The Most Fun We Ever Had is a novel written by Claire Lombardo and published in 2019. Set in the suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, it follows three generations of the fictional Sorenson family, concentrating on Marilyn and David and their four adult daughters. The novel centers around themes such as the stability of family bonds, the difficulties that arise when family members rigidly define each other, and the effects a strong partnership has on one’s children.

This guide is based on the 2019 Anchor Books paperback edition.

Content Warning: This guide discusses the novel’s exploration of depression, stillbirth, substance misuse, eating disorders, and its brief mention of death by suicide.

Plot Summary

The Most Fun We Ever Had is a fictional family saga about the Sorenson family. The primary focus of the novel is one year in the family’s life during the 21st century, but a large portion of the family’s story is told in interludes that begin in the 1970s and move toward the present day.

The matriarch and patriarch of the Sorenson family are Marilyn and David. The two fall in love and marry when they are in school, and Marilyn quickly becomes pregnant with their oldest daughter, Wendy. Less than a year later, Violet is born. Because of the demands of pregnancy and schooling, Marilyn has had to drop out of school but plans on returning, though she never does.

The oldest Sorenson daughter, Wendy, is fiery and is prone to frequent outbursts. She is best friends with Violet, who is much more docile. Marilyn and David’s third daughter, Liza, is born. Mild and unassuming, she often gets lost in the shuffle. When Marilyn’s father dies, the family inherits and moves into his large estate in Oak Park, Illinois. Eventually, Marilyn and David decide to have one more child, and Grace is born. She is doted on by both of her parents as well as by her three older sisters.

Over the years, the Sorenson sisters encounter numerous hardships. At one point, Violet becomes pregnant. Instead of doing what is expected of her and having an abortion, she decides to carry the pregnancy to term. The only person she confides in is Wendy. Wendy, who is now married to the very wealthy Miles, tells their parents that Violet is in Paris when, in reality, she is hiding out at Wendy and Miles’s house during her pregnancy. Wendy manages the baby’s adoption, and she is the only family member who sees the baby after it is born. Violet recovers at Wendy’s house.

Wendy is delighted when she gets pregnant. At thirty weeks’ gestation, however, she has a stillbirth. Wendy only wants Miles and Violet at the hospital while she delivers, but nobody can get a hold of Violet. When Violet finally gets to the hospital, the stillborn baby has already been taken away, and Wendy is hurt. While Wendy was in labor, Violet’s boyfriend Matt asked Violet to marry him, and the two became engaged. Marilyn believes Wendy is like her in the sense that both came into themselves when they got married. However, Miles develops renal cancer and dies.

A decade and a half after Violet’s son’s adoption, Wendy tracks down Violet’s son without telling her. Violet is furious, and they all learn that Jonah, her son, has been in foster care and a group home for much of his life because his adoptive parents died in a car accident when he was quite young. His current caregiver is leaving the country and she believes Jonah needs someone stable to care for him. Violet and her husband, Matt, do not want to upset their two young boys by taking him in, so Wendy takes him in instead. The two live happily together until Jonah comments on Wendy’s heavy drinking and she sends him live with Marilyn and David.

Meanwhile, Liza’s professional life is thriving as she earns tenure at her university at a young age. Her relationship suffers, however, as her partner, Ryan, experiences a deep depression. The two conceive, and Liza starts to worry about passing on Ryan’s genes. She has an affair with a coworker, and when Ryan learns of this he moves out. Liza has to come to terms with the fact that her child will not grow up in a happy two-parent household like she did.

The youngest Sorenson child, Grace, lives across the country. She leads her family to believe that she got into law school when, in reality, she was rejected by all the schools she applied to. Grace frequently feels left out of family matters because everybody else is so much older than her. When David goes into cardiac arrest, she feels even more isolated. Eventually she tells everyone of her deception, and she moves back in with her parents to figure out her life. David recovers from his illness, and Jonah continues to live with Marilyn and David. Wendy and Violet make amends, and the novel ends with the family looking toward the future.