I'm not generally a fan of "women's lit," but I AM a sucker for Christmas, so I requested this book from NetGalley and was generously granted an ARC. And how glad I am that I read it! This novel tells the tale of tightly wound Minnesotan matriarch Violet Baumgartner, whose perfectly controlled and measured life spins slightly out of control in the night of her husband's retirement party--when she discovers that her (coupled) lesbian daughter is pregnant. Following the shock--and a concussion--Violet goes about micromanaging her daughter's life, as per her routine. This novel, which is witty, charming and compassionate, is told through various voices: Violet, her daughter, and the husband of her equally tightly wound best friend/worshipper. A fun, unchallenging read wherein all characters are either redeemed or not worthy of redemption , Anthony's novel is charming and immensely enjoyable. 3.25 stars.

REVIEW
This is a fantastically funny and charming debut novel from Gretchen Anthony. Readers could easily imagine this being adapted for film. It's set against the backdrop of the holidays and introduces readers to a rich cast of characters. It's a family you'll both love and understand. The Baumgartners aren't perfect, but that's what makes them fun.

PRAISE
“[A] stunning debut... An intricately satisfying story about love and understanding that is full of both nostalgia and surprising optimism.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Brimming with charm and humor and is the perfect Fall read.” —PopSugar

AUTHOR
GRETCHEN ANTHONY is a Minnesota-based writer and humorist whose work has been featured on ScaryMommy.com, Medium.com, and TheWriteLife.com. She’s also spent decades as a ghostwriter and has written for some of the best personal brands in the United States, from CEOs to doctors and start-up superstars to BBQ pros. Evergreen Tidings from the Baumgartners is her first novel.

A must read for mother’s of daughters over twenty! I absolutely loved this book because it was very relatable.
Violet Baumgartner wants to be the perfect wife and mother. And that of course requires the perfect husband and daughter. If she could only get them to cooperate! Violets adventures during this novel are both hilarious and heart breaking. Her daughter attempting to grow up while remaining the dutiful daughter was touching. And her husband making his way into retirement was so truthful. I honestly could not put this book down and cannot wait to read it again

Violet Baumgartner, a controlling mother who dominates the lives of friends and family members alike, has to come to terms with her lesbian daughter's decision to raise a baby with her partner. Intermingled with the unfolding story are snippets of backstory told from Violet's perspective through the Baumgartners' annual Christmas letter. The characters in this book were very hard to like although a few exhibited some redeeming qualities toward the end.

This is described by another reviewer as Wes Anderson-style, and that description is spot-on. If you're a fan of quirky characters, read this - but I found them unlikeable and had a hard time finishing this since I just didn't care what happened to them.

I was all set to not like this book. I thought it would be a quick read full of silly, but thought it was just what I needed after reading a serious book. Oh, readers, this is full of surprises. Pleasant surprises. Good surprises. And I surprise myself by already passing on the recommendation to friends to read this one.
Violet Baumgartner has written a Christmas Letter every year for thirty years, ever since she married Dear Ed and thought it was her duty as a new wife. This immediately made me think of the Christmas Letters we’ve received over the years. Letters filled with smiles and pats on the back for all good things that happened during the year. Christmas Letters are the public face of a family, full of twinkly smiles. But for every public face there is a private face and the truth.
Violet is determined to make her family, Dear Ed and daughter Cerise, shine to the outside world. There is nothing she can’t handle, nothing she won’t do, no committee she won’t chair to make her world and the people in it shine.
When we meet Violet she is touting the party of all parties for Dear Ed’s retirement from, God love him, research to make colonoscopies more comfortable for us. At the party Violet receives the news that is definitely going to tarnish the shine and can’t be denied. No smiley public face is going to fix this one. Nothing to do for it but own it. And in owning it Violet needs to discover if she is capable of letting go of some of her control. Now, if you know a control freak, you know this is no easy thing.
Violet’s world is inhabited with sometimes funny but very real people who very much really have to learn to navigate around, through or over her. I found myself laughing at Violet’s view of the world and being grateful I wasn’t in her galaxy.
I absolutely loved this story. I loved that it changed my mind about my preconceived idea that I would give it little of myself. I ended up really loving being a part of Violet’s world. But I still don’t like Christmas Letters.

Recommend this around the holidays -- and actually all year round. Violet is a complicated character, but anyone who has ever had children and felt the need to control an entire family will relate! The Christmas letters add great structure and interest to this novel. Good characters, great plot, and an all-around good read.

In a system where I could award partial stars, this would be a 2.5. Good enough to get me through ⅔ of my recent time on an airplane, but not so great that the inflight movie didn’t occasionally distract me, even without audio. The story had a lot of potential - for Gilmore Girls fans, Violet Baumgartner on a good day is Emily Gilmore at her most unreasonable and extreme. For those who are not Gilmore enthusiasts, Violet lives in a carefully constructed world where appearances are (almost) everything, and the accomplishments of her family are everything that’s left. So when husband’s retirement party includes an unexpected revelation about her daughter, Violet’s world starts to collapse.

