Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Jun 2019
320 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
Sue Ellen Wright has what she thinks is a close-to-perfect life. A terrific career as a Classics professor, a loving husband, and a son who is just about to safely leave the nest.
The Wright family is in ruins.
But then disaster strikes. She learns that her husband is cheating, and that her son has made a complete mess of his life. So, when the opportunity to take her family to a Greek island for a month presents itself, she jumps at the chance. This sunlit Aegean paradise, with its mountains and beaches is, after all, where she first fell in love with both a man and with an ancient culture. Perhaps Sue Ellen's past will provide the key to her and her family's salvation.
With his signature style of biting wit, hilarious characters, and deep emotion, Grant Ginder's Honestly, We Meant Well is a funny, brilliant novel proving that with family, drama always comes with comedy.
"Ginder's writing is funny and evocative; it skillfully touches on the passage of time in a family and in a marriage while effortlessly shifting points of view. Fans of clever, wistful stories will find much to love, and also appreciate the bonus classics tidbits." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Reliably entertaining and intelligent, Ginder is an excellent tour guide for both the sunny Greek islands and the darker channels of the human heart." - Kirkus Reviews
"Deeply satisfying, laugh-out-loud novel about life's big questions and what the answers can sometimes be." - Booklist
"This rollicking book has it all: sex, lies, and scenery. Grant Ginder weaves a wonderful, engrossing multi-generational family story, with the Greek isles as a backdrop so beautiful that the reader will want to dive in." - Emma Straub, author of Modern Lovers
"Smart, funny, and filled with delightfully effed-up characters, Honestly, We Meant Well shows us once again that Grant Ginder is a master of simultaneously loving and filleting people who mean well but, let's face it, aren't doing so well with the big questions of life." - David Ebershoff, author of The Danish Girl
This information about Honestly, We Meant Well was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo Credit: Peter Schottenfels
Grant Ginder is the author of five novels, including The People We Hate at the Wedding (soon to be a major motion picture starring Allison Janney, Kristen Bell, and Ben Platt). Originally from Southern California, Ginder received his MFA from New York University, where he teaches writing.
Link to Grant Ginder's Website
Name Pronunciation
Grant Ginder: Hard G in "Ginder"
The Flower Sisters
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From the new Fannie Flagg of the Ozarks, a richly-woven story of family, forgiveness, and reinvention.
Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.
Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!
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