A multigenerational story, told from three family members in three different generations growing up in the same midwestern town at different times. This was one of those generational family tales full of heartbreak, struggles, joys and successes.

This is a new author for me. This is the story of three women—Laura, Evelyn, and Grace. Three generations of women in a family who face trials within their marriages and try to overcome them while finding a sense of identity for themselves. Honestly, I read this book a month ago and had to go back and refresh myself to remember what this is about. It just doesn’t stick with you. The first chapter, which is nameless stuck with me the most, from Evelyn’s POV, but it kind of went down hill from there. You don’t feel like any of these characters truly fought for their place in their lives. They took a lot of what was handed to them. I know during some historical periods, it was hard to fight back. But, I had hoped for a little gumption. Hopefully, the authors next book will work better. This one didn’t work for me.

What attracted me most to this book was the opportunity to see the perspective of three different generations.
The book was a slower read for me because I had trouble following the plot but overall once you're through with the book and everything sinks in, you will appreciate the stories and lessons shared within this book. Jean Thompson's writing is flawless and with reading the praise she receives in all her other books, I can't wait to read her next one.

I picked this up because I enjoy character driven books and thought the premise of a book focused around three generations of family would be interesting. This book definitely delivered in my opinion. I found it to be an interesting study of complex women and the discontent men in their lives. I found myself frustrated with the characters at different points throughout the novel but that to me meant they were well written and realistic. This was a fast read for me even with the "heavier" content. This is not a happy book but it does pull you in and keep you engaged. My only disappointment with this was the last portion of the book which I felt didn't match the rest of the book or the ending I was looking for.
I would definitely recommend picking this up and think it would be a good book club read because there is a lot to unpack here.

Headline
Though not perfect, A Cloud in the Shape of a Girl is an astute observation of different generations of women’s roles in marriage and motherhood and reminded me of a bleaker Anna Quindlen.

Plot Summary
The story of Evelyn, Laura, and Grace Wise, three generations of women living in a small, Midwestern town and trying to find their place in life.

Why I Read It
A Cloud in the Shape of a Girl was blurbed by Tayari Jones (author of An American Marriage) and the premise of three generations of women appealed to me. However, it originally came to me unsolicited from the publisher and I hadn’t heard much about it, so it was a bit of a risk!

Major Themes
Marriage, motherhood, women’s roles, parenting, addiction, generational differences, small town life

What I Liked
- I’ve been gravitating towards books about marriage, motherhood, and women’s roles lately (as evidenced by my recent post: The “Women Who Get Women” Authors Club) and that’s the crux of what this book is about.
- Thompson beautifully unpacks the small, everyday trials of marriage and parenting: coddling your kids, bonding with your kids, different parenting styles within a marriage, different generational views on the roles of women, addiction, and mild alcoholism. So, don’t expect fireworks from a plot perspective…just astute commentary about life, especially for women.
- Thompson reminded me of a somewhat bleaker Anna Quindlen (if you like happy books, this one is not for you!) and A Cloud in the Shape of a Girl reminded me of a less explosive The Wife by Meg Wolitzer (my review).
- I love the focus on women of three different generations and think Thompson painted an accurate picture of the different generational outlooks on the role of women in the home. Grandmother Evelyn is actually very modern for her time and was career focused before reluctantly giving up it up when she became a mother. Mother Laura is a stay-at-home mom who coddles her husband and son. Laura’s husband, Gabe, is infuriated by Laura’s coddling of their son, but fully expects the coddling to apply to himself. Grace is Laura’s daughter who constantly barbs her mother for martyring herself in service to her husband and son and desperately wants to get out of her small town, but can’t seem to find the energy to make it happen.
- These characters are all flawed and every one will annoy you in some way. But, they’re realistic and represent types of people I see often in daily life…the housewife who martyrs herself to serve her husband and kids, the husband who expects the service of his wife, the millennial who is used to his parents to doing everything for him, and the woman who “gave it all up” to care for her family and now feels stifled.
- This would be an excellent book club selection!

What I Didn’t Like
- I absolutely hate the title and the cover. I still don’t get the point of the title. It references a tiny, inconsequential scene in the book that I don’t think carries any overarching message. And, the cover gives off a buttoned-up, historical fiction vibe, when this book is not that at all.
- The first chapter could have been cut entirely. It’s about a woman in the process of dying and it doesn’t use any names. Who is this chapter about? One of the characters we meet later in the book? Someone else? A metaphor? I couldn’t focus on what was happening because I kept trying to figure out who these people were. And, I still don’t know the answer!
- There’s a bit of an annoying obsession with flowers that I didn’t really see a purpose for.

