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    Reunion: A Novel
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    Reunion: A Novel
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    Reunion: A Novel
    Audiobook7 hours

    Reunion: A Novel

    Written by Hannah Pittard

    Narrated by Julia Whelan

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    The author of the highly acclaimed The Fates Will Find Their Way returns with a novel about a far-flung family reunited for one weekend by their father's death. Five minutes before her flight is set to take off, Kate Pulaski, failed screenwriter and newly failed wife with scarcely a hundred dollars to her name, learns that her estranged father has killed himself. More shocked than saddened by the news, she gives in to her siblings' request that she join them, along with her many half-siblings and most of her father's five former wives, in Atlanta, their birthplace, for a final farewell. Written with huge heart and bracing wit, REUNION takes place over the following four days, as family secrets are revealed, personal foibles are exposed, and Kate-an inveterate liar looking for a way to come clean-slowly begins to acknowledge the overwhelming similarities between herself and the man she never thought she'd claim as an influence, much less a father. Hannah Pittard's "engaging and vigorous"* prose masterfully illuminates the problems that can divide modern families--and the ties that prove impossible to break. (*Chicago Tribune)
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHachette Audio
    Release dateOct 7, 2014
    ISBN9781478982791
    Unavailable
    Reunion: A Novel
    Author

    Hannah Pittard

    HANNAH PITTARD was born in Atlanta. She is the author of four novels, including Listen to Me and The Fates Will Find Their Way. Her work has appeared in the Sewanee Review, the New York Times, and other publications. She is a professor of English at the University of Kentucky, where she directs the MFA program in creative writing.

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    Reviews for Reunion

    3.5/5

    143 ratings27 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      I'm not sure that I 'enjoyed' this book - that's not quite the right word, but I didn't dislike reading it. It's mostly character development/psychological - there's not a lot of action here. But the main character is interesting enough and aware of herself in a way that makes it a pretty good read. It's somewhat humorous, even though it's about a family getting together for a funeral. It's also kind of sweet at moments. I don't have any siblings so maybe that experience would have made this reading different for me, but I still felt I understood the emotions surrounding the narrator and her brother and sister (and several stepmothers and step-siblings) as they were presented. Oddly, the narrator is writing this book because her screenwriting career is over, but I kept thinking it would make an interesting movie. I would probably pick up other books by Pittard - so maybe in the end, I actually did enjoy this book.
    • 3/5
      I enjoyed the book. Mainly the 'dark site' of the main character, which was shown in a very human way, to which it's easy to relate.
      It's an easy read, and a good, clear recording easy to follow
    • 4/5
      GOOD!!
      I was not too sure about this book at first, but it grew into quite a good little story. I loved the main protagonist, Kate, who is quite a quirky, fun, and funny character. A pretty quirky book in general, but I love quirky!
    • 2/5
      Oh that selfish narrator... this book had great potential: the storyline, bad daddy, extended family, but with a focus on the sad in debt little sister, I just got through it...
    • 3/5
      The characters were great and I enjoyed the story, it ended a bit abruptly for my taste.
    • 2/5
      For me, the story was pretty good at first. It kept me engaged and listening. A lot of things seemed to be happening or had the potential to happen, but it just fizzled out and by the end was downright boring. It was like the family had stuff going on, but none of the many, many interesting parts were ever fleshed out.
    • 4/5
      I really liked the writing in this book and I think I will read another by this author. I found her characters were believable and the writing was really snappy. I didn't love the back drop of this novel and think maybe that stopped me from giving it a higher rating.
    • 4/5
      This is a multi-faceted book with lots of interest for me. I guess the main substance of the story is the relationship between three adult siblings, but the father's influence hangs over the whole story in both spoken and unspoken ways. As a father of three, approaching my own death, this provoked me to think more about what I will be leaving behind and whether it's too late to do anything that will change the impact I have already made. Also big in this story is marriage and its many failures across different generations. Are our children destined to follow our example? Almost a side story in this novel is the nature of the American south (Atlanta) where most of the story is set, and comparison with Chicago where the narrator lives. I've never been to America, but I have a daughter who lives not that far from Chicago and a faithful LibraryThing friend who lives in Atlanta, so the comparison caught my interest. I even took a personal interest in the story's funeral and the options for disposing of ashes having recently discussed the disposal of my own ashes! Notwithstanding my own personal interest, I reckon this is a well written and engaging book.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Reunion by Hannah Pittard is a highly recommended novel that explores the dynamics of sibling relationships when they gather for the funeral after the suicide of their philandering father.

