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First Comes Love: A Novel by Emily Giffin
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First Comes Love: A Novel (edition 2016)

by Emily Giffin (Author)

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6545435,431 (3.44)12
Fiction. Literature. Romance. HTML:#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A pair of sisters find themselves at a crossroads in this dazzling new novel from the author of Something Borrowed, Where We Belong, and The One & Only. First Comes Love is a story about family, friendship, and the courage to follow your own heart—wherever that may lead.
Growing up, Josie and Meredith Garland shared a loving, if sometimes contentious, relationship. Josie was impulsive, spirited, and outgoing, Meredith hardworking, thoughtful, and reserved. When tragedy strikes, their delicate bond splinters.
Fifteen years later, Josie and Meredith are in their late thirties, following very different paths. Josie, a first grade teacher, is single—and this close to swearing off dating for good. What she wants more than the right guy, however, is to become a mother—a feeling that is heightened when her ex-boyfriend’s daughter is assigned to her class. Determined to have the future she’s always wanted, Josie decides to take matters into her own hands.
On the outside, Meredith is the model daughter with the perfect life. A successful attorney, she’s married to a wonderful man, and together they’re raising a beautiful four-year-old daughter. Yet lately Meredith feels dissatisfied and restless, secretly wondering if she chose the life that was expected of her rather than the one she truly desired.
As the anniversary of their tragedy looms, and painful secrets from the past begin to surface, Josie and Meredith must not only confront the issues that divide them but also come to terms with their own choices. In their journey toward understanding and forgiveness, both sisters discover that they need each other more than they knew—and that in the search for true happiness, love always comes first.
Praise for First Comes Love
“An engaging story of sisterly love . . . Illuminating and engrossing.”—People
 
“[Emily] Giffin delivers another emotionally honest work. . . .  First Comes Love is a heart-stirring novel about the many layers of sibling rivalry.”Associated Press
 
First Comes Love brings [Giffin] back with a vengeance. Tales of sisters have been at the core of other great novels, but Giffin turns that relationship upside down and makes her view a fascinating one.”Huffington Post
“Moving and complex, [First Comes Love] proves [that Emily Giffin is] still at the top of her game.”Booklist
“Giffin juggles Josie’s quest for motherhood and Meredith’s internal conflicts deftly. . . . Giffin paints a realistic portrait of the troubled and complex relationship between a pair of sisters.”Kirkus Reviews
“This is Giffin at her finest—a fantastic, memorable story.”—Publishers Weekly
  
First Comes Love is an un-put-down-able, smart, and thoughtful novel that will make you think about the nature of family and how our past informs our present.”PopSugar
“Giffin’s talent is pretty much unparalleled when it comes to the modern woman’s story about life, love and family.”Redbook
“[A] well-written family drama.”—Real Simple

“Fans will be entertained by the author’s humor and satisfied by her storytelling”—Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
… (more)
Member:marcyjill
Title:First Comes Love: A Novel
Authors:Emily Giffin (Author)
Info:Ballantine Books (2016), 400 pages
Collections:Your library
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First Comes Love by Emily Giffin

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» See also 12 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 54 (next | show all)
Romance
  BooksInMirror | Feb 19, 2024 |
It's a story about the relationship of two very different sisters who are having vaguely mid-life crisis and need to figure out how to be happy. One is thinking of having a baby on her own and the other is considering leaving her marriage. It's an easy book to read and kept me turning the pages but it's completely predictable and that's OK since I know that going in with Emily Giffin. This is slightly different than her other books because it has some romance aspects but that's not the main thrust of the story.

My take is that I wouldn't tell anybody to run and read this but I wouldn't tell anybody to steer clear either. ( )
  hmonkeyreads | Jan 25, 2024 |
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. I had to devour it all in one day. It was funny, emotional, sad, and really all about love. This family was rocked to its core in 2001 when an unexpected tragedy shook their family. Fifteen years later they are still trying to deal with it and the ramifications of that night. The relationship most explored was between sisters. Josie and Meredith fight all the time, about everything. They are so different, yet similar. They are both hurting and envious, to an extent of one another's life. This was a beautifully woven story of family, those that we are born into, and the ones that we create, and also the best and sweetest tale of love coming first ( )
  b00kdarling87 | Jan 7, 2024 |
This novel really dug under my skin and I felt like the characters were my family members by the time it ended.
 
I loved the very realistic portrayal of tragedy in this family, and I loved the timeline it was written in. Giffin did a fantastic job of keeping us in the present while letting us see what had happened fifteen years prior. It seemed that everyone involved felt partially responsible, which was heartbreaking, and made me want to reach out and talk to them.
 
