Jul 19 2010

Fly Away Home: A Novel

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  • ISBN13: 9780743294270
  • Condition: New
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Read our unbiased expert review of Fly Away Home: A Novel. We have reviewed 1000′s of as seen on TV products like this Flies Away ‘s specifications, review and listed the lowest price we found.

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

Fly Away Home: A Novel

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5 Responses to “Fly Away Home: A Novel”

  1. Tiffany Says:
    July 19th, 2010 at 5:04 am

    Review by Tiffany for Fly Away Home: A Novel
    Rating:
    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.

    Reviewed for [...]

  2. A. Mason Says:
    July 19th, 2010 at 5:57 am

    Review by A. Mason for Fly Away Home: A Novel
    Rating:
    I think this is definitely my favorite book that I’ve read so far by Jennifer Weiner. As much as there were sad things happening, it was uplifting at the same time.

    I really liked all of the characters. They completely seemed real to me. I kept thinking of Sylvie, the mom, and relating her to my mom. And how my mom is always there backing up my dad and how if my dad was unfaithful I could see the next series of events unfolding the same way they did in the book. I could also relate to a little bit of something in each of the sisters. They were both so different and started off so far apart emotionally but grew towards each other.

    I thought the plot seemed very realistic. And I loved the little pop culture/current events tidbits that were in the story. Some are so recent that I think its incredible that they’re in the book. And I think that some women might not like the ending with Sylvie, but I did. Without giving away what happens, I think I would have made the same choice that she did. A great summer read!

  3. Zee Says:
    July 19th, 2010 at 6:45 am

    Review by Zee for Fly Away Home: A Novel
    Rating:
    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.

  4. Book Bunny Says:
    July 19th, 2010 at 6:46 am

    Review by Book Bunny for Fly Away Home: A Novel
    Rating:
    I have read every one of Jennifer Weiner’s novels and short stories, and have loved almost all of them. But her latest novel is disappointingly ordinary. It could have been written by any mildly successful chick lit author. None of the characters make you feel much for them, and I found myself constantly wondering when anything interesting was going to happen. I read the book lying in bed with my Kindle, and at times actually caught myself getting distracted by the Law and Order re-runs my husband was watching. A tough one to love even for Weiner’s fans.

  5. Lauren's Crammed Bookshelf Says:
    July 19th, 2010 at 7:43 am

    Review by Lauren’s Crammed Bookshelf for Fly Away Home: A Novel
    Rating:
    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-

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