Falling Together

( 78 )

Overview

“Her writing is both vividly descriptive and surprisingly insightful.”
—Boston Globe

“It’s the three-dimensional men, women, and children who populate her fiction that I’ll remember for a very long time.”
—Nancy Pearl’s Picks

Following the phenomenal success of her novels Love Walked In and Belong to Me, New York Times bestselling author Marisa de los Santos returns with Falling Together, an emotionally resonant, powerfully moving, and pitch ...

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Falling Together

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More About This Book

Overview

“Her writing is both vividly descriptive and surprisingly insightful.”
—Boston Globe

“It’s the three-dimensional men, women, and children who populate her fiction that I’ll remember for a very long time.”
—Nancy Pearl’s Picks

Following the phenomenal success of her novels Love Walked In and Belong to Me, New York Times bestselling author Marisa de los Santos returns with Falling Together, an emotionally resonant, powerfully moving, and pitch perfect novel about friends, family, and love. Truly modern women’s fiction at its finest, this is the unforgettable tale of a remarkable friendship that ended abruptly, only to be resurrected in great need years later at a college reunion, launching three formerly devoted companions and reluctant family members alike on a sobering, enlightening journey across the world and through the past. Brimming with the author’s trademark wit, vivid prose, and captivating characterizations, Falling Together brilliantly explores our deepest human connections and confirms Marisa de los Santos as one of America’s most exciting contemporary novelists.

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Editorial Reviews

From Barnes & Noble

From their first day of college orientation, Pen, Cat and Will seemed born to be close friends. Eventually though, Cat's decision to marry an unpleasant mate had loosened their magical bond and without its center, the group had drifted away from each other. Now, six years later, when Cat emails her former cronies, asking them to join her at their college reunion, they cannot resist. Whatever nostalgic dreams the pair nurtured, however, dissolve when they are forced to confront a dangerous situation in which everything they believed about themselves and each other is brought into question. With its vividly drawn characters; plausible plot developments, another triumph for the author of Belong to Me.

Publishers Weekly
A stimulating if baggy story of friendship, de los Santos's latest (after Belong to Me) tracks what happens to a trio of former friends brought together under unusual circumstances at their college reunion. Cat Ocampo's decision to marry Jason, her longtime boyfriend that her friends Will and Pen can't stand, drives a wedge into the friendship, and soon, with Cat out of the picture, Will and Pen drift apart. Six years later, Pen is a single mom and smarting from the loss of her father when, as the college reunion approaches, Cat e-mails her and Will, telling them she needs to see them at the reunion, but when Will and Pen show up, there's a big, unwelcome surprise waiting for them. De los Santos's fluid prose powers what turns into a nifty mystery, and though the plot flags later on, as if being drawn out for the sake of being drawn out, the mix of perfectly realized personalities and genuine emotion make this a winner. (Oct.)
New York Times
“By the book’s end, humanity is discovered in the unlikeliest places, and Cornelia learns that tempting as it is, you can’t always judge a woman by her hairstyle.”
People
“Prose that shines in moments of tenderness.”
Booklist
“[FALLING TOGETHER] is a good, solid read that succeeds in being both funny and heartbreaking. De los Santos has a knack for best-friend banter and stays true to the emotions involved in letting go of treasured relationships.”
Bookreporter.com
"Brimming with the author’s trademark wit, vivid prose and captivating characterizations, FALLING TOGETHER brilliantly explores our deepest human connections and confirms Marisa de los Santos as one of America’s most exciting contemporary novelists."
BookPage
“Falling Together explores the ways our familial relationships and friendships affect who we are and who we’re becoming…the appeal of de los Santos’ books remains the intimacy with which the reader gets to know each character.”
SheKnows.com
“Fans of de los Santos’s previous heartfelt novels will rejoice to learn of her new one, and those readers just discovering her with Falling Together will be thrilled to hear that she has a backlist they can devour.”
Library Journal
Pen, Will, and Cat become friends in college but have that inevitable falling out. Not so long after graduation, single-mom Pen gets a frantic email plea from Will, begging her to come to a class reunion. There, the three friends meet, greet, and go on a life-changing journey. Okay, you've heard the plot before, but books by de los Santos are big best sellers, and Belong to Mewon the American Library Association Reading List Award for Women's Fiction. With a 250,000-copy first printing and a reading group guide.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780061670886
  • Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
  • Publication date: 10/2/2012
  • Edition description: Reprint
  • Pages: 384
  • Sales rank: 112,198
  • Product dimensions: 5.38 (w) x 7.78 (h) x 0.94 (d)