The detail that went into characters made them all the more realistic and intriguing. The constant pull and tug between Meredith and Josie wanting to be a bit more like the other was really marvellous to watch. I loved Gabe and I loved the way his girlfriend interacted with him and Josie. I loved Nolan and the way he seemed so unchanging. All the minor characters, too, from an almost forgotten ex to a fertility doctor, were really beautifully written.
 
I felt that the ending was basically perfect, leaving strands open and closing the ones that really mattered. Nothing felt entirely forced, but there were plenty of opportunities for characters to move forward.
 
This book questioned the difference between loving someone and being in love with them, and the effect that losing someone at a young age can have on one's emotional maturity. While it focused on the relationship between the sisters, it also touched on friendship--platonic and romantic--and the random ties that can keep a mother in touch with a girl she barely knew.
 
Children also played a humongous role in this book--both sisters were quite maternal in their own different ways. Seeing Harper interacting with different adults was enlightening, and Josie's complete drive towards having a child was really passionate and fascinating as I couldn't relate.
 
I'd barely call this a love story, though it did have a lovely romantic subplot that kept me happy. This touched on so much more than love, and I highly recommend it.
 
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. ( )
  whakaora | Mar 5, 2023 |
This was a family saga with plenty of turmoil, love, loss and relationship woes.

It was one of those books that you could not put down and just had to turn another page.It was a well written book and kept you thinking until the very end.
Thank you Bookbridgr and Hodder for allowing me to review xx ( )
  TheReadingShed001 | Mar 1, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 54 (next | show all)
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Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Emily Giffinprimary authorall editionscalculated
Foster, EmilyNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Taber, CatherineNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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For Suzy, with love And in memory of Bob Gipe
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Time is a tricky thing, Daniel said to his mother when he was still very young.
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"Very cool. Text it to me. I'll Insta it," I say, wishing that life were that easy.  Take the flawed image and simply crop it, brighten and saturate it, throw a fancy filter on it. Make it what you want it to be.
"I'd love that," I said, feeling that rush of new-friend excitement that becomes rarer the older you get.
No matter how you slice it, I remember thinking, life is tragic.
I wanted to be close like that, but couldn't imagine it ever happening.
"It's funny how grief is different for everyone...."
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Fiction. Literature. Romance. HTML:#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A pair of sisters find themselves at a crossroads in this dazzling new novel from the author of Something Borrowed, Where We Belong, and The One & Only. First Comes Love is a story about family, friendship, and the courage to follow your own heart—wherever that may lead.
Growing up, Josie and Meredith Garland shared a loving, if sometimes contentious, relationship. Josie was impulsive, spirited, and outgoing, Meredith hardworking, thoughtful, and reserved. When tragedy strikes, their delicate bond splinters.
Fifteen years later, Josie and Meredith are in their late thirties, following very different paths. Josie, a first grade teacher, is single—and this close to swearing off dating for good. What she wants more than the right guy, however, is to become a mother—a feeling that is heightened when her ex-boyfriend’s daughter is assigned to her class. Determined to have the future she’s always wanted, Josie decides to take matters into her own hands.
On the outside, Meredith is the model daughter with the perfect life. A successful attorney, she’s married to a wonderful man, and together they’re raising a beautiful four-year-old daughter. Yet lately Meredith feels dissatisfied and restless, secretly wondering if she chose the life that was expected of her rather than the one she truly desired.
As the anniversary of their tragedy looms, and painful secrets from the past begin to surface, Josie and Meredith must not only confront the issues that divide them but also come to terms with their own choices. In their journey toward understanding and forgiveness, both sisters discover that they need each other more than they knew—and that in the search for true happiness, love always comes first.
Praise for First Comes Love
“An engaging story of sisterly love . . . Illuminating and engrossing.”—People
 
“[Emily] Giffin delivers another emotionally honest work. . . .  First Comes Love is a heart-stirring novel about the many layers of sibling rivalry.”Associated Press
 
First Comes Love brings [Giffin] back with a vengeance. Tales of sisters have been at the core of other great novels, but Giffin turns that relationship upside down and makes her view a fascinating one.”Huffington Post
“Moving and complex, [First Comes Love] proves [that Emily Giffin is] still at the top of her game.”Booklist
“Giffin juggles Josie’s quest for motherhood and Meredith’s internal conflicts deftly. . . . Giffin paints a realistic portrait of the troubled and complex relationship between a pair of sisters.”Kirkus Reviews
“This is Giffin at her finest—a fantastic, memorable story.”—Publishers Weekly
  
First Comes Love is an un-put-down-able, smart, and thoughtful novel that will make you think about the nature of family and how our past informs our present.”PopSugar
“Giffin’s talent is pretty much unparalleled when it comes to the modern woman’s story about life, love and family.”Redbook
“[A] well-written family drama.”—Real Simple

“Fans will be entertained by the author’s humor and satisfied by her storytelling”—Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

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