Review: Go Ask Fannie by Elisabeth Hyde

Go Ask Fannie

by Elisabeth Hyde

Publisher: GP Putnam's Sons

Pages: 304

Format: book

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Everyone has baggage. The Blaire siblings are just taking theirs home for the long weekend.

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.

Kritters Thoughts:  I love a family drama with secrets and relationship woes and more and this book delivers from page one with all of the things you would want when there is a family that must confront things that have been hidden.

Three siblings head to their father's home and with three adult children there are current problems, but there are also things from the past that will come out.  

I absolutely adored this story.  I loved the three siblings and how they all reacted differently to the tragedy of their childhood.  It really showcased birth order and how one thing can affect people in so many different ways.  I love reading about those things in novels - makes me reflect about my family and the things that have made us who we are.  

After reading this book, I was surprised to find out she has quite the backlist.  Where should I go from this one?


Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Penguin Random House.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.