Good for People Who Like…
Quiet books, astute life observations, dysfunctional families, small town stories, stories about marriage and motherhood

A Cloud in the Shape of a Girl by Jean Thompson is not about a plot but is a contemplation of women, the choices they make, and the reverberations of those choices through the generations. The choices most influential in their lives have to do with the men in their lives. I spend part of the time feeling sad for them and part of the time wanting to jolt them into action and make a different choice.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2019/09/a-cloud-in-shape-of-girl.html

Reviewed for NetGalley.

There's a certain poignancy about holding oneself back and whether to restrict one's own happiness. I like the setting of the small Midwestern town and it is very conducive to the generational nature of the three women's stories.

Thank you to netgalley.com and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

I have to start by saying I was intrigued by the concept of the book, however it fell a little flat for me. It felt as if so many bad things had happened to one person that it was a bit much. I never really connected with any of the characters in a meaningful way.

That being said, it was readable and a quick read.

New author for me but pleasantly surprised. Thank you for the approval and look forward to a book relationship with other reads in the future,

A Cloud in the Shape of a Girl tells the story of three women, mothers and daughters across generations and decades - Evelyn, Laura and Grace. Beautifully written and with a core message - can a woman escapes the destiny of her mother or is she bound to make the same mistakes?

Before I begin, let me just say that this is not a "light" book. It is not a "heavy" book, either. The issues that it explores do not weight down on you as a reader, but as a female reader they might cause you some frustration.

I don't know if it was meant to be written this way or it just kind of happened, but none of these women took responsibility for their actions - they blamed everyone else for their life choices. Perhaps it's one of the patterns that's being explored, perhaps not. But I kind of wished they had more sense of responsibility and inner power. I'd like to read books where the characters show some sort of growing throughout their journey or somehow use the lessons they learn rather than just sweep them under the carpet.

I guess you'll have to find out for yourself - and I urge you to do so. Because within it lays an important message that all women need to learn - we are our own responsibility and there's no point in enabling others and taking on the role of self-pity. We are the ones who have the power to change our lives and it's time we do it.

I think it is a good book, it is a solid novel, well-written, but perhaps a bit uneven in its structure. There was more time spent on Grace and very little portion of the book was dedicated on the exploration of Evelyn's life. But that's not a flaw - it fits the book well. It makes the ups and downs more unexpected.

I have kindly received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and Simon & Schuster in exchange of a fair review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I thought I would like this book about three generations of women living in a Midwestern town, but instead I found it predictable, uninspired and utterly forgettable.

The story of three generations of women, grandmother Evelyn, her daughter Laura , and her granddaughter Grace, with the focus largely on Grace's view of things. Evelyn taught at the local college and despite the fact that she and her lawyer husband were comfortable financially, had two healthy children, a large circle of friends and a great deal of community involvement, is a very unhappy woman. She dies early in the book and the focus shifts to Laura, who is not so happily married, with two adult children who don't seem to have much in the way of goals for success in adulthood. Her husband Gabe has a drinking problem, her son Michael, is a musician with a drug problem and a volatile relationship with his father. Laura plays peacemaker on a regular basis. Grace has finished her college degree but is unsure of what she really wants to do, so she works at the local health food store and watches from the sidelines as her mother unsuccessfully tries to keep the battles between Gabe and Michael from getting out of hand.

This was a very well written, addicting read. It was not the most uplifting story but it felt very real and believable. Highly recommended.

A CLOUD IN THE SHAPE OF A GIRL by Jean Thompson is a recently published novel set in the Midwest that deals with three generations of women and their regrets. As such, it is a less happy novel, with Evelyn, Laura and Grace often hiding secrets as they cope with life experiences and obligations. Grace is the youngest, a college student striving for independence. Her mother, Laura deals with addiction – due to a hard-drinking husband and drug-infused musician son. Evelyn is dying, discontent and bitter over unrealized career aspirations. Together they offer a complex rendition of what Library Journal calls "thwarted dreams and dashed hopes." A National Book Award finalist for The Year We Left Home, Thompson's writing is masterful: "A parent's death was a milestone. It put you in a strange territory of fear, dread, ache, bewilderment. It made you greedy to get back to your own life, and then you felt guilty because of your selfishness."

Three women in three different generations attend a small college in the midwest. Readers will be able to engage and relate to all of them in some way. A beautifully written family saga.

I read past 10% but gave up. This is a DNF. I tried but couldn't get into the story and didn't connect with the characters. It's just not a good fit for me, but others have loved it so I am just the wrong reader for the book.

Thanks you for the opportunity to read this book. Since it was a DNF I will not be reviewing this title on social media. I wish the author much success.

