It All Comes Down to This

This author is fast becoming a favorite. She has wonderful character studies like Patchett and the ability to capture family drama evocatively. It is also set in Maine . Wonderful book !

This is an engaging family story about the bonds between sisters and their mother, and how they evolve in a variety of ways as children leave the nest and return. I look forward to recommending this to readers who enjoy books by Elin Hilderbrand, Emma Staub, and Lian Dolan.

A delicious and poetic family tale of a mother, Marti, who knows she is about to pass but doesn't want her three daughters Beck, Sophie and Claire, finding out until she is gone. When the news breaks, the story really starts and takes us on this pleasant family journey.

As a mother of three daughters myself, I have always been in awe observing my three ladies and questioning myself and nature's mysteries: how can one raise 3 children similarly and how can they turn out so different from one another. It was so fun to navigate through the lives of Marti's daughters --Claire being my favorite-- and seeing people from the outside is often, if not always, deceiving.

I recommend this book to anyone enjoying contemporary family dramas and strong endings as well as strong female characters.

Thank you St Martins Press and Net Galley for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely loved this novel that explores three sisters'(Beck, Claire, and Sophie) and their relationships with each other and their family as they deal with their mother's sudden death from cancer. Each of the sisters has issues--either with husbands, or money, or relationships in general. But when their beloved mother dies and her request is for them to sell the "cottage" on an island, they believe it is the right thing to do. But of course what we believe and what happens is very often not the same thing. So as they grapple individually with their consciences and the ones closest to them in their lives, they realize that fate sometimes has a way of delivering just what is really needed in life. I love the way Fowler writes and will continue to read whatever she writes!

More than deserving of my 5-star rating, this delightful confection of a book concerns itself with Fate. Whether you call it Kismet (from the Islamic) or Bashert (from the Yiddish), this book is about fate and how strangely and unexpectedly it can find you.

Marti, mother t0 three daughters, dies of lung cancer early in the book and leaves, with her will, a video that tells the three Geller sisters that her whole life was a lie. Rather than being from Kentucky and an orphan, Marti confesses that she was a child of a poor farm family in Mt. Desert Island, Maine. The cottage there is to be sold with the proceeds divided among the three sisters.

Beck, a journalist and the eldest, is married to Paul, an editor in a dull, unsatisfying long marriage. Claire, middle sister is a successful pediatric cardiac surgeon, newly divorced from Chad. In a tipsy confession, Claire had told Chad she had always loved her brother-in-law, Paul.

The youngest, prettiest sister, Sophie, is a gallerist and Instagram media influencer. She travels in posh circles, rubbing shoulders with celebrities like George and Amal Clooney, Liev Schreiber, and famous models, rock stars and celebrities. He life is a page six story, except that she is almost broke.

C.J., an ex-con who has just been released from prison for attempted murder of his rich but verbally abusive father, comes to. Mt. Desert Island to find a scenic place in which to paint. Arlo, whom he meets there, is an orphaned 8-year-old being cared for by his elderly grandmother.

How their lives combine, recombine and change is what makes this book so charming and engrossing. Unlike most Women's Fiction (a term I dislike) this novel is filled with humor, great characters and purely wonderful writing.

With winter rapidly approaching, this is the perfect book with which to curl up. while, covered with a cashmere throw and drinking hot chocolate. Every character and page comes to life in full color. The fun of reading it makes it worth every star.

Thanks to the publisher and author for an early copy to read in exchange for an honest review.

This is an excellent book about family relationships. It is powerfully written, heartbreaking at times, and very compelling. The story centers around three sisters who inherit the family cabin after their mother’s death and must decide what to do with it. Life is messy, relationships are messy, and families are messy, and Fowler does an excellent job of depicting all of this is one lovely book. I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

Really enjoyed this book! The story and characters really pulled me in. The three sisters were all very different and had their own problems and ideas.

When their mother dies, they learn she had kept some secrets from them and they were to sell a lakehouse in Maine and divide the proceeds. Each sister has a different idea about this and for many different reasons. Beck is a journalist, headstrong and confidant, married to Paul which has become mostly platonic. Claire is a divorced pediatric cardiologist with one son, she longs for a man she cannot have. Sophie works at an art gallery and is trying to be an influencer but she’s quickly running out of money and options. You are also taken back in time and find out their mother’s story too.

The ending was satisfying which, for me, is always a plus. Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for allowing me to read this book.

This is hands down the best eARC I've had the pleasure of reading this year!
2022 better watch out because this book is going to be lit!

I loved Fowler's book A Good Neighbor!
So I was super pumped to receive the email about It All Comes Down to This widget!
Therese Anne Fowler has a way with words that simply are astonishing.

Meet the Geller sisters: Beck, Claire, and Sophie, a trio of determined ladies whose practical widowed mother, Marti, who is sadly dying and will take her secrets to the grave.
Marti has taken great care of everything and making sure everything is done simple with her estate after she is gone. Which also includes a provision that the family’s summer cottage on Mount Desert Island, Maine, must be sold, the proceeds split equally between the three girls.
The older Beck is a freelance journalist whose marriage is slowly looking more like roommates than an actual marriage!
Claire, who is a pediatric cardiologist, and the middle daughter, has always felt like the Geller misfit. Who is recently divorced.
And the youngest daughter Sophie who is living the Instagram-ready life, filled with glamorous work and travel, celebrities, fashion, art, and sex.
But truth be told her world is about to fall all around her!
And we add CJ who is an ex-con with a past of his own. And comes to town who complicate the situation.
All is not what it seems, and everything is about to change.
A story of sisterhood, heartbreak, home, and what it takes to remake a life!

A heartbreaking, compelling, and thought-provoking story with many well-developed characters.
This story deals with many important issues. Many of the conversations and situations in this novel will stay with me for a long time.
Such a emotionally powerful read I felt this was a very quick read.
A powerhouse of A story. I couldn't stop. Actually I didn't want to.
And that is worth every damn star!
The writing is just beyond phenomenal..... All to say about that. Phenomenal!
This heartbreaking story is timely and and all too plausible and the only thing that kept me going was a great
What's really exciting about this book is that my feelings were all over the damn place. In such a good way!
I could not be more thankful for the reading experience that was this book. It was such a moving experience and does all the things a true, 5 star read should.
A gorgeous book from cover to end!

Thank you so much St. Martin's Press, for this eARC!
And a thank you to NetGalley!

IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS is a lovely family drama sure to delight fans of Emma Straub, J. Courtney Sullivan, & Lianne Moriarty. The characters' voices won me over from the beginning and I couldn't wait to see what would happy next for Marti (alas...), Beck, Claire, Sophie, and CJ.

Fowler keeps the plot moving at a nice brisk pace, which keeps the reader turning the pages. I particularly appreciated how she kept the story feeling realistic, giving each character believable aspects to their personalities.

The ending is satisfying without being artificial or forced.

I'm a longtime fan of Fowler's work and her latest certainly does not disappoint.