Go Ask Fannie - Softcover

Hyde, Elisabeth

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0735218617 ISBN 13: 9780735218611

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2019

Synopsis

Winner of the Colorado Book Award for Fiction

"All the feels of a This Is Us episode." --Booklist

When Murray Blaire invites his three grown children to his New Hampshire farm for a few days, he makes it clear he expects them to keep things pleasant. The rest of his agenda--using Ruth and George to convince their younger sister, Lizzie, to break up with her much older boyfriend--that he chooses to keep private. But Ruth and George arrive bickering, with old scores to settle. And, in a classic Blaire move, Lizzie derails everything when she turns up late, cradling a damaged family cookbook, and talking about possible criminal charges against her.

This is not the first time the Blaire family has been thrown into chaos. In fact, that cookbook, an old edition of Fannie Farmer, is the last remaining artifact from a time when they were a family of six, not four, with a father running for Congress and a mother building a private life of her own. The now-obscured notes written in its pages provide tantalizing clues to their mother's ambitions and the mysterious choices she once made, choices her children have always sought without success to understand. Until this weekend.

As the Blaire siblings piece together their mother's story, they come to realize not just what they've lost, but how they can find their way back to each other. In this way, celebrated author Elisabeth Hyde reminds readers that family survival isn't about simply setting aside old rivalries, but preserving the love that's written between the lines.

About this title

Review

Praise for Go Ask Fannie

"Writing in a style both affecting and realistic, Hyde gives readers a family that could mirror their own, including the characters, the conversations, and the treasured family keepsake. With all the feels of a This Is Us episode, Hyde's latest novel will delight readers."--Booklist

"Hyde's insightful and engaging novel is highly recommended, especially for readers who enjoy family sagas by Sue Miller and Anne Tyler."--BookPage

"It's a must-read for anyone who loves a good family drama--especially those with siblings."--HelloGiggles

"Hyde, whose best-known novel is The Abortionist's Daughter, is here an accomplished, assured and painstaking archaeologist of a multilayered family history, of its secrets, vulnerabilities and regrets. A richly rewarding read."--Sunday Times (UK)

"In this heartfelt story, family conflict and love intertwine."--The Tennessean

"Hyde always produces character-driven books that ooze authenticity."--5280

"The writing is superb and compelling... Excellent plotting and a story which just seems to happen without effort."--BookBag UK

"A book full of huge-hearted mistake makers that you'll want to call your own--Go Ask Fannie is a rousing reminder that the only way to truly forgive another person is to first forgive yourself."--Courtney Maum, author of Touch and I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You

"Wonderful characters, a gorgeous sense of time and place, and elegant storytelling make Go Ask Fannie an utter delight. The members of this loving, raging, totally compelling family may not like one another all the time, but I adored them all from the first page. Elisabeth Hyde has written a funny, joyous novel, heartbreaking and heartwarming all at once and in the very best ways."--Laurie Frankel, author of This is How It Always Is

"What does it mean to be a family? What are the secrets we hide? In this poignant, often funny, yet serious novel, Elisabeth Hyde mines the mysteries and paradoxes of our most intimate connections. How we hurt, disappoint, and lie to one another, and how despite it all we are inextricably joined. In the end Elisabeth Hyde has served us up a recipe for love, one that the reader will feast on for a long time."--Mary Morris, author of The Jazz Palace

More Praise for Elisabeth Hyde

"Elisabeth Hyde is a remarkably lucid and authoritative novelist."--John Irving

"[Hyde's] prose is vigorous and natural, her perception subtle, her voice and those of her characters all-American."--New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice)

"Like Anne Tyler, Hyde captures the quirky, heartbreaking core of a character and puts it on the page with shining prose...in a novel full of originality and sparkle."--Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Elisabeth Hyde is the author of five critically acclaimed novels, most recently In The Heart of The Canyon, a New York Times Editor's Choice and a People Magazine Great Read. Her fourth novel, The Abortionist's Daughter, became a bestseller in Great Britain after being selected as a Summer Read by The Richard and Judy Show. Trained as a lawyer, she worked for the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., before she started writing full-time. She lives in Boulder with her husband.

About this edition

• Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 0735218617
• ISBN 13: 9780735218611
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304