It was meant to become a wonderful day when Simon, his wife and his sister Garance get on their way to a wedding. But from the beginning sister and wife do not get along very well and fight in the car, actually they never have liked each other a lot. Garance misses their other sister, Lola, and their brother Vincent. When Lola suddenly phones and asks them to meet her at a train station, the atmosphere gets even more tense and at the wedding, the sibling finally decide to go on another trip and visit Vincent in his castle. Again, they can just be kids and remember the time they hat together when they were young.

I have read other works of Anna Gavalda before and what captured me there, the depth of the characters, their complexity and struggles, is lacking here completely. All protagonists remain superficial and are drawn too much in black and white to appear lively. What made the story especially strange was the fact, that the perspective changes at one point and the first person narrator becomes a third person narrator. This was also the moment where the plot became a bit strange and the novel lost me completely. Unfortunately a disappointment compared to other novels of the author.

This book is not very long, the author is French, the book has had to be translated into English. The story has a main character who is single and mid twenties, and her siblings. Two brothers and a sister. The events occur over one weekend where they are all travelling to attend a wedding, outside Paris, and end up at another wedding. The book is well written, atmospheric and sets the mood for some reminiscing, by the reader.

A rather strange, novella-length book, following the story of twenty-three year old Garance through a transitional period sparked by a reunion with her three siblings. While the relationships between the siblings were carefully drawn, and there was a good deal of humorous observation and interaction, I kept expecting more of an actual plot. By the end of the book, I couldn't help thinking of Garance as a glamorous young, French version of George Costanza from Seinfeld - a shallow, self-obsessed character in an entertaining book about nothing.

Fun and entertaining read. Why have I not heard more about this author?

Breaking Away is a wonderful short novel about four siblings. Garance is travelling to a family wedding with her brother Simon and his wife Carine. Later in the journey, they sister Lola joins them. Once they arrive at the wedding the three siblings decide to go off to visit their brother Vincent in Tours leaving Carine behind.

This novel is ultimately a wonderful celebration of the love and friendship between siblings. Garance, Vincent, Simon and Lola have grown up together; they have shared memories and a lifelong connection. The day of the wedding they take time out to relive the youth they had together. Garance has such intense nostalgia during this day spent with her brothers and sister, she feels like she is borrowing time and wonders how many other days there will be like this. They’re all moving in different directions, which is natural for siblings to do but still such a wrench when they’ve always been so close.

Simon’s wife Carine at first seemed quite harsh on Garance and Lola but there doesn’t seem to be a specific reason for the irritation. As the novel goes on we learn more about Simon and Lola’s very close bond and it becomes apparent that Carine feels like an outsider to this strong family unit. She seems somewhat jealous of what the four share, even though she has two children with Simon and so has her own strong connections with him that will never be broken. It was lovely to hear Simon stick up for his wife later in the novel, and for him to explain to the others how much she means to him.

The part of the novel where Garance, Simon and Lola listen to a playlist that Vincent has made for them brought a lump to my throat. So many of people, including myself, must have made mix tapes for our younger siblings  It’s the shared history in all of those songs that you heard throughout your lives together, there is a bond that those outside will never quite understand or break though. 

I very much enjoyed this novel, I loved how it was a meandering wander through Garance’s thoughts and feelings throughout the course of a day. And it was wonderful to see siblings so closely bonded and wanting to spend time together, I don’t think that happens enough in novels.

I rated this book 8 out of 10 and highly recommend it.

I was kindly given a copy of this book to read and review by Gallic Books via Net Galley in exchange for my honest review.

Breaking Away is out now and available from Amazon.

Can't wait to read more by this author!

I really enjoyed this book! Lovely characters and a lovely setting.

I enjoyed reading Breaking Away very much .It is an interesting story with fabulous characters beautifully portrayed.I couldn't put it down I had to find out what happend next !!