Same As It Ever Was: The immersive and joyful new novel from the author of Reese´s Bookclub pick THE MOST FUN WE EVER HAD – Lombardo Claire (2024)

Witty and insightful. A powerful exploration of marriage, motherhood, and self' BONNIE GARMUS, author of LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY 'It was such a pleasure to bury myself in this book, a literary novel of family life which moved and surprised me. You read on ravenously' CLARE CHAMBERS, author of SMALL PLEASURES The author of THE MOST FUN WE EVER HAD returns with a brilliantly observed family drama, in which a long marriage faces imminent derailment from events both past and present. At fifty-seven, Julia Ames has found herself with an improbably lovely life. Despite her inclination towards self-sabotage, she has a husband she loves, two happy children and a quiet, contented existence in the suburbs. But, out of the blue, things begin to change. Her always well-behaved son, Ben, is acting strangely, and will soon make a shocking announcement. Her beloved but belligerent teenage daughter is about to depart for college, leaving Julia unexpectedly terrified of an empty nest. And, in the local grocery store, Julia encounters a woman she hasn't seen for 20 years - a woman whose friendship was once both her lifeline and, very nearly, her downfall. Consumed with her checkered past and the chaos of…