      Kate is just flying home to Chicago when she learns of her father's death. Her two older siblings, Nell and Elliot, expect her to immediately board another plane and fly out to Atlanta. Kate's husband Peter, meets her at the airport and puts her on a flight out while Kate tries to dissuade him from his actions. Things are a whole lot more complicated than one would normally guess. See, Kate and Peter are going to get divorced because Kate has had an affair, but she hasn't told Nell or Elliot this yet because the one thing they all agreed on was that they do not condone adultery or cheating.

      This means that the idea of attending her father's funeral is just as fraught with tension. Their mother died when Kate was 5 and the older two were 9 and 10. Since then their father has had numerous affairs, 4 ex-wives, and the original three siblings have numerous half-siblings as well. His most recent wife, now widow, Sasha, is around their age and mother of 6 year old Mindy, the youngest half-sibling. Now Nell and Elliot are expecting Kate to go to Atlanta for their father's funeral when, as far as she knows, none of them have been close to the man. Once there the service will likely be tense with all the ex-wives and half-siblings attending. It's a family gathering for a group that doesn't even consider themselves related.

      Kate has become astute at hiding her feelings, burying them under "turds and manure." She says, "I was raised. I was raised to smile. I was raised to sit through suffering. I was raised to think that if the yelling got too loud or the humiliation got too painful, you just ignored it. You just ignored it because there was nothing you could do." Now she's about to face all sorts of unpleasantness and doesn't really have a plan in place to deal with it. As is usual in a novel of this ilk, Kate and the others all have secrets they are hiding that will be revealed.

      Clearly, dysfunctional families gathering together for a funeral are nothing new. I kept thinking that Reunion reminded me of another book or movie, but the title escapes me. Perhaps it's sort of a combination of The Big Chill with The Family Stone with... something else. Kate is a rather dis-likeable character, but you will find yourself hoping all of her self-evaluation will result in some kind of redemption. For me, clearly, what saved this novel was the writing. It's well written with the characters fleshed out and complete, so even when I wanted to roll my eyes and say "I have had enough of all of you," I cared enough to keep reading to see what would happen next.


      Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of Grand Central Publishing for review purposes.

