3.0
The Excellent Lombards
ByPublisher Description
A new classic from the author of Oprah's Book Club picks A Map of the World and The Book of Ruth.
"This is the book Jane Hamilton was born to write... [it is] magnificent." —Ann Patchett, New York Times bestselling author of Commonwealth
Mary Frances "Frankie" Lombard is fiercely in love with her family's sprawling apple orchard and the tangled web of family members who inhabit it. Content to spend her days planning capers with her brother William, competing with her brainy cousin Amanda, and expertly tending the orchard with her father, Frankie desires nothing more than for the rhythm of life to continue undisturbed. But she cannot help being haunted by the historical fact that some family members end up staying on the farm and others must leave. Change is inevitable, and threats of urbanization, disinheritance, and college applications shake the foundation of Frankie's roots. As Frankie is forced to shed her childhood fantasies and face the possibility of losing the idyllic future she had envisioned for her family, she must decide whether loving something means clinging tightly or letting go.
"Everything you could ask for in a coming-of-age novel-- funny, insightful, observant, saturated with hope and melancholy." —Tom Perotta, author ofLittle Childrenand The Leftovers
"Tender, eccentric, wickedly funny and sage...gives full voice to Jane Hamilton's storytelling gifts." - Nancy Horan, author of Loving Frank and Under the Wide and Starry Sky
"This is the book Jane Hamilton was born to write... [it is] magnificent." —Ann Patchett, New York Times bestselling author of Commonwealth
Mary Frances "Frankie" Lombard is fiercely in love with her family's sprawling apple orchard and the tangled web of family members who inhabit it. Content to spend her days planning capers with her brother William, competing with her brainy cousin Amanda, and expertly tending the orchard with her father, Frankie desires nothing more than for the rhythm of life to continue undisturbed. But she cannot help being haunted by the historical fact that some family members end up staying on the farm and others must leave. Change is inevitable, and threats of urbanization, disinheritance, and college applications shake the foundation of Frankie's roots. As Frankie is forced to shed her childhood fantasies and face the possibility of losing the idyllic future she had envisioned for her family, she must decide whether loving something means clinging tightly or letting go.
"Everything you could ask for in a coming-of-age novel-- funny, insightful, observant, saturated with hope and melancholy." —Tom Perotta, author ofLittle Childrenand The Leftovers
"Tender, eccentric, wickedly funny and sage...gives full voice to Jane Hamilton's storytelling gifts." - Nancy Horan, author of Loving Frank and Under the Wide and Starry Sky
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities53 Reviews
3.0

Kathy Morgan
Created 9 months agoShare
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Line Breton
Created 12 months agoShare
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Kaylin Means
Created over 1 year agoShare
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“This one was just not it for me. I loved A Map of the World a couple of years ago, so I was looking forward to diving back into Jane Hamilton's writing. Thank goodness this was a book club pick or I wouldn't have finished it.
Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, happens in this book. I love a good coming-of-age tale, and I can appreciate the fact that we were looking at a child's idyllic world through her eyes which may have a bit of an idyllic bent towards the unbelievable.. But there is no plot line in this book. Nobody grows, you get no absolution from the story, No Thing Happens At All.
I gave two stars for the setting a few lovely turns of phrase. And one funny scene. But this one was not for me. 2 stars.”

Heather Fraker
Created over 1 year agoShare
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Jane (Grammy)
Created almost 2 years agoShare
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About Jane Hamilton
Jane Hamilton's novels have won literary prizes, been made into films, and become international bestsellers; and two of them, The Book of Ruth and A Map of the World, were selections of Oprah's Book Club. Her nonfiction has appeared in the New York Times; Washington Post; Allure; O, The Oprah Magazine; Elle; and various anthologies. She's married to an apple farmer and lives in Wisconsin.