Reviews for So Happy Together

The average rating for So Happy Together based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-02-08 00:00:00 mike sharrak I had a hard time putting this book down. I related to the main character, Claire, in that she is in her mid 40's and trying to reinvent herself. Her daughter has left on poor terms, her parents are getting older and her father has been diagnosed with Parkinson's. But she thinks she is all set -- she has met Rick and he's going to change everything. They are going to move to Arizona (from NJ) and while he golfs she can take all the pictures she wants. But then her daughter returns, pregnant, and her father takes a turn for the worse, and her mother chooses to move into a retirement home so that she won't be a burden to her daughter. But that move sucks all hope from her and she begins to fade. It was such a wonderful layering of generations and their problems, with no pat answers. Just the hope that they will somehow figure it out. So they all go Cape Cod, where Claire is taking a photography workshop, and she leaves her parents and daughter to figure things out while at the same time not completely abandoning them. It was real. The fiancee is quite obviously ill-suited as he wants nothing to do with her family, and then there is of course THE GUY ... but not overly done. All in all I completely enjoyed this book and was sad to see it end.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-12-02 00:00:00 Barbara Redding Claire Noble is a single mother and a respected history teacher, who has also been caring for her aging parents. Everyone may need a dream, but Claire gave up on hers a long time ago. But her dreams apparently never gave up on her - and now, Claire finally has a chance to experience something that she has always wanted. She has fallen in love with Rick Saunders, who is offering her both security and the opportunity to travel. Before their planned fall wedding, Claire will be leaving to spend the summer on Cape Cod, where the fabled light has been luring artists for a century; for the chance of a lifetime to study with one of the most noted photographers in the country. But just as Claire is about to step forward into her new life, the previous one begins to change dramatically. Her estranged daughter suddenly shows up with a backpack full of problems. Claire's father reveals a fifty-year-old secret that threatens to unravel their family. Her mother confides that at seventy-eight years old, she's still waiting for the love of her life. And a chance encounter with an environmental writer results in an intriguing new relationship, threatening Claire's certainty that she's found the man with whom she hopes to spend the rest of her life. In the midst of all this turbulence, Claire begins to question everything she thought she wanted. And surprisingly, so do her mother and her daughter. Set in the lush, rolling hills of northern New Jersey and the romantic, windswept dunes of Cape Cod, So Happy Together by Maryann McFadden is the story of three generations of women who find their lives, and dreams, suddenly transformed in ways they never would have imagined. However, ultimately, it is the heartbreaking and joyful journey of one woman who comes to realize that, when you're a mother, and a daughter, you are never truly free. In my opinion, this was quite a book. The plot and story were very believable, and the family dynamics were just the type that I enjoy reading about. This was actually the first book that I've ever read by Maryann McFadden, and it was a book that Mareena chose for me when we went to our local library's perpetual book sale back in April of this year. I think that Mareena chose wisely - I give this book an A+! and will definitely put Ms. McFadden's two other books - The Richest Season and The Book Lover - on my Wish List.