Janelle Brown’s All We Ever Wanted Was Everything, Book Review

Janelle Brown’s All We Ever Wanted Was Everything, Book Review

Gossip, Country Clubs and Scandals

Janelle Brown’s novel All We Ever Wanted Was Everything, is a national best-seller and named one of the best books of 2008 by Library Journal. Brown’s debut novel also received accolades from New York Times Book Review, Publishers Weekly, People Magazine and Salon.com. Brown also wrote This Is Where We Live, which focused on the problems of a young marriage, was also well received.

The Millers are a complex family. Paul has been difficult to get hold of. His wife Janice believes that he is always away on business trips or tied up in the office. The company he works for, Applied Pharmaceuticals has just gone public and stocks are high. Janice thinks that now that they can afford to have anything they want, Paul can spend more time at home and they can focus on their marriage. Lately, Janice has been feeling older, self-conscious and fears that her husband no longer feels passionate towards her. When she discovers that her best friend Beverly is having an affair, her own behavior deteriorates.

Margaret Miller, who lives in Los Angeles, has just broken up with her boyfriend whom she now owes money. She can’t find anyone to finance her magazine and the costs of trying to maintain it have put her in serious debt. She doesn’t feel that she measures up to her friends, who have all managed to become successful. She is forced to return home to Santa Rita, under the pretense that she came to support Janice, whose nagging she quickly grows tired of. Meanwhile, Janice feels that Margaret blames her for Paul leaving them. Paul wants to write Margaret a check to help her get out of debt if she’s willing to stand behind him in court. As Margaret becomes trapped between her parents, she feels that nothing she could do will ever be good enough for them. When Lizzie catches Margaret having sex and smoking pot, Margaret realizes her little sister has lost respect for her.

Lizzie Miller is in high school and wanting desperately to fit in with the other girls, becomes anxious to lose her virginity. She feels abandoned by her father and seeks attention. She looks up to big sister Margaret who lies to her and won’t confide in her. Janice enrolls her in etiquette classes making Lizzie feel as though her mother wants to replace her with the perfect daughter. Because Janice and Margaret argue so much, Lizzie believes Margaret is loved more. When Janice’s friend Barbara hears from her son the things that Lizzie has been doing, she insists Lizzie go to church with them, upon which Lizzie tries to absolve herself only to discover that she is too late. And poor Lizzie feels that her parents hate her.

Brown reveals such well developed and accurately depicted characters that you begin to feel as if you really know them. The traits the characters possess make them all unique in their own way.  It is through Paul’s portrayal of views that we learn what the term libertarian means. He is so deceptive that he tries to trick Janice out of her shares of the stock. Janice is by far, the weakest character of all, though she has two daughters who both need her right now. She does nothing to defend herself and has irritating quirks, but does manage to shock you with her wild tendencies. This theme goes to show that mothers have downfalls too and no matter how much money you have, it isn’t a perfect world. Margaret leaves one with mixed feelings. She has more problems to resolve than anyone, yet becomes the most carefree of the family. But in the end, she’ll make the reader proud. Lizzie is a sweet girl, who means well. Throughout the story, one can’t help but empathize with her.

Brown skillfully weaves a plot in which there is never a dull moment. The twists and turns that her characters’ lives take, make you want to keep reading. The Miller women are forced to deal with real life issues that either makes readers aware of the struggles that go on in other people’s lives or relate readers to what takes place in their own. Overall, the reading was enlightening and enjoyable, while Brown’s art of narrative intrigues the reader to its schemes and events.

–Kelly Morrisette is a Contributor to The Free George.

The Free George is the online magazine and visitors’ guide of Upstate NY, covering things from Albany to Lake Placid, including Saratoga, the Lake George region and the Adirondacks. Check out our City Blogs section for our extended coverage areas as well. 

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