It All Comes Down to This
By Therese Anne Fowler
St. Martin’s Press, 9781250278074, June 2022, 352pp.
The Short of It:
My expectations for this one were high but it fell short for me.
The Rest of It:
Meet the Geller sisters: Beck, Claire, and Sophie, a trio of strong-minded women whose pragmatic, widowed mother, Marti, will be dying soon and taking her secrets with her. Marti has ensured that her modest estate is easy for her family to deal with once she’s gone––including a provision that the family’s summer cottage on Mount Desert Island, Maine, must be sold, the proceeds split equally between the three girls.
You’ve probably read a story like this one before. A family home, filled with memories suddenly goes up for sale and there is the last “hurrah” of all the family members getting together to say goodbye to it. I was eagerly looking forward to this one because I loved Fowler’s A Good Neighborhood. But this one left a lot to be desired.
For one, I didn’t care for any of the characters. I found it hard to relate to any of them. As sisters, they didn’t seem to be all that close and honestly, there was little to be sentimental about in regards to the house. However, I liked it enough to give it a chance and although the three sisters didn’t work for me, some of their individual stories were interesting enough to keep me reading. I expected it to be quite compelling given my love for her previous book but it just landed too softly for me. Plus, I finished the book and then a week later couldn’t remember if I had read the ending so read it again. It left my brain that quickly.
Have you read it? What did you think?
Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.
Book Chatter 
I’m glad it wasn’t just me! Yes, to make such a big deal about selling the house , I wanted to see emotional attachment, past memories etc. i loved A Good Neighborhood as well so this left me sad that I just didn’t care about characters.
Every few pages it seemed like it was becoming more compelling but then the thread would be lost. I really don’t know what the end result was supposed to be. The sisters didn’t jive with one another and the mom’s story wasn’t all that compelling either. I liked the kid and the ex con. It could have been all about them and I would have liked it a lot more.
I haven’t read this one yet. But I really liked her book a few years ago called Reunion.
I think I read about this book here or maybe on another blog. Anyway, I saw it at the library the other day and picked it up to see again what it was about. I then set it down because it just didn’t grab me at that moment. I suspect I’ll not be reading it, but you never know. Not right now anyway.
Parts of it appealed to me enough to keep reading it but it wasn’t at all what I expected.
I agree with you Ti. I didn’t much care for the sisters, but wanted to see where the story went. At least Fowler tied every thing up nicely at the end.
She did tie it up but I could not for the life of me remember that ending. Had to read it again.
Bummer that this one wasn’t so good for you. Just yesterday I was talking to a friend who is selling her childhood home with her sister and it sounds like it’s so stressful. I think everyone’s emotions run so high surrounding finances, memories, etc.
Sorry you didn’t like the book more!