All We Ever Wanted: A Novel
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this riveting novel from the #1 bestselling author of Something Borrowed and First Comes Love, three very different people must choose between their families and their most deeply held values. . . .
“An unpredictable page-turner that unfolds in the voices of three superbly distinct characters.”—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution • “A gripping, thought-provoking journey.”—Jodi Picoult
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THESKIMM
Nina Browning is living the good life after marrying into Nashville’s elite. More recently, her husband made a fortune selling his tech business, and their adored son has been accepted to Princeton.
Yet sometimes the middle-class small-town girl in Nina wonders if she’s strayed from the person she once was.
Tom Volpe is a single dad working multiple jobs while struggling to raise his headstrong daughter, Lyla. His road has been lonely, long, and hard, but he finally starts to relax after Lyla earns a scholarship to Windsor Academy, Nashville’s most prestigious private school.
Amid so much wealth and privilege, Lyla doesn’t always fit in—and her overprotective father doesn’t help—but in most ways, she’s a typical teenaged girl, happy and thriving.
Then, one photograph, snapped in a drunken moment at a party, changes everything. As the image spreads like wildfire, the Windsor community is instantly polarized, buzzing with controversy and assigning blame.
At the heart of the lies and scandal, Tom, Nina, and Lyla are forced together—all questioning their closest relationships, asking themselves who they really are, and searching for the courage to live a life of true meaning.
Praise for All We Ever Wanted
“Page-turning . . . Timely and thought-provoking, it’s Giffin’s best yet.”—People
“Giffin’s novel has style and substance . . . . Truly excellent."—The Washington Post
“If you’re looking for a book club selection, All We Ever Wanted is bound to spark meaningful and meaty discussions.”—The Augusta Chronicle
“A page-turning exploration of wealth and privilege.”—Entertainment Weekly
“An unpredictable page-turner that unfolds in the voices of three superbly distinct characters.”—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution • “A gripping, thought-provoking journey.”—Jodi Picoult
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THESKIMM
Nina Browning is living the good life after marrying into Nashville’s elite. More recently, her husband made a fortune selling his tech business, and their adored son has been accepted to Princeton.
Yet sometimes the middle-class small-town girl in Nina wonders if she’s strayed from the person she once was.
Tom Volpe is a single dad working multiple jobs while struggling to raise his headstrong daughter, Lyla. His road has been lonely, long, and hard, but he finally starts to relax after Lyla earns a scholarship to Windsor Academy, Nashville’s most prestigious private school.
Amid so much wealth and privilege, Lyla doesn’t always fit in—and her overprotective father doesn’t help—but in most ways, she’s a typical teenaged girl, happy and thriving.
Then, one photograph, snapped in a drunken moment at a party, changes everything. As the image spreads like wildfire, the Windsor community is instantly polarized, buzzing with controversy and assigning blame.
At the heart of the lies and scandal, Tom, Nina, and Lyla are forced together—all questioning their closest relationships, asking themselves who they really are, and searching for the courage to live a life of true meaning.
Praise for All We Ever Wanted
“Page-turning . . . Timely and thought-provoking, it’s Giffin’s best yet.”—People
“Giffin’s novel has style and substance . . . . Truly excellent."—The Washington Post
“If you’re looking for a book club selection, All We Ever Wanted is bound to spark meaningful and meaty discussions.”—The Augusta Chronicle
“A page-turning exploration of wealth and privilege.”—Entertainment Weekly
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Community Reviews
What Bookclubbers are saying about this book
✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI
Readers say *All We Ever Wanted* is an emotionally charged novel tackling privilege, parenting, social justice, and technology misuse. Reviewers agree...
This novel just brought to the surface so many feelings of frustration, and they are well-founded. Nina is in an impossible situation, Tom is trying to hard to do the right thing, Lyla is so confused about what she should do because society has created such tunnel vision on her social stance, Finch (Nina's son) has become someone his own mother can't recognize, and Kirk (Nina's husband) is just about as big of a douchebag as one can be.
This novel hit me so hard because I just finished reading What Happened that Night about a young woman sexually assaulted where no blame was ever founded. Even upon report to the police, she is questioned because she was intoxicated. Really - is that a license for sexual assault - drinking? I can accept that as a woman I do bear responsibility for my behavior and choices, but it sure doesn't mean I deserve to be violated. If that's the rule, a lot more men would find themselves victims. Anyway - point being in this novel, the assault happens in college, which is why the high school incident in All We Ever Wanted hit me so hard. If young men aren't held accountable for their actions with regards to young women when parents are still somewhat in control - college rape is WHAT HAPPENS! It's a progression in abuse.
Finch has made horrible choices that Nina never thought her son could make, and when Lyla is the victim of the choices, Lyla is the FIRST (not the only) to be "found out" due to her photograph in a compromising situation being circulated. Her father Tom, doing his best as a single dad, pursues punishment. I loved the way Giffin created all the characters as so real and raw. Nina struggling to handle her son's indiscretion, and her jackass husband's attempt to "cover things up" for his son insisting he's a "good kid," he just made "one mistake." For. The. Love. Tom's frustration with "the system" and attempting to infiltrate and shut-down the massive money gap that buys innocence whether it's there or not. These two parents, Tom and Nina, of very different children, expose the true struggle of parenting not only in a digital age, but an age where the battle-of-the-sexes rages furiously.
