The Lola Quartet (2012)

This is the third book by Ms. Mandel that I have read this year and it is another fantastic read. I almost gave it 4 stars just to not give another 5 star review but this book earned the top rating. The titular quartet is a jazz combo formed in a high school in Florida and once again Ms. Mandel masterfully handles timelines, flashbacks, multiple characters, and multiple points of view to weave together an engrossing, at times frustrating, but always intriguing story. Everyone is operating with the knowledge they have, gee just like in real life, and so their ability to make decisions is hampered by incomplete facts. They also are all broken in different ways, hmm real life again, and as they do things to make their situations worse I found myself once again yelling at the book. For the record it did not answer. This is yet another book that puts me in places that I have never been. I had a great family growing up and was supported in all I did. It is heartbreaking to see the consequences of indifferent or destructive parenting rendered in fiction. As much as we might hope for a happy ever after, it doesn't always happen. I love falling into a story like this and these characters will stay with me. Even Gavin, who commits a workplace sin that is unforgivable to me. If you read the book and know me, you will understand. ( )

Another fascinating and intricate novel from this excellent author that kept me reading far later into the night than I probably should have done. ( )

With the Lola Quartet I have finally read all of Emily St. John Mandel's 5 novels. She is an excellent writer. Her books are a combination of good writing, an interesting story, and good character development. The story surrounds a group of high school musicians that are friends. The four of them Gavin, Daniel, Sasha, and Jack are the Lola Quartet. Anna is Sasha's half sister. These are the main characters. As with all of her books, this book goes back and forth in time with the present 2008 being during the economic downturn. In the present Gavin is a a disgraced reporter who returns to his steamy South Florida hometown. There he discovers that his girl friend Anna who disappeared 10 years before may have had his daughter. This along with the fact that we learn early on in the book that Anna stole $120,000 from a Utah drug dealer are the focal points that fuel the story. For me this was a page turner. Mandel uses coincidence(maybe a little too much) to connect characters but it does add complexity to the plot. It is a good story about choice, friendships, etc. St.John Mandel has become one of my favorite writers. I would recommend reading all of her books starting with the first so you can see her evolution and her creativity with the different stories that she tells. ( )

I found this to be a missed opportunity. I think there's the possibility of a better book in the themes, but I particularly think it would have been interesting to focus on how this group of people move forward from the events toward the end of the book. That's the most interesting bit - the rest is just setup for the most part. There's not enough time spent with any of the characters for them to feel fleshed out, and Anna in particular is a bit of a cipher. That said, the idea