    • 2/5
      A woman gets a call her estranged father has commited suicide and meets her 2 siblings in their hometown, where they face their 5 stepmothers and many half siblings. One of those books where you find yourself reading and wondering when the story is going to start and then you realize you are on the last page.
    • 4/5
      Almost agonizing to listen to the audio----basically, Kate is a mess for a variety of reason so we listen to her try to make sense of her life in the midst of her father's suicide. Finding out that she is not the only one with problems helps her but it is tough to listen to all of this self-analysis.
    • 4/5
      Reunion Her brother Elliott has tried to contact her but being on a plane she's not able to get the call. The message left has stated her father has killed himself.Kate's going through a divorce and she was on her way to her fathers, she's just not going to make it in time.CO; Elliott is married with 3 girls, the oldest. CA:Mel is next and highly successful finance person and divorced for 10 years.She is a screenwriter and her soon to be ex is a therapist. The three siblings meet in Atlanta and go about making decisions for their fathers burial and go through his 5 marriage hoarding...Drama occurs when her agent gives her the idea of writing of her father's life for money, the wives show up with all the kids. total madness ensues.Things for each of them does not go back to normal afterwards...wow a lot of surprises!I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book. It's about families and dysfunction and relationships and communication. This author is an excellent writer and the story grabbed me from the first page.
    • 3/5
      So so story of a dysfunctional family gathering for a funeral. Not much depth and unlikable characters.
    • 4/5
      I liked this book. Advanced reader from Librarything .Family dysfunction, reunion and beginning to be honest with ones self.
    • 4/5
      Read from October 14 to 17, 2014Sometimes in your reading life you just need first person narration. I needed all of Kate's "I's". Sometimes you also need a dysfunctional family...this book delivered that, too. And Pittard did a great job of pulling you in with the opening line: "On June 16, at roughly eight thirty in the morning, I get the phone call that my father is dead." Well, you have to keep reading after that, at least I did.Kate's life is pretty well in shambles before she finds out about her father's suicide and before her siblings tell her she has to travel to Atlanta for the funeral -- which will also involve coming face-to-face with her four stepmothers and many half-siblings. As Kate haphazardly deals with her disastrous life, she also comes to terms with her relationship with her father. This is a quick read and a good one for discussion. There's sibling relationships, adultery, childhood issues, and so much more. It's kind of the less-funny, more serious version of This is Where I Leave You.
    • 5/5
      The basics: Reunion is the story of Chicago screenwriter Kate Pulaski and her brother and sister. The titular reunion happens in Atlanta when their estranged father dies, leaving behind their many half-siblings and ex-stem moms. Kate is shocked her siblings want to go to the funeral, but she begrudgingly joins them.My thoughts: Not very far into Reunion, I looked up Hannah Pittard's biography because I figured she had to be from the same part of Atlanta in which I grew up. She nails the details of geography and attitude of the city in a way only someone who shares my love/hate relationship with it can. As I read, I was simultaneously homesick for Atlanta and reminded of why I left. Kate certainly shares my ambivalence of Atlanta: "It's that it reminds me of all that is fake about the sweetness of the South." As much as I enjoyed the setting of this novel, I would have loved it if it were set anywhere. Reunion is far from a feel-good family story. The Pulaskis are dysfunctional and realistically flawed. As close as Kate is with her siblings, each is keeping secrets. The dark humor of Kate infuses the novel's tone with some levity as they individually and collectively face many challenges and divulge secrets. Reunion is so good because of Pittard's characters and writing. Favorite passage: "I give Atlanta a hard time and I certainly give my father's people a hard time. When it comes right down to it, though, I like being from Georgia. But it requires being somewhere else for me to appreciate how special it is. It's a bad relationship--or maybe the truest kind of relationship. Look. I'm trying to be honest. I like it best when it's not around. Because it lives in my memory, completely malleable, completely disposed to my own fantasies and imaginations. It's a cool thing to be able to say when I'm in Chicago--that I'm a Georgia peach--but when I'm here, the skin isn't so fuzzy."The verdict: Reunion is an engaging and wise novel. Like Kate, I found humor at inappropriate times. I devoured this slim novel in twenty-four hours and loved every minute I spent with the Pulaskis and Hannah Pittard.
    • 4/5
      I got this book as a Library Thing Early Reviewers. I loved it from the first page, because I tend to love first-person chatty novels. The writing is good and engaging and the story is good. As the book went on, though, I found myself not being able to STAND the narrator, although I think that's intentional on the part of the author. But I think we are supposed to look at her life history and understand how she got so screwed up. I did understand that, although I kept wanting to say "just grow UP already!". All of that is just part of the craft of novels though. My MAIN complaint -- and maybe they'll change this in the editing process? -- was the titles of the chapters. It absolutely drove me bonkers throughout the entire book. "flight to atlanta"; "driving to Sasha's place"; "the back porch, before dinner". I mean, you could just read the chapter titles and have a synopsis of the entire plot in way less time than it took me to read the book! One chapter is titled "billy calls" and then when you start reading the chapter, her phone rings and she thinks it's her husband Peter calling, and you, as the reader, are going "Nope it's billy. I know this because the chapter title told me so". I don't know, maybe it's snarky, but I thought the book would have been way better if they just stuck with Chapter 12 and so forth. It literally almost ruined the book for me.
    • 5/5