Meet the Author

Marisa de los Santos

An award-winning poet and bestselling author with a Ph.D. in literature and creative writing, Marisa de los Santos lives in Wilmington, Delaware, with her husband, the children’s book author David Teague, and their son and daughter. She’s the author of the bestsellers Love Walked In and Belong to Me.

Biography

Marisa de los Santos grew up in Baltimore and Northern Virginia and attended the University of Virginia. After graduation, she received her M.F.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and a Ph.D. in English Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Houston. She achieved her earliest success as an award-winning poet, and her work has been published in several literary journals. In 2000, her debut collection, From the Bones Out, appeared as part of the James Dickey Contemporary Poetry Series.

De los Santos made her first foray into fiction in 2005 with the surprise bestseller Love Walked In. Optioned almost immediately for the movies, this elegant "literary romance" introduced Cornelia Brown, a diminutive, 30-something Philadelphian with a passion for classic film and an unshakable belief in the triumph of true love. In the much anticipated 2008 sequel, Belong to Me, de los Santos revisited Cornelia, now a married woman, newly relocated to the suburbs, and struggling to forge friendships with the women in her new hometown. Belong to Me was selected for the Barnes & Noble Recommends program.

Good To Know

De los Santos' love affair with books began at a young age. She claims to have risked life and limb as a child by insisting on combining reading with such incompatible activities as skating, turning cartwheels, and descending stairs.

Here are some interesting outtakes from our interview:
"I'm addicted to ballet, completely head-over-heels for it. I did it as a little kid, but took about a thirty year hiatus before starting adult classes. I do it as many times a week as I can, but if I could, I'd do it every day! In my next life, I'm definitely going to be a ballerina."

"I'm terrible with plants, outdoor plants, indoor plants, annuals, perennials. I kill them off in record time. I adore fresh flowers and keep them all over my house all year round because they're beautiful and already dead, but you won't find a single potted plant in my house. So many nice people in the world and in books are growers and gardeners, but the sad truth is that I'll never be one of them."

"I'm an awful sleeper, and the thing that helps me fall asleep or fall back to sleep is reading books from my childhood. Elizabeth Enright's Melendy series and her two Gone Away Lake books, all of the Anne of Green Gables books, Little Women, The Secret Garden, the Narnia books, and a bunch of others. I have probably read some of these books twenty, maybe thirty times. I read them to pieces, literally, and then have to buy new ones."

"I am crazy-scared of sharks and almost never swim in the ocean. Yes, I know it's silly, I know my chances of getting bitten by a shark are about the same as my chances of becoming president of the United States, but I can't help it."

"My favorite way to spend an evening is eating a meal with good friends. The cheese plate, the red wine, the clink of forks, a passel of kids dancing to The Jonas Brothers and laughing their heads off in the next room, food that either I or someone else has cooked with care and love, and warm, lively conversation-give me all this and I'm happy as a clam."

"I adore black and white movies, particularly romantic comedies from the thirties and forties. I love them for the dialogue and for the whip smart, fascinating, fast-talking, funny women."

"I am the only adult person I know who dislikes olives."

"I'm crazy for fresh home-baked bread and butter. I'd take bread over chocolate any day."

"I play no musical instruments, but I sing up a storm in the car."

"In my next life, I will speak five languages. In this life, I speak one. It's sad really."

