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The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo Review: A Sweeping, Unsentimental Family Saga
Claire Lombardo's debut novel, *The Most Fun We Ever Had*, is a richly constructed family saga centered on the Sorenson family — parents David and Marilyn and their four adult daughters — whose carefully maintained rhythms are upended by the arrival of Jonah Bendt, the child one of the daughters placed in a closed adoption fifteen years earlier. A New York Times bestseller and Reese's Book Club pick, the novel earned a Women's Prize for Fiction nomination and wide critical praise for its ambition, psychological acuity, and portrait of marriage and sisterhood in all their complicated, contradictory fullness.
LuvemBooks Verdict
Best for
Readers drawn to literary family sagas who want to explore the interior mechanics of a long marriage, adult sisterhood, and the way buried secrets reorganize a family's entire self-understanding across decades.
Worth it if
You have the patience for a 640-page, non-linear structure and respond to novels that accumulate emotional momentum gradually rather than announcing it upfront — the critical record suggests the commitment is repaid in full.
Skip if
You prefer tightly plotted, single-perspective narratives with propulsive pacing, as the panoramic multi-character sweep and front-loaded investment may work against rather than for you.
What readers & critics say
Kirkus Reviews praised the novel as "a sharp, sly family story of feminine guile and guilt," noting Lombardo "brews all seven deadly sins into a fun and brimming tale." Open Kimono Publishing described the prose as "lush without being heavy, balancing humor and heartbreak," calling it the kind of novel that draws you so deeply into a family's rhythms that you feel you've lived among them.
“A sharp, sly family story of feminine guile and guilt — Lombardo brews all seven deadly sins into a fun and brimming tale.”
— Kirkus Reviews4.1from 30,341 Amazon ratings— reader ratings, not a LuvemBooks score
In This Review
- What Works & What Doesn't
- What the Novel Is About
- Scope, Ambition, and Critical Standing
- Strengths: Voice, Structure, and Thematic Depth
- Genuine Limitations and Who May Struggle
- Who This Novel Is For
What Works & What Doesn't
What Works
- Praised by The New York Times Book Review as a skillful, quietly subversive take on the traditional family saga
- Manages a large cast across multiple decades with what Publishers Weekly described as effortless vividness and acute psychological precision
- Explores marriage, sisterhood, grief, and family secrets with sustained thematic depth and without easy resolution
- A New York Times bestseller, Women's Prize for Fiction nominee, and Reese's Book Club pick — unusually broad recognition for a debut novel
What Doesn't
- At 640 pages with a non-linear, multi-perspective structure, the novel demands significant patience and may front-load the investment it asks of readers
- Readers who prefer tightly plotted or single-perspective narratives may find the panoramic scope more demanding than rewarding
Claire Lombardo's debut novel is a rare thing: a multigenerational family saga that earns its length without softening its characters into sentiment — a book The New York Times Book Review called "a rich, engrossing family saga, spiked with sisterly malice."
What the Novel Is About
Back cover synopsis describing four adult daughters of a Chicago couple and a family secret.
The Most Fun We Ever Had follows the Sorenson family of Chicago across multiple decades, with the marriage of David and Marilyn Sorenson — a union the novel treats as both sanctuary and enigma — anchoring the entire structure. Their four adult daughters, each distinct in temperament and shaped by a shared but differently remembered past, orbit that central relationship with varying degrees of resentment, admiration, and longing. The catalyzing event of the novel is the unexpected arrival of Jonah Bendt, a young man placed in a closed adoption by one of the daughters fifteen years prior. His reappearance forces the entire family to reckon with the accumulated weight of adolescence, infidelity, grief, and the quieter triumphs that sit alongside them. The novel moves fluidly between past and present, constructing the Sorensons' history layer by layer as Jonah's presence strips away the fictions each family member has relied upon.
Scope, Ambition, and Critical Standing
For a debut, the novel's ambition is substantial. Lombardo manages a large cast — four sisters, their partners, their parents, and Jonah — across a sprawling timeline, and the critical record reflects genuine admiration for her control of that material. Publishers Weekly, as cited by Penguin Random House, described the novel as "a gripping and poignant ode to a messy, loving family," noting that Lombardo "juggles a huge cast of characters with seeming effortlessness, bringing each to life with humor, vividness and acute psychological" precision. The novel became a New York Times bestseller, received a Women's Prize for Fiction nomination, and was selected as Reese's Book Club pick for April 2024 — a combination of commercial and critical recognition that marks it as one of the more broadly celebrated American debuts of its era. Author Margot Livesey called it "gorgeous and profound."
Strengths: Voice, Structure, and Thematic Depth
The novel's chief strengths, according to the critical record, lie in Lombardo's prose and her structural confidence. The New York Times Book Review noted that she renders the family saga with "such skill and finely tuned interest that it feels like a quiet subversion of the traditional family saga" — a compliment to the way the novel avoids the genre's tendency toward either hagiography or melodrama. The Sorensons are not lovable archetypes; they are people capable of infidelity, resentment, and sustained self-deception. The themes — marriage, sisterhood, the long afterlife of grief, and the way memory distorts every subsequent decision — are treated with what the source record describes as unflinching attention to the raw edges of life. Lombardo does not resolve these tensions cheaply, which gives the novel its staying power.