      What is it that makes a reader love the writing of a particular author? I've never given it much thought. Obviously there's something about the story or the characters that simply entertains the reader. Upon reading Hannah Pittard's newest novel, I can't help but wonder if it's sometimes more than that. Is there something in a novel akin to melody that attracts the reader the same way music attracts the listener? Sure there are those authors whose stories I enjoy because of their clever plots or well-developed characters, but there are also authors whose words envelop me in this sense of calm and wonder. Bernard Malamud is one such author. Hannah Pittard is another.Pittard's debut, The Fates Will Find Their Way was beautiful. I loved being wrapped up in that book. Yet, the story wasn't there. To this day I can tell you some of the scenes and lines that captured me, but I can't really tell you what happened in the story. Feeling unsatisfied, I ached to read more of her work.Reunion sacrifices some of the beauty in exchange for more plot. It's a good trade. The wonderfully drawn images are still sprinkled throughout, but this time there's a memorable story serving as the backbone of the novel. Kate Pulaski* is a 30-something-year-old woman who, in the three days this novel takes place, discovers herself. It's your basic coming-of-age story except it's so much more real and the cast of characters are so quirky and wonderful. Maybe it's only more real to me because I'm more of a Pulaski; maybe one day soon, I'll realize who I am and who I want to be. Maybe that explains why I was so emotionally wrapped up in the story. Or perhaps that should be chalked up to the author's talents at weaving a wonderful tale.I don't know how else to say it but that I hang on the words of Hannah Pittard. I'm not sure how others read her work, if they get the same feeling or not. Maybe if they hear the same beat and melody that I do, they'll understand what it is I love about the writing. It's all aesthetics, I guess. I eagerly await to hear more. Play on, Hannah._____*The name was a hang up at first. Kate Pulaski? As in Dr. Katherine Pulaski of the starship Enterprise-D who heinously took our beloved Dr. Crusher away for one season? In the whole of the Trek universe, she was a relatively minor character, but she was significant enough that her face comes immediately to mind upon hearing her name. I'm not sure it was the best choice for a name; fortunately, Pittard's Pulaski bore so little similarity to Picard's Pilaski that I was largely able to disassociate the two. And I certainly liked this Kate Pulaski much better.
    • 4/5
      3.5 Pittard brings the reader inside of a family reuniting after their Father's suicide. A rather familiar plot but it is the well drawn characters that drew me into this story. That father , a many times married man has left numerous ex-wives and various children who feel about him many different things.This is mainly the story of Kate, who with Elliot and Nell are the original children whose mother died when Kate was young. These older children have many different issues in their private lives that spill over into . The author does a wonderful job of conveying the complicated matters that make up a family, the chaotic relationships that can evolve between siblings. Although Kate in her thirties it was interesting watching her change from a self involved individual to a more caring and honest person.Tis is a real and honest story of grief, of self-realization and of the many things from the past that can form a person's character.Getting over it, acquiring understanding and growing as a person in spite of the many difficult moments that makes up a life made this book a very interesting and entertaining read.ARC from librarything and publisher.
    • 4/5
      Two sisters and a brother return to Atlanta after the suicide of their father. The story is told through the eyes of Kate, the youngest and an inveterate liar. She admits her lies to the reader and seems to need to confess. She has a lot of self-awareness but lacks the ability to make any changes in her life. Kate does not want to return for the funeral. She hates her father because of his lifetime of serial infidelity. Kate and her brother and sister have no sense of family outside of the three of them but getting to know their father's estranged wife sets in motion changes for all of them. The three are joined by four ex-stepmothers and a number of half-siblings but they are secondary characters. A family reunited after the death of a parent is not a new concept but Pittard manages to make it her own. There is a real honesty in the unfolding of each of the children's history and character. I read the book straight through and enjoyed every minute.
    • 4/5
      Kate Pulaski has made an awful mess of her life, Her husband wants her gone, her screenwriting career is stalled (perhaps for good), she is deeply in debt and has no ready cash. Her life seems to have hit bottom, but there is one more nasty bombshell in store: her estranged, much-married father has killed himself, and her two older siblings, Nell and Elliot, are counting on her to join them in Atlanta to help wind up their father's affairs. The agreeable surprise of Hannah Pittard's new novel is the unexpected charm of its lying, unreliable narrator, Kate. When her father embarked on his second, third, and fourth marriages, Kate was still living at home and bore the heaviest burden of resentful stepmothers and a steady stream of new half-siblings. Kate is self-aware enough to complain mightily of this unpleasant twist of her fate, but not self-aware enough to recognize how much her unreliable father has shaped her own character and choices. Kate is a curious mixture of volatility, self-deception, and paradoxical blunt honesty, and I found myself becoming surprisingly fond of her. Kate wants to be a better person. Kate is kind of clueless.A second happy surprise was the way Pittard handled Sasha, the estranged fifth wife of the siblings' father. (It would be easier to refer to her as their stepmother, but it is hard to see her that way; she is younger than all of them). It's rare to see a novelist resist the temptation to make the May half of a May/December romance anything but a cartoon, but Sasha exudes a practical warmth and goodness that makes her easily the novel's most endearing character. In fact, in every way, Hannah Pittard resists cliches and easy answers for her characters. Her gift for creating fully-fleshed-out characters makes Kate's three-day sojourn in Atlanta a believable and refreshingly unusual journey to self-awareness.Thanks to Hachette Publishing for making this book available to LT's Early Reviewer Program! And good luck to them in their fight against Amazon.
    • 4/5
      As Kate is returning home from a conference she receives devastating news that her father is dead by his own hand, except it is not as devastating as everyone thinks it should be. Kate and her father are not close, he has been married 5 times and she hasn't seen him in over 3 years. As her plane lands she has to get back on a plane and head to Atlanta with her sister and brother. All the while Kate has serious personal problems and has zero desire to deal with her deceased father's funeral, estate, etc. I found this book to be an interesting look into a family that seemingly had it together (for the most part) but were each unraveling in their own way. I read it in one sitting, so it is a quick read. I would recommend.
    • 4/5
      Hannah Pittard’s REUNION is an emotional and moving novel; with brutal honesty and insights into family dysfunction—with all the grief and pain, mixed with humor and wit.