Multi family generational stories are probably my favorite read. This book covers three women, Evelyn, Laura and Grace from World War II to the present. The three women are somewhat alike but trying to be very different than the previous generation. The story focus is Grace, my favorite. There is a section for each lady but Grace does interact with the others throughout the story. The location pretty much stays the same for the entire reading, midwestern normal. All three of the women experience life through joy, hope and sadness. It seemed that none of the three could claim happiness but Grace was giving it a try. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I love reading books that focus on different generations of women and each of their struggles and triumphs. This book was well written and the characters were well developed and easy to invest in. Highly recommend!

A Cloud in the Shape of a Girl delves deeply into the lives of three generations of the Wise family. Evelyn is the matriarch of the family and although her life is close to an end, we do get a deeper understanding of her life and that of her daughter Laura and granddaughter Grace. This is not a happy tale and it does discuss issues that are relevant in many families such as marriage issues, cheating, substance abuse, and the life choices one makes.

I do admit that I had a hard time really getting into the story for the first forty pages and I did put the book down a couple of times, but once Evelyn’s story picks up I found myself thoroughly engrossed in her life and the choices that she made. I often think back to stories my own grandmother tells me about what it was like growing up especially during wartime and how life was like in her family growing up and I couldn't help but relate this to Evelyn. I think a lot of times people tend to forget it was a different time back then especially with societal views on women working, marriage and babies. Evelyn has a late start in life getting married and having her first child and I can see the struggles she went through with motherhood and having an older husband.

Laura wants to be better than her mother and often finds herself the peacemaker in her own family. She worries constantly about her children and wants better for them than how her own life turned out. She is mostly content in her marriage although it is not always a happy one. Laura does not do well with conflict and tends to not speak up at times because she does not want to make waves within her family. But in reality, she is the peacemaker and the glue that holds her family together.

Grace has always felt like she never belonged in her family. She thinks of herself as an outsider looking in. She does not have much of a relationship with her father. Her brother has his music and drug of choice and her mother never seems to understand her. In truth, she is very much a rebel and still trying to find her place in this world. Grace wanted to be different. She didn’t want the life her mother had and in a way she never fit in the mold of the family dynamic.

I can see why Jean Thompson is a New York Times best selling author. Her writing is absolutely beautiful and lyrical. She has such a way of drawing you right in and engrossing you into the lives of the Wise women and the choices they have made in their lives. This is not a happy story. It is strife with heartbreak and sorrow, but at the same time it is also real. Thompson shows that through all of the heartache that there can also be a light at the end of the tunnel.

One thing I would like to mention is the title of this story and while I was reading, I wasn’t sure what the symbolism would mean and once it is revealed, I can clearly see why this story was named A Cloud in the Shape of a Girl. It was so poetic and so fitting.

A Cloud in the Shape of a Girl is a poignant and moving story that will evoke every emotion out of you. Jean Thompson has an extraordinary gift of writing and I can see why she is well loved by her readers. This is a book I can highly recommend.

This was a interesting story told in three voices - three generations of women in the same family. It was an exploration of what society expects of women and what women expect of themselves. Grandmother Evelyn was the most ambitious of the three, yet was constrained by expectations of her marriage and by society in her time. Mother Laura had no real ambition beyond being a wife and mother, and as a depiction of my generation I could relate to the prevailing ideas of the time. Laura tries very hard to be the perfect wife and mother, but her overly demanding husband is rarely satisfied with either her or their children, especially their floundering son. Her husband feels no need for other friends and so Laura has no real female friends to distract her from her constricted life. Grace, the daughter, doesn’t present a very compelling picture of a modern woman. She has moved out of the house but stays mired in a dead-end job and a succession of not very serious guys. She hates the atmosphere at her home and questions her mothers choices, but doesn’t seem able to make her own path. The central questions of a woman’s choices in life spiral through the story. When Laura becomes ill Grace is pulled back into the family life whether she wants it or not, but she can’t fix the dynamics any more the her mother could. I enjoyed the book, but I never was pulled deeply into a relationship with the characters. Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I usually enjoy books that portray several generations and I did enjoy this one for the most part. I couldn't relate to any of the women, however, and couldn't really like any of them. To me, Evelyn was the most unlikable. She seemed cold and unhappy. Laura was unhappy too and she catered to her husband and son too much. I wasn't expecting the sadness that would come her way. Grace is angry and confused , still trying to find her place in life. The three women are definitely the strong characters with the men coming off mostly as whiny and needy.

Reading about these mothers and daughters, it's obvious that we never really know everything about out own mothers and grandmothers. Still, it's hard for me to believe my mother had a past like these mothers and absolutely impossible for me to imagine my grandmother doing anything illicit. Then again, do any of us tell even people close to us everything about ourselves? I know I don't.

The story is sad and depressing but compelling too. Some shocking twists and one twist that I didn't expect but was glad to see.

Overall, an enjoyable read.