Genuine Limitations and Who May Struggle
At 640 pages, The Most Fun We Ever Had demands a patient reader. The novel's panoramic structure — moving across decades and shifting among multiple points of view — is a deliberate artistic choice, but readers who prefer tightly plotted, propulsive narratives or a single sustained perspective may find the pacing and scope challenging. The same sweep that drew praise for its ambition is, for some readers, the novel's primary friction point: the investment required to track a large cast across a non-linear timeline is real and front-loaded. This is not a novel that announces its momentum immediately; it accrues it gradually, which is a design choice that will reward some readers more than others.
Who This Novel Is For
The Most Fun We Ever Had is designed for readers who are drawn to literary fiction about the interior life of families — the machinery of long marriages, the specific friction of adult siblinghood, and the way a single secret, kept or revealed, can reorganize a family's entire self-understanding. Readers who respond to novels like those in Reese's Book Club's broader catalog — works that center women's relationships and emotional lives within a literary framework — will find this novel squarely in that tradition. It is, by the record, a book that rewards the commitment it asks of its audience, and its critical reception suggests that commitment is repaid.
Frequently Asked Questions
is The Most Fun We Ever Had (Reese's Book Club Pick): A Novel by Claire Lombardo worth reading
If you're drawn to literary fiction about the interior lives of families — long marriages, adult sisterhood, and the way a single secret can reorganize everyone's self-understanding — this one is squarely built for you. The critical record is genuinely strong: it's a New York Times bestseller, a Women's Prize for Fiction nominee, and author Margot Livesey called it 'gorgeous and profound.' The key caveat is that it asks real patience from you before it builds momentum.
what is The Most Fun We Ever Had (Reese's Book Club Pick): A Novel by Claire Lombardo actually about
It follows the Sorenson family of Chicago — parents David and Marilyn and their four adult daughters — across multiple decades, with the central catalyst being the reappearance of Jonah Bendt, a young man one of the daughters placed in a closed adoption fifteen years earlier. His arrival forces the whole family to reckon with accumulated secrets around infidelity, grief, and the fictions each member has relied on. The novel moves fluidly between past and present, building the family's history layer by layer.
is The Most Fun We Ever Had (Reese's Book Club Pick): A Novel by Claire Lombardo too long
At 640 pages, it genuinely demands a patient reader — the review is upfront about that. The panoramic structure shifts across decades and multiple points of view, which means the investment required to track the large cast is real and front-loaded. Readers who prefer tightly plotted, propulsive narratives or a single sustained perspective may find the pacing challenging, but the review notes that the novel accrues its momentum gradually and rewards those who commit.
are the characters in The Most Fun We Ever Had (Reese's Book Club Pick): A Novel by Claire Lombardo likable
Not in a cozy, easy way — and that's intentional. The New York Times Book Review described the book as 'spiked with sisterly malice,' and the review notes that the Sorensons are 'not lovable archetypes' but people capable of infidelity, resentment, and sustained self-deception. Lombardo doesn't resolve those tensions cheaply, which is exactly what gives the novel its staying power according to critics.
is The Most Fun We Ever Had (Reese's Book Club Pick): A Novel by Claire Lombardo good for book clubs
It's a strong fit, especially for groups that enjoy literary fiction centered on women's relationships and emotional lives — Reese's Book Club selected it as their April 2024 pick for exactly that reason. The themes of marriage, sisterhood, adoption, and family secrets give plenty to discuss, and Publishers Weekly praised Lombardo for bringing each character to life 'with humor, vividness and acute psychological' precision. Just make sure your group is comfortable committing to a 640-page non-linear story.
is The Most Fun We Ever Had (Reese's Book Club Pick): A Novel by Claire Lombardo similar to other Reese's Book Club picks
Yes — the review explicitly places it within that tradition, describing it as a book that centers women's relationships and emotional lives within a literary framework, which is a hallmark of Reese's Book Club's broader catalog. If you've responded well to other picks in that space, this novel is described as sitting 'squarely in that tradition.' It's more sprawling and literary than some picks, though, so expect more complexity than a straightforward emotional drama.
how does Claire Lombardo handle such a huge cast in The Most Fun We Ever Had (Reese's Book Club Pick): A Novel by Claire Lombardo
Critics were genuinely impressed by this. Publishers Weekly, as cited by Penguin Random House, said Lombardo 'juggles a huge cast of characters with seeming effortlessness,' and the New York Times Book Review credited her with rendering the family saga with 'such skill and finely tuned interest that it feels like a quiet subversion of the traditional family saga.' For a debut novel managing four sisters, their partners, their parents, and Jonah Bendt across a non-linear timeline, that's a notable achievement.
Sources & Further Reading
The key facts and claims in this review are grounded in the retrieved, verified sources listed below.
- Cited in this review
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clairelombardo.com
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- Further reading
- 4
Claire Lombardo, Wikipedia
- 5
reesesbookclub.com
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