      Kate is a struggling screenwriter and pretty much out of work for the summer. She happens to be at the airport, when receiving a call from her brother that their father has committed suicide and she needs to come home to Atlanta for the funeral. This news has left her pretty much emotionless and numb.

      You see, her family is not a traditional one. In fact, her father has been married five times. (her mom is deceased and the original family consists of Kate, Elliott, and Nell). However, there are so many ex-wives of all ages, from young to old, and half siblings she has not met; and her father did not know the meaning of the word “faithful”.

      Kate does not even want to attend the funeral in Atlanta, as how can she pretend to have loved her father. She is very close to her sister and speaks to her brother when she can. Needless to say, Kate is not a happy camper. She is jaded, untrustworthy, sarcastic, cynical, and does not have a lot going on in her own life at the moment.

      Her salary level is very low and with the months she is not working, she will have to find part time work or waiting tables. She is miserable in her marriage, had an affair, has blown through all her money she has made in her career, in debt with school loans, and credit cards, and the last place she wants to be is here with a bunch of pretentious southerners. Her husband has bailed her out of her credit card debt previously, but she can no longer count on him. How will she survive? However, her family does not know her issues, nor does she know what they are going through.

      What makes REUNION work is the humor mixed with tragedy, and the dynamics of siblings, as sometimes things are not as they seem. There are always expectations with families, and in reality families do not really know one another.

      Kate can only think of jealousy, being the youngest of the (original family), what she missed, what she did not receive, and what everyone else received. Then of course the other families. As Kate, Elliot, and Nell each deal with their own issues, and their unresolved feelings about their father, they also must deal with Sasha and Mindy, as well as their own childhood rivalries.