As I said above, the story had a bunch of potential. Old Christmas letters (the titular Evergreen Tidings from the Baumgartners) ranging from Violet and Ed’s first year of marriage through the current year are scattered throughout the story. The stories at the heart of the novel are solid - Ed and Violet’s relationship when she has a health issue (she doesn’t take well to resting) and he’s newly retired, Cerise and Barb’s adjustment to parenthood, Violet’s adjustment to aging all have moments that ring true. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of clutter in the novel that gets in the way. In particular, the Richard storyline (a recently downsized-out-of-a-job ad exec who’s wife is very good friends with Violet) seemed extraneous and out of place. It just kept getting in the way of what I wanted to hear about.

What killed the book for me was that I either didn’t care or downright hated the characters. Violet at her worst (and somehow her Christmas letters and her daughter’s pregnancy bring out the worst in her) is overbearing, self-satisfied, pompous, and just plain awful. Her best? We don’t see much of that. Richard is bitter and unpleasant, as well as extraneous. Cerise is almost tolerable, but her kowtowing to her mother annoyed me almost as much as it annoyed Barb. Barb and Ed were both likeable characters, but they didn’t have a lot of development in my opinion.

Final verdict: Probably great for some people (as evidenced by other reviews I’ve seen), but not for me. A modern take on the comedy of manners with a slightly larger than necessary cast squeezed into the confines of the novel’s length.

This story of controlling mother Violet as she deals with unexpected news about her daughter Cerise will have you laughing, shaking your head, and thanking your lucky stars that your mother is not like Violet. Just reading the annual Christmas greeting from Violet Baumgartner, the type of Christmas letter that gives Christmas letter's their bad reputation - filled with over the top sharing of the wonderfulness of the family Baumgartner's year, provides . background on Violet and her family. and the letters are interspersed with the story. But what makes it a wonderful holiday read is that at its heart it is a story of love and family.

Everyone knows that holiday letters can be works of fiction. The great things about this novel is the we as readers get to see the truth behind Violets year holiday letter. I loved the little surprise turn at the end.that shows Violet's true depths.

Vivian, while not terribly likable, is the star of the show - at least in her mind. If she could, she would run her adult daughter's life, her husband's life and the neighbors lives. She leaves shattered lives in her wake. all the while thinking she knows and does what is best for all concerned. There are many subplots which can detract from the enjoyment of the book, but persevere, it's all very much worthwhile in the end!

Thank you to the publisher, the author, and NetGalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for my candid opinion.

This book is for anyone who thinks that they have a dysfunctional family.....which, by the way, is all of us.
It is a quirky, funny, poignant book about an obsessively controlling mother who is faced with teh fact that she cannot control everything for those she loves.....at all. Life will be life, and she tries to love them all, according to her definitions, and gives them a wonderful life, in spite of herself.

It is about family, and love, and growing up and growing old and about choices that our children make that might not be exactly the choices that we would have them make.

And it is about appreciating your own quirky family---because there are many worse ones out there.

It is an engaging, funny, lovable book that all will enjoy.

Every family has one of ‘those’ relatives…that aunt that is the center of all things or the uncle that dominates all conversations. And wouldn’t it be wonderful if they ever learned the lesson that the universe doesn’t actually revolve only around them? Well, this comedic sitcom like novel gives a delightful glance at just that.

Violet Baumgartner is a beloved member in her community and Queen of the Baumgartner Realm, Overseer of the Kingdom of her own Creation! She has her hands in charities, fundraisers and events with her church. She has raised her daughter Cerise, who is now an adult, and been proudly by her husband Ed’s side through his career. Violet does not only talk the talk, she embraces everything with enthusiasm and perfection. Her image in the eyes of others is very important to her and always has been so. For thirty years she has written Christmas letters, ‘The Evergreen Tidings from the Baumgartners’ and never sent them out but filed them in boxes chronologically like a diary. In these letters she could truly express her love for family or share her thoughts when times were hard, but no one ever got to read them or knew about them.

Ed Baumgartner is going to retire, and Violet is planning the biggest party event yet. Invited are their friends and family and everything is glitz and glamor. Until…one of the guests holds a speech of well wishes and reveals unknowingly a secret that shocks Violet so much, that she falls on her head and gets a concussion. (The whole scene was rather comical actually and only the beginning of things to come).

Cerise, Violets daughter, is making a nice life with her partner Barbara with a steady career and a place to call home. She is used to her mother’s little drama and exaggerations, unlike Barb, who comes from ‘good stock’ but has no relations really with her parents. The two of them have wonderful news to share with the family, which creates a whole new commotion at the Baumgartners.

