Right Back Where We Started From by Joy Lanzendorfer

Release: May 4, 2021
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Source: HFVirtual Book Tours
Find it at Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, Audible, B&N.

If misfortune didn’t get in the way, Sandra Sanborn would be where she belongs. She would be among the rich and privileged instead of standing outside a Hollywood studio wearing a sandwich board in the hope of someone discovering her. It’s tough breaking into the movies during the Great Depression. But Sandra knows that she’s destined for greatness. After all, her grandmother Vira crossed the country during the Gold Rush and established the Sanborns as one of San Francisco’s most prominent families, and her mother Mabel grew up in a lavish mansion and married into an agricultural empire. Success, Sandra feels, is in her blood. She just needs a chance to prove it.

In between failed auditions, Sandra receives a letter from a man claiming to be her father, which calls into question everything she believes about her family–and herself. As she tries to climb the social ladder, family secrets lurk in the background, pulling her down. Until Sandra confronts the truth about how Vira and Mabel gained and lost their fortunes, she will always end up right back where she started from.

Right Back Where We Started From is a sweeping, multigenerational work of fiction that explores the lust for an ambition that entered into the American consciousness during the Gold Rush and how it affected our nation’s ideas of success, failure, and the pursuit of happiness. It is a meticulously layered saga–historically rich, romantic, and suspenseful–about three determined and completely unforgettable women.

About the Author:

Joy Lanzendorfer’s work has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Atlantic, NPR, Smithsonian, Poetry Foundation, and many others. Also, her writing was included in The Best Small Fictions 2019 and was notable in The Best American Essays 2019 and 2020. Grants and residencies include the Discovered Awards for Emerging Literary Artists, Wildacres Residency Program, and the Speculative Literature Foundation.

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Right Back Where We Started From Review:

Ah, this book! I didn’t know whether to love the characters or hate them. But I could not put “Right Back Where We Started From” down and had to find out what happened!

I am a sucker for dramatic sagas surrounding generations of a family, and this book had it all. We meet three generations of women who come from the same family. They all face challenges and bad luck, where things don’t work out the way they hoped. So they settle down for what they can get, and realize that it is not life for them, and continue to make mistakes. There were times where I felt sorry for them, especially Vira and the way Elmer treats her. Similarly, I felt terrible for Mabel, especially during her time with Jared.

The author paces the story nicely, where you don’t know how it will turn out. Some characters disappear after the first few chapters, only to reappear in the end. Moreover, The author also brings the 1930s to life with the Golden Age of the cinema of Hollywood stars. I enjoyed the first half of the story as the author displays Sandra’s life as she tries to become the next star.

But there was a part of me that also disliked the characters so much. While I did not particularly like Frederick, I wouldn’t say I liked Sandra for how she misuses money and brings him down with her. Similarly, Mabel got on my nerves at times for the way she treated Arthur. I loved Arthur in the story and got emotional at times reading about him. The author wrote the characters so beautifully that you emotionally connect with them.

Hence, overall, I loved reading “Right Back Where We Started From” solely for the complex characters.

Giveaway:

Enter to win a copy of Right Back Where We Started From by Joy Lanzendorfer!

The giveaway is open to the US only and ends on May 28th. You must be 18 or older to enter.

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Book Tour Schedule

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the Right Back Where We Started From by Joy Lanzendorfer Blog Tour hosted by HFVirtual Book Tours. Check out my post, and make sure to enter the giveaway!