"My biggest guilty pleasure is InStyle Magazine. My second is chewy candy. Think gummy bears. Think Twizzlers."

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    1. Hometown:
      Wilmington, Delaware
    1. Date of Birth:
      August 12, 1966
    2. Place of Birth:
      Baltimore, Maryland
    1. Education:
      Un. of Virginia, BA in Eng; Sarah Lawrence College, MFA in Poetry; Un. of Houston, Ph.D. in Eng. and Creative Writing
    2. Website:
      http://www.marisadelossantos.com

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4
( 78 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(34)

4 Star

(20)

3 Star

(8)

2 Star

(11)

1 Star

(5)

Your Rating:

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See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 79 Customer Reviews

  • Posted September 23, 2011

    more from this reviewer

    This is a terrific character study that deftly changes into an engaging mystery

    Will, Cat and Pen became friends over Beowulf at college. They remained BFFs throughout their undergraduate years, but their friendship ended when Cat married her long term boyfriend Jason; who Will and Pen loathed. As they graduated, the trio agreed to never contact one another ever again.

    Six years later, Cat emails her two former BFFs pleading with them to attend the college reunion so they can see one another. Unable to resist, Pen accompanied by her five years old daughter Augusta and Will go to the reunion to see Cat. Both are stunned with what awaits them at the reunion and beyond.

    This is a terrific character study that deftly changes into an engaging mystery. The cast is extremely well developed and not just the lead trio as the support players bring plenty of oomph to the plot. Readers will want to travel with the three protagonists on a journey of awakening even though the walk down the Yellowbrick Road is too long and straightforward; as the trio and fans learn not all that glitters is gold and some that does not glitter is golden.

    Harriet Klausner

    7 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 30, 2011

    YAWN. Should be re-titled "Falling Asleep"

    I bought this because I loved Marisa's other books. I am up to page 190 and I just can't go any further. There is no depth to the characters and there has been no direction in the story. Sorry Marisa, but you haven't grabbed me, you have put me into napville.

    2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted October 15, 2011

    more from this reviewer

    Sometimes saying hello to old friends is the process of saying goodbye!

    It's been six years since Pen Calloway watched her best friends walk out of her life. And through the birth of her daughter, the death of her father, and the vicissitudes of single motherhood, she has never stopped missing them.

    Pen, Cat and Will met on their first day of college and formed what seemed like a magical and lifelong bond, only to see their friendship break apart amid the realities of adulthood. When, after years of silence, Cat - the bewitching, charismatic center of their group - emails Pen and Will with an urgent request to meet at their college reunion, they can't refuse. But instead of a happy reconciliation, what awaits is a collision of past and present that sends Pen and Will, with Pen's five-year-old daughter and Cat's hostile husband in tow, on a journey across the world.

    With her trademark wit, vivid prose, and a gift for creating authentic, captivating characters, Marissa de los Santos returns with an emotionally resonant novel about our deepest human connections. As Pen and Will struggle to uncover the truth about Cat, they find more than they bargained for: startling truths about who they were before and who they are now. They must confront the reasons their friendship fell apart and discover how - and if - it can ever fall back together.

    I received Falling Together by Marissa de los Santos compliments of Harper Collins for my honest review. It's my first novel by this author and though I tried to get into the story, it just seemed like it was all over the place for me. The plot basically involves three people who formed a friendship in college and when life got in the way, they went their own separate ways. Now when a mystery email shows up, they decide to reunite but a twist appears when the email isn't what it appears. For me, the storyline was a bit confusing perhaps while the author was trying to establish the characters in the story and make them believable and for me, they just weren't. However that being said, perhaps the book will speak volumes for other readers, and for that reason I rate this book a 2 out of 5 stars. It just didn't have enough in it to make you want to keep reading it.