Eldris, her husband Richard and their son Kyle, have been the Baumgartners closest friends since the kids were little. But lately, some funny things are going on…..Richard comes and goes at odd hours and Violet nudges Ed to keep an eye on his friend and what he might be up to. In the meantime, the Feds show up and take Kyle into questioning about some missing boxes and materials from his company…. All the while Richard is exchanging wads of cash in dark alleys and treating Eldris fancier than ever. So what is happening to these people going into retirement? What is up with Kyle? Will Violet be able to concede to the changes happening around her that she cannot change?
Read it to find out!

***

This is a witty satire and fast read. The shenanigans in this novel are ridiculously funny and I almost guessed it to be British. But no, this is all happening in Minnesota, US! Who would have thought?

If you enjoy a lighthearted entertaining book with just a smidge of mystery in it that culminates to an ending of self-reflection and love, then YES, give this book a try. It is a mingled, discombobulated family drama wrapped in a cushions of love and Christmas letters!


I received a digital copy of ‘Evergreen Tidings from the Baumgartners’ from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review. All opinions are my own. Thank you!
More of my reviews here: https://scarlettreadzandrunz.com/

This is a MUST READ! This book kept me in the grip of its hilarity, while also warming my heart! I would not be surprised to see this film translated onto the small or big screen. Unforgettable characters build a hilariously functional dysfunctional family. PLEASE READ THIS BOOK.

This was not the easiest book to get into. Not a huge fan of the characters.. It became more of an enjoyable read as the story progressed and I found humor in some of the situations. Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the opportunity to preview this book.

<Evergreen Tidings from the Baumgartners</i> by Gretchen Anthony is a funny, family drama about Violet, Ed, and their adult daughter Cerise (Baumgartner, obviously). Told in alternating chapters by Violet, Cerise, their neighbor and close friend, interspersed are the tomes Violet writes each year as a Christmas greeting, as well as news reports of Cerise's spelling bee wins and Ed's career successes. The story opens in the build up to Ed's retirement party, an event which control-freak Violet has orchestrated very carefully for months. The toast of a minor celebrity shocks her into a faint, which leads to a concussion sidelining her to sit at home for months. Events in all the participants lives somewhat spin out of control as she tries to find answers and manage events.

At times laugh out loud funny, I would suggest this read to fans of books like <i> Where'd you go Bernedette?</i>, <i>Young Jane Young</i> and similar tales with quirky characters and family dramedy.

With thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley.com for the advanced readers copy of the e-book.

Violet is a control freak, particularly when it comes to her daughter, Cerise. Cerise and her partner, Barb, are having a baby, causing Violet to obsess over who and how. Add in Ed, Violet’s husband, a scientist studying digestive issues, and the comedy is laugh out loud funny. Although it was a bit slow to start and weave in all of the other characters, I liked it.

The premise and indeed even the first quarter or so of the book had me drawing parallels with a Fannie Flagg novel, with larger than life personalities living their lives in their small towns. I loved that chapters were interspersed with Christmas card letters from the past, ranging from ironically funny to tragic. Through newspaper clippings, the book's second weakest b-plot unfolds. The weakest b-plot is the "forced retirement" of one of the Baumgartner neighbors and friends, a former advertising executive who comes across as an angry, miserable human being. This all lead me to being pretty strongly in the 2-star camp with this. The book shines when it focuses on the relationships of the Baumgartners, matriarch Violet and her daughter Cerise. Husband Ed on the other hand is in desperate need of some life breathed into him, as his role exists in only the passive sense through nearly the entire book. The small town mysteries posed at various points of the book are just glaringly obvious, to the point of painful that these characters can't seem to figure it out.
The only surprise of the book is a reveal at the end, which brought about one of the most poignant and "real" moments in the action. There are some great over the top comedic situations that could have benefited from having more interesting fleshed out characters reacting to or setting them up.
I loved the Violet character, even though she's written to be nearly unlikable; the book succeeds when she's either allowed to manipulate others or she's being put through the wringer of public displays of familial dysfunction. Unfortunately, she has to share the story; everything else in this book is a pretty big a bore--plots and characters included. Decent debut from this author and will probably be a fun (and easy) read during the holidays.

Violet Baumgartner works hard to create a perfect world for her family. She keeps the home, volunteers at the church, and "helps" her daughter make life decisions. The family saga beings as she plans the retirement party for her husband after his career as an elite scientist. We find out about family secrets, dreams and desires through the annual Evergreen Tidings letter, newspaper articles, church programs. Initial perceptions of the characters are peeled away as we learn about vulnerabilities and the power of love.

Evergreen Tidings from the Baumgartners by Gretchen Anthony. It took awhile to get into the book and the characters. As the book progressed, the humor in the situations the families found themselves in shone through and made for an really enjoyable read. The scene at the baby's baptism still has me chuckling. At the end everyone felt like family, dysfunctional, irrational, maddening as some were (Yes, that would be Violet), they all had love and heart for one another.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.