Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner + Book Tour Info

Summary/Cover Image from Publisher's Website:

Sometimes all you can do is fly away home . . .

When Sylvie Serfer met Richard Woodruff in law school, she had wild curls, wide hips, and lots of opinions. Decades later, Sylvie has remade herself as the ideal politician’s wife—her hair dyed and straightened, her hippie-chick wardrobe replaced by tailored knit suits. At fifty-seven, she ruefully acknowledges that her job is staying twenty pounds thinner than she was in her twenties and tending to her husband, the senator.

Lizzie, the Woodruffs’ younger daughter, is at twenty-four a recovering addict, whose mantra HALT (Hungry? Angry? Lonely? Tired?) helps her keep her life under control. Still, trouble always seems to find her. Her older sister, Diana, an emergency room physician, has everything Lizzie failed to achieve—a husband, a young son, the perfect home—and yet she’s trapped in a loveless marriage. With temptation waiting in one of the ER’s exam rooms, she finds herself craving more.

After Richard’s extramarital affair makes headlines, the three women are drawn into the painful glare of the national spotlight. Once the press conference is over, each is forced to reconsider her life, who she is and who she is meant to be.

Written with an irresistible blend of heartbreak and hilarity, Fly Away Home is an unforgettable story of a mother and two daughters who after a lifetime of distance finally learn to find refuge in one another.

Review:

After reading Best Friends Forever, Jennifer's previous novel, I became a huge Jennifer Weiner fan. So as any fan would be when it comes to reading an author's next work (and early even!), I jumped at the chance, and I'm glad I did, even though Best Friends Forever still remains my favorite Weiner novel.

Politician sex scandals. You see them every couple of months, blaring across the TV, everyone varying from your uncle to your neighbors talking about it, gossiping about it. Though, one thing you don't see is the after effects, how these events affect the lives of their family, and that's the story that Fly Away Home tells.
Fly Away Home is the story of three women, a mother and two daughters, completely different yet the same deep down, all dealing with the same event but different ones as well that may just bring their lives to one big halt. Sylvie, the mother, is dealing with the back lash of her politician husband's sex affair, the husband she thought she would always call hers. Sure, she's not the skinniest woman ever, but she loved him and still does even with the events occurring. Lizzie, the youngest daughter, has always felt inferior when compared to her genius older sister and parents, which may just be the reason why she fell into a drug addiction. Though, now she's different; she's overcome her past and has gotten a job, earned back some of her family's respect, and may just even be in love, which is if her past doesn't ruin everything. Diana, the oldest daughter, has always gone to the end of the earth to be the smartest she can possible be, just so that maybe, just maybe, she can earn her parent's attention and respect, though when her own affair comes to halt, taking down nearly everything she has worked for, her life just may never be the same.

The one thing I always love about Weiner's novels is the amount of effort and layers she puts into her characters, effort and layers which leave for each and everyone to feel just the right amount of real and jump of the page one jump at time. But with saying that, I have to admit for most of Fly Away Home, I never really felt a connection to any of the characters at hand. I enjoyed reading about them of course and found them to be likable, but I just didn't relate at all. Sure, there were some little parts I could relate to, but for some of the major ones I just could not; perhaps because of the fact that their major worries and fears are some that I, as a teenager, don't face for the most part. Though, I did enjoy seeing how in the end, the characters, ones who at the beginning never really understood each, came together and made peace.

The thing that ended up making my problem with the characters venial was the plot and Jennifer's writing, since tied together both always make for an addicting story, one which you could never be truly sure of what would happen in the end, and brought up several important questions, such as could one event really change everything someone has worked for. Also, the ending of this was one I liked.

Because of the fact that I couldn't relate to the characters nearly as much as I would have liked to, this is not my favorite Weiner novel. Though I still highly suggest my adult readers of my blog, as well as some of the teenagers who enjoy adult novels, consider giving this a chance, because Weiner's novels are always quite spectacular because of her world building, and Fly Away Home was no different, leaving me with the same feeling Best Friends Forever did. That feeling? Eagerness to read more by Weiner.

Grade: B-

Fly Away Home will be released July 13, 2010!

Source: Publicity Firm. Thanks, Artemis!

Also, Jennifer will be embarking on a tour this July. She will be speaking, answering questions, and signing books at each. Here are all the tour dates:

- NEW YORK - July 13th
- PRINCETON - July 14th
- PHILADELPHIA - July 14th
- WASHINGTON, DC - July 15th
- ATLANTA - July 16th
- FORT LAUDERDALE - July 17th
- MIAMI - July 19th
- DALLAS - July 20th
- BOSTON - July 21st
- CHICAGO - July 25th and 26th
- DENVER - July 27th
- SAN FRANCISCO - July 28th and 29th
- CAPE COD - August 12th

The following is a link to Jennifer Weiner’s website where you can find more information on the events http://www.jenniferweiner.com/events.htm.