matriarch learns the hard way that no family is perfect in this witty, sparkling debut novel Dearest loved ones, far and near--evergreen tidings from the Baumgartners Violet Baumgartner has opened her annual holiday letter the same way for the past three decades. And this year she's going to throw her husband, Ed, a truly perfect retirement party, one worthy of memorializing in her upcoming letter. But the event becomes a disaster when, in front of two hundred guests, Violet learns her daughter Cerise has been keeping a shocking secret from her, shattering Violet's carefully constructed world. In an epic battle of wills, Violet goes to increasing lengths to wrest back control of her family, infuriating Cerise and snaring their family and friends in a very un-Midwestern, un-Baumgartner gyre of dramatics. And there will be no explaining away the consequences in this year's Baumgartner holiday letter... Full of humor, emotion and surprises at every turn, Evergreen Tidings from the Baumgartners brings to life a remarkable cast of quirky, deeply human characters who must learn to adapt to the unconventional, or else risk losing one another. This is the story of a family falling to pieces--and the unexpected way they put it all back together.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0778307867
ISBN13:9780778307860
Release Date:October 2018
Publisher:Park Row
Length:368 Pages
Weight:0.92 lbs.
Dimensions:1.1" x 5.9" x 8.8"
Customer Reviews
1 rating
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 6 years ago
This book is more of a 2.5 star rating for me. The cover and the title really had me excited about the book. I enjoyed the beginning. The situation between the two main families children was predictable right from the beginning. The main character, Violet, drove me absolutely insane. Over the course of the book, became irritated when it was her chapter. I suppose that is good writing when you have a true reaction to a character. But her story line just seemed miserable and I didn't enjoy it.
I never really understood why the story line went as it did. I felt like the book was trying to be too many types...mystery? new age? religious? chick lit? I found the parts about the best friend's husband to be completely irrelevant to the book.
Sadly, by the end of the book, I just wasn't into it. The point of the Christmas letters and the reveal of them at the end wasn't interesting. I didn't feel like there was any real closure because , what was the main point of the book? My expectations were let down unfortunately.
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