      As Kate learns more about her family and actually takes a step back to listen, she realizes how self-centered she has been as, as everyone views things differently. How could she view her father in one light and her little sister thinks of him as wonderful? All of them have secrets they are hiding and only when they come clean can the healing begin.

      I was reminded of the novel I Love You More by Jennifer Murphy (except there were three wives planning a murder). I listened to the audiobook and Julia Whelan’s voice mirrored Kate’s personality for a heartwarming family reunion.

      Even though Kate was frustrating at times, the dark humor worked, as was glued to my iPod to learn the fate of this chaotic family. Having spent my entire adult life in Atlanta, enjoyed the comical references. This was my first book by Pittard, and look forward to reading more!
    • 4/5
      Using this Book Rating Scale* my partner found on Bookcrossing (see below), I’m giving Reunion by Hannah Pittard a solid 7. I liked how Pittard portrayed the family dynamics in this book - grown siblings reuniting after the sudden death of their father. And I loved the chapter titles - “at the funeral home”, and “cooking dinner, getting drunk”, and “a partial list of the secrets I keep while I lie awake in bed most nights”. Overall, the book was good, but not something that will stick with me for a long time. *10: Excellent, at the top of its category. This book has impacted me deeply, challenged me profoundly, or has simply been a pure delight to read.9: Great book - just a nitpick stands between it and a 10.8: Good, solid book that I would recommend to others.7: Good book, but it didn't grab me in a big way.6: Decent, but not my type of book.5: There was nothing remarkable about this book.4: Maybe somebody else would like this. I didn't enjoy this due to the writing style, editing, or lack thereof.3: Barely worth reading. The line between taking it and leaving it is very thin.2: Has major problems. I don't recommend it.1: It's hard to imagine anyone liking this book.
    • 4/5
      “Reunion” by Hannah Pittard is short novel spent inside the mind of Kate Pulaski, a 30-something failed Chicagoan screenwriter, not-so-loyal wife, and skilled prevaricator. It takes place during several days, starting with the suicide of her father in Atlanta and ending with a ‘family reunion’ and the funeral. During the story, we meet her siblings Nell and Elliott, and quite a cast of step-mothers and half siblings of various ages. After Kate’s mother died, her father became the philandering kind of dad whose children don’t have an easy time of it. Kate is complicated, flawed, and very good at making bad choices, but there is some hope for her as the final scene of the novel closes. A quick read, both sad and snarky, and one that describes a lot of real life chaos and thorny family dynamics.Many thanks to Hachette for providing an early reviewer Showcase Bonus Batch!
    • 5/5
      I stayed up until three in the morning finishing Reunion by Hannah Pittard. I could not stop reading it. Kate Pulaski is a screenwriter who is washed up and has just made a mess of her marriage. When I started this book, I was amazed at how much I didn’t like the main character. She is a perpetual liar, she spends money without the thought of tomorrow, she is very manipulative and critical of others, and she hates her dad. So, why didn’t I want to stop reading? The author is amazing, she hooked me without my knowing it and I think that she could do this to any reader.At the beginning of the story, Kate was ready on a plane already that had been delayed and she gets a phone call telling her that her dad had died, that he had shot himself. Her brother and sister want her to come to her dad’s house, she doesn’t even want to do that. But she does end up on a plane to Atlanta, her hometown. Over four days, her secrets and her brother and sister’s emerge, she learns that she is similar the man she hated, her father. The four days are filled with emotional turmoil and painful lessons, and discovery and when all this is revealed, I began to understand her, why she acted the way she did and how she stopped hiding from herself. The more that she stopped deceiving herself and started to challenge others, the more I liked her. This book is an emotional journey that I was reluctant to take because of what I knew of Kate at the beginning but I found myself so wrapped up in her self-exploration and courage to face the truth that I could not lay the book down, I had to know what was going to become of Kate. Now I want to read more of Hannah Pittard’s books.I received this Advance Reading Copy as a win from FirstReads but that in no way influenced my thoughts or feelings in this review.