BOOKISH FRIDAY: “ALL WE EVER WANTED”

Welcome to another Bookish Friday, in which I share excerpts from books…and connect with other bloggers, who do the same.

Let’s begin the celebration by sharing Book Beginnings, hosted by Rose City Reader; and let’s showcase The Friday 56 with Freda’s Voice.

To join in, just grab a book and share the opening lines…along with any thoughts you wish to give us; then turn to page 56 and excerpt anything on the page.

Then give us the title of the book, so others can add it to their lists!

What a great way to spend a Friday!

Today’s feature is a recent acquisition:  All We Ever Wanted, by Emily Giffin, in which three very different people must choose between their families and their most deeply held values. . . .

 

 

 

Book Beginning:  (Nina)

It started out as a typical Saturday night.  And by typical, I don’t mean normal in any mainstream American way.  There was no grilling out with the neighbors or going to the movies or doing any of the things I did as a kid.  It was simply typical for what we’d become since Kirk sold his software company, and we went from comfortable to wealthy.  Very wealthy.

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Friday 56:  I heard more clicking as he mumbled, “What happened Saturday night has nothing to do with being spoiled.  It was just stupid….” His voice trailed off, and I could tell he was only half focused on our conversation.

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Synopsis:  Nina Browning is living the good life after marrying into Nashville’s elite. More recently, her husband made a fortune selling his tech business, and their adored son has been accepted to Princeton.

Yet sometimes the middle-class small-town girl in Nina wonders if she’s strayed from the person she once was.

Tom Volpe is a single dad working multiple jobs while struggling to raise his headstrong daughter, Lyla. His road has been lonely, long, and hard, but he finally starts to relax after Lyla earns a scholarship to Windsor Academy, Nashville’s most prestigious private school.

Amid so much wealth and privilege, Lyla doesn’t always fit in—and her overprotective father doesn’t help—but in most ways, she’s a typical teenaged girl, happy and thriving.

Then, one photograph, snapped in a drunken moment at a party, changes everything. As the image spreads like wildfire, the Windsor community is instantly polarized, buzzing with controversy and assigning blame.

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What do you think?  Would you keep reading?

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