    2 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted October 12, 2011

    Somewhat entertaining

    I found it hard to grasp the reasoning Cat, Will and Penn used to end their friendship and to never contact each other after Cat married. The determination Will and Penn put forth to find her seemed misplaced after they had spent six years with no contact at all. Her husband seemed more like a stalker than a person who really understood his wife and their relationships. Cat's daughter seemed to bear the brunt of the hardships of the search. The happy ending seemed contrived and I found myself wondering why Cat and Will who were supposed to be the loves of each other's life never bothered to contact each other for six years. The promise to stay apart was juvenile in its premise and made the whole book seem trite.

    2 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 20, 2011

    needed a good editor

    The book kept me interested, but I think it was about 100 pages too long. Good character development, unique story line, just too long.

    1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted December 5, 2011

    Too long--falls short in interest

    This needs MUCH editing. Falls short of ther other books!!

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 29, 2011

    Boring plot didn't hold my interest

    I read and liked Belong To Me so I thought I'd try this one and it just didn't hold my interest. I found the main character Pen totally unrelatable and the story was just boring.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted October 22, 2011

    Disappointing

    I was disappointed in the book. I found it predictable. The only surprising element to the book was the overseas trip. Probably won't mre reading this one again.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted October 19, 2011

    Great characters.

    Great read. I loved the flow of conversation btwn the characters.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 13, 2011

    Loved it!

    I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it was a great story very light and easy to read but not at all cheesy. Marisa de los Santos has such a great way with words and dialogue that really makes her characters come to life. The dialogue was so genuine, they talked just like I do with my family and friends. Great read!

    1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted October 8, 2011

    Good read

    I love the way she uses words. Beautifully written and very thoughtful.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 1, 2013

    Ok.

    Wanna have sex? Btw ur names eric.

    0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted March 24, 2013

    Falling Together is about friendship and love.  It explores the

    Falling Together is about friendship and love.  It explores the closest friendship and what happens when people grow up and out.  Here, love is explored with a focus on family though romantic love is present  as well.  For the Pen, the biggest betrayal is leaving, walking away.  With the dissolution of a close-knit friendship, the death of her father, and the end of a relationship, Pen feels more alone than ever.  When she receives an email from her friend Cat, asking for help, she can't help but look at the past and see a chance of regaining what she lost.




    I fell in love with this story almost from the very beginning.  I loved the relationships between the characters, the witty banter, the random way that they connected, and the growth throughout the journey.  It's told from Pen's point of view and every once in a while we get a glimpse into Will's.  Most of the characters change throughout and achieve a growth of sorts, but my favorite came from Jason, Cat's husband, because he isn't really a likeable character, but he was complex and I was drawn in.  This isn't a fast read and it should be carefully read because it isn't linear.  At times it read like a conversation with a person with a short attention span who changes the subject as things pop in his head; you never really get to finish the original conversation.  It really made me reflect on some of my relationships, creating a strong connection on my part.  I completely get these characters.  As crazy and perhaps unrealistic as the friendship between Pen, Cat, and Will seemed, it felt so real.  I knew it could be real because I've had a friendship like that, but it seems unreal to other people because they are on the outside looking in.  I was pleasantly surprised at the progression of the plot.  It isn't particularly predictable and everything isn't tied up into a neat bow.




    Overall, this one will stick with me for a long time and is one of my favorite reads of the year.  It's the kind of story that you love so much that you don't want to share (if that makes any sense).

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 9, 2013

    Sweet love story

    Nice description of ccollege aged friendships followed by growing up and into real deal love
    Last few chapters were very moving

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 9, 2013

    Kenny

    Nah. What advice u need

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 10, 2013

    tori

    I forgot

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 24, 2013

    Owlstar from SalmonClan

    Sorry I'm late... I have kits. So, er, this is Owlstar from SalmonClan and co leader of TalonClan. Talonstar isn't on much. And my Xbox broke down... :'(

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 23, 2013

    Strongstrike

    Goes there

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 23, 2013

    Suneyes

    I am here

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 23, 2013

    Jaystar leader of WolfClan

    A silver furred tom with dark gray streaks and a white undercoat walks in. "I have been told to come here about a prophecy?"

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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