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Pretend We Are Lovely: A Novel
Pretend We Are Lovely: A Novel | Noley Reid
17 posts | 9 read | 37 to read
"Like the best love songs, Noley Reid's novel is sad but hopeful, raw but tender, shocking but, ultimately, deeply comforting." Julia Fierro, author of The Gypsy Moth Summer Its the summer of 1982 in Blacksburg, Virginiaseven years after the suspicious death of a son and siblingand the Sobel family is hungry. Francie dresses in tennis skirts and ankle socks and weighs her grams of allotted carrots and iceberg lettuce. Her semi-estranged husband Tate prefers a packed fridge and hidden doughnuts. Daughters Enid, ten, and Vivvy, almost thirteen, are subtler versions of their parents, measuring their summer vacation by meals had or meals skipped. But at summers end, secrets both old and new emerge and Francie disappears, leaving the family teetering on the brink. Told from alternating points of view by the four living Sobels, Pretend We Are Lovely is a sharp and darkly funny story of forgiveness, family secrets, and the losses we inherit. At its core is the ever-complicated and deeply-devoted bond of sisterhood as the girls, left mostly to their own devices, must navigate their way through middle school, find comfort in each other, and learn the difference between food and nourishment.
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brookerhi
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November 16: #covercrush - So I realized that almost every book on my immediate #TBR list has a blasé cover. But I do crush on Pretend We are Lovely‘s Vera Bradley vibe. #lilbookishthanks

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brookerhi
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Day 17: Happy #SockSunday - Yes, let's pretend that it's not 90 degrees out, & that these socks are practical for today. "Pretend We Are Lovely" (#TBR) is about a dysfunctional family led by a mentally-ill mother in the 80s. Everyone has a complicated relationship with food, & then there's the fact that one of the children died. Novelist describes the writing as descriptive, compelling, & lush, & the characters as complex & flawed. Interesting ?

5 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Apinlibraryland
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I need my next read! I'm going to "try a chapter" of each and report back!

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NerdyRev
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Pickpick

I am a huge fan of @Tin_House books because they tend to produce books that stick with you. This one is no different. I would file this one under the glad I read it, but I never want to read it again category. This one deals with loss of a child, anorexia/eating disorders, messed up adolescence, adultery, and a whole bunch of other stuff. It is told from 4 perspectives in an almost stream of conscious. Parts of this book are just uncomfortable.

30 likes1 stack add
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anniehartnett
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Pickpick

Finished this lovely read this morning. Heart-wrenching, real, wonderful story about a family mucking through some tough stuff. And also comes with dogs and donuts.

TrishB Beautiful doggie 💝 7y
anniehartnett @TrishB thank you! He's a love. 7y
NoleyReid Thanks, Willie and Annie! 7y
JanuarieTimewalker13 Oh my goodness!! Is Boomer based on this adorable pup? (I'm reading your book right now!) 7y
16 likes4 comments
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anniehartnett
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Morning read. Loving the family in Pretend We Are Lovely, especially Enid, the little girl.

12 likes1 stack add
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JenniferJR
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Has anyone heard of this? Just started it. The story telling style is a little quirky but I am really enjoying so far!

15 likes2 stack adds
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Apinlibraryland
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Here are the books I'm going to pick from for #24in48!

emilyhaldi Vitamin and All Grown Up are great readathon choices!! 7y
17 likes2 comments
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Tin_House
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Happy pub day to @NoleyReid and PRETEND WE ARE LOVELY!

"In magnetic prose, Reid offers up a scrumptious novel about the things we use to save our fractured relationships." --O, the Oprah Magazine

NerdyRev To the bookstore!!! 7y
48 likes1 comment
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Tin_House
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“I hid the doughnuts in the basement toy chest because the girls are too big for sock puppets and building blocks. Pink box. Glaze flaking overtop, gooed to the box on their bottoms. One cinnamon cake, one cruller, sour cream sug­ared, custard squishing out of chocolate. It‘s not impossible to taste glaze on the finger.”

Hungry yet? Noley Reid's PRETEND WE ARE LOVELY is out next week, in all its deliciousness.

RealBooks4ever Voodoo Donuts? 7y
63 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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Tin_House
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"I pretended not to be there on my back in the long grasses, feeling tufts of clover flowers tucking up into the soft backs of my knees. This was when I was younger—maybe ten, even twelve. Those summers, those springs and falls too, I lay amid the weeds with the crickets and hoppy June bugs, forcing myself to keep still though all I wanted was to scratch." --PRETEND WE ARE LOVLEY, by Noley Reid

47 likes6 stack adds
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Tin_House
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"The house is so quiet. I start pulling everything out on the counters. The muffin mix. I grab the bowl Ma had for the waffles and her swirly spring whisk, I crack a carton of eggs, being sure to scoop out any bits of shell, and start beating up the batter with one hand. I beat the corn mix, love that scrapey sound of the metal whisk against the clumps of corn and the side of the bowl, love sounding like Ma."

50 likes2 stack adds
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CherylDeFranceschi
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Lily has chosen our Friday night read. Wise kitty! I'm thinking we can't go wrong with @NoleyReid !

Tanzy13 🐱 7y
JanuarieTimewalker13 She's beautiful! Lily is a great name! 7y
CherylDeFranceschi @JanuarieTimewalker13 Thank you! She's named after Witch Baby/Lily from the Weetzie books by Francesca Lia Block, and is the sweetest girl. 7y
See All 6 Comments
rubyslippersreads 😻😻😻 7y
JanuarieTimewalker13 Oooh, I'm not familiar with those books, but I will check them out! Thank you!🌻 7y
NoleyReid I love this picture so much! Thanks, Lily! I hope you won't be scared of the dogs--they're softies for the most part and would really like you. 🐶🐕🐱 7y
93 likes6 comments
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Tin_House
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Look what just arrived at the office: PRETEND WE ARE LOVELY by Noley Reid, out July 18. We can't wait to share this one with you!!

Cinfhen Love the cover💜 8y
NoleyReid I love it, too! Tin House's art designer is incredible. (edited) 7y
57 likes2 comments
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Tin_House
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Do you love books? Free books? Free books months before publication?

Tin House is inviting early readers to join our Galley Club! Be the first to read PRETEND WE ARE LOVELY by Noley Reid, a sharp and darkly funny story of family secrets, hunger, and forgiveness.

To join Galley Club for PRETEND WE ARE LOVELY, email your physical mailing address to galleyclub@tinhouse.com. (Hurry, limited copies available!)

ScrappyMags I got my ecopy now does that come with the candy too? Lol... oh it's e-candy!! Hehe looking forward to the book! 8y
Books88 Sent! ❤ 8y
bookandcat Sent as well :-) 8y
See All 8 Comments
AmyG Oooo, candy. I like how you read. 👍🏻 8y
ptkpepe98 This is a great offer! I'm in, if the club door is still open. 8y
Kmmsellers Sent 8y
Addledbrain Yes please! Sent as well 8y
melbeautyandbooks This sounds great. Sent my information. Thanks! 8y
73 likes6 stack adds8 comments
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Tin_House
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Noley Reid's PRETEND WE ARE LOVLEY--out this summer!

"Reid writes potently of our most intimate blind spots: the tangles of love and bodies, nourishment and punishment, grief and comfort. In her agile hands the complexity of family is dramatically and vitally revealed." —Samantha Hunt

46 likes2 stack adds
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CherylDeFranceschi
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A few green books from my TBR stacks. #greencovers #marchintoreading