69 of 71 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
4.5 Stars One of my favorite Weiner Novels, July 13, 2010
Fly away home is the beautifully written story of Sylvie, a politicians wife, and her two daughters Diana and Lizzie. In the wake and aftermath of scandal these three women are forced to face the truth about themselves including who they are, who they want to be and what they want out of life. The women deal with past issues as well as present. Weiner does a wonderful job of taking the serious issues of commitment, self-esteem, identity and choices and mixing them with comical moments.
Meet the women of Fly Away Home:
Sylvie: Wife of Senator Richard Woodruff. Sylvie has spent her life in her husbands service, helping him, guiding him and focusing on him. After his affair is brought into the open, Sylvie must re-evaluate who she is and who she wants to be. She must make the biggest decision of all. Will she be able to trust and forgive?
Diana: The eldest daughter of Sylvie and Richard Woodruff. After watching her parents marriage, Diana has a very clear path for her life and how she wants it to be. While everything makes sense on paper, Diana forgets about the heart and love. When she is reminded her world is turned upside down and she must choose to love or not to love? Will she be happy?
Lizzie: (Elizabeth) The youngest daughter of the Woodruff's and the family screw-up. Returning from rehab, Lizzie is determined to be better, to make something of herself, and to stay clean. It seems the world doesn't want to make this easier for her, and her family isn't in the best state to help. Will she be able to overcome of one the hardest parts of her life? Will she learn from the rehab and will she survive the shock and surprises she will encounter along the way?
The novel is divided into three sections. Each section skillfully sets up the next and smoothly transitions into it. Each section is divided into chapters, entitled by the woman who narrates the chapter. The first section focuses on past memories as well as current happenings. The second section dives deeper into the issues of the women, each leading to the point of no return. The third and final section brings the three women together. They face the past, present and future together and discover where home truly is.
Jennifer Weiner did a wonderful job with this novel. Fly away home quickly moved its way up the list of my favorite novels by Weiner. She encompasses so many relationships and focuses on them throughout the book. It is skillfully written and will make you laugh as well as feel the emotions of each character. You will find yourself relating to each character in your own way and rooting for them to find comfort and happiness. Fly Away Home is a heartbreaking, insightful novel, full of humor and interpersonal relationships. It will easily become a novel you will not want to put down, a novel that will carry you through many emotions, a novel you simply wont want to end.
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26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Really didn't like it..., August 5, 2010
I hate to do this (give this book such a low rating) but I truly found it close to dreadful. I have read other Jennifer Weiner books and liked them all, but I found 'Fly Away Home' to be quite slow and boring. As others stated in their reviews, I too kept waiting for something to happen, for there to be something funny, or for me to actually care about the characters - none of which ever happened (for me). I found it hard to beleive that Sylvie didn't talk to her husband for months and then suddenly started talking to him every day, that Diana would actually marry a man who by every discription in the book was totally wrong for her, and that Lizzie did a full 180 with no slip-ups. I found myself wishing that there was some happiness and at least one reason to root for the main characters.
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49 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Too Much Anticipation?, July 14, 2010
This review is from: Fly Away Home (Kindle Edition)
Maybe I was expecting too much? I have enjoyed Jennifer Weiner's works in the past. I really wanted to like this book, but I just finished and found myself saying... "blah."
Nothing happens. And at the same time, everything seems sadly predictable. Reading this is like eating cotton candy -- pretty promises but empty.
Maybe the point is that these scandals are commonplace now and the story is "no story." Because really, now that I'm done, I feel so let down and like I wasted time.
Sylvie continues to go through the motions the entire book. No wonder her husband sought somebody else. She's on autopilot and things don't seem to change. First she takes a swing at her philandering spouse. Then she says she'll be on t.v. She didn't even have a conversation (argument, conflict, upset) about the whole "stand by your man" bit -- in fact her man didn't even ask her to stand by him. Next she's hiding (in Connecticut?? ) and grocery shopping as therapy? She learns to cook overnight, a sensation on her first try. And that's the extent of her growth?
Some of this is rehashed headlines with bits and pieces of Grey's Anatomy, The Good Wife, and an after school special on what not to do when your kid is addicted (I can't believe her father asked her to make him a drink). Every daughter plot point was telegraphed in advance. I knew exactly what was going to happen (and it did). But I won't say what -- no spoilers (well, not much) on my watch.
So, yeah. This could be a beach read. Just don't get your hopes up. I'm still searching for the book of the summer.
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