Giffin's novel is strikingly provocative covering difficult topics: child pornography (face it - any picture circulated of a person under the age of 18 that is sexually explicit is child pornography), socio-economic status and the way the rich buy the world whether it's right or wrong, divorce, crumbling family structure, and racial bias.
This novel prompted a strong dialogue between my son and me and it was an opportunity to discuss with him why things like aren't okay or funny or just a joke as many of the novel characters attempt to use as defense for their actions. This behavior is wrong, disrespectful, and cruel.
This novel is a must read for me and honestly I would say read this and then read What Happened that Night directly after and see if you find the same correlation I did.
This novel hit me so hard because I just finished reading What Happened that Night about a young woman sexually assaulted where no blame was ever founded. Even upon report to the police, she is questioned because she was intoxicated. Really - is that a license for sexual assault - drinking? I can accept that as a woman I do bear responsibility for my behavior and choices, but it sure doesn't mean I deserve to be violated. If that's the rule, a lot more men would find themselves victims. Anyway - point being in this novel, the assault happens in college, which is why the high school incident in All We Ever Wanted hit me so hard. If young men aren't held accountable for their actions with regards to young women when parents are still somewhat in control - college rape is WHAT HAPPENS! It's a progression in abuse.
Finch has made horrible choices that Nina never thought her son could make, and when Lyla is the victim of the choices, Lyla is the FIRST (not the only) to be "found out" due to her photograph in a compromising situation being circulated. Her father Tom, doing his best as a single dad, pursues punishment. I loved the way Giffin created all the characters as so real and raw. Nina struggling to handle her son's indiscretion, and her jackass husband's attempt to "cover things up" for his son insisting he's a "good kid," he just made "one mistake." For. The. Love. Tom's frustration with "the system" and attempting to infiltrate and shut-down the massive money gap that buys innocence whether it's there or not. These two parents, Tom and Nina, of very different children, expose the true struggle of parenting not only in a digital age, but an age where the battle-of-the-sexes rages furiously.
Giffin's novel is strikingly provocative covering difficult topics: child pornography (face it - any picture circulated of a person under the age of 18 that is sexually explicit is child pornography), socio-economic status and the way the rich buy the world whether it's right or wrong, divorce, crumbling family structure, and racial bias.
This novel prompted a strong dialogue between my son and me and it was an opportunity to discuss with him why things like aren't okay or funny or just a joke as many of the novel characters attempt to use as defense for their actions. This behavior is wrong, disrespectful, and cruel.
This novel is a must read for me and honestly I would say read this and then read What Happened that Night directly after and see if you find the same correlation I did.
This is my 3rd Emily Griffin book and I am always a little disappointed when I finish one. I guess I am expecting more after reading the reviews. Maybe I should stop doing that. :/ I really thought this one was going to be different. It started off really good for me. Nina Browning is living the good life after marrying into Nashville elite. She and her husband, Kirk, have one son, Fitch who has just been accepted to Princetown. Tom Volpe, is a single dad raising his headstrong daughter, Lyla, in a working class Nashville neighborhood. Both Fitch and Lyla go to the same prestigious private school (Lyla is there on scholarship). Amid so much wealth & privilege, Lyla doesn't always fit in. A series of bad decisions at a party one night, lead to the crux of this story. Lives are changed instantly when a sexually explicit picture is snapped and shared liked wildfire. Their is plenty of controversy and blame to go around. This forces Tom, Nina & Lyla to question their own lives & seek the courage to do the right thing.
The whole thing just felt too forced. The picture scandal would have been enough but Griffin tried to tackle so many topics (race, socioeconomic backgrounds, privilege, divorce, racism, social media) instead of just focusing on one or two major ones.
The whole thing just felt too forced. The picture scandal would have been enough but Griffin tried to tackle so many topics (race, socioeconomic backgrounds, privilege, divorce, racism, social media) instead of just focusing on one or two major ones.
I won a copy of this novel through Bookishfirst.
3.75 stars. What would you do if you woke up one day and discovered your life was nothing like you'd planned? Your husband was a snob and your son seemed to be following in his footsteps. This is where Nina finds herself in Emily Giffin's latest novel. My first Emily Giffin book, I was intrigued from the very beginning. The characters were flawed and interesting, and the story began to unfold like a train wreck you can't look away from. I would categorize this as a "beach read", perfect for those times when you want to get lost in a book. It was a fairly quick read, with just enough mystery to keep me turning pages. However, some things were predictable, and the ending felt a little rushed. But overall, very entertaining.
3.75 stars. What would you do if you woke up one day and discovered your life was nothing like you'd planned? Your husband was a snob and your son seemed to be following in his footsteps. This is where Nina finds herself in Emily Giffin's latest novel. My first Emily Giffin book, I was intrigued from the very beginning. The characters were flawed and interesting, and the story began to unfold like a train wreck you can't look away from. I would categorize this as a "beach read", perfect for those times when you want to get lost in a book. It was a fairly quick read, with just enough mystery to keep me turning pages. However, some things were predictable, and the ending felt a little rushed. But overall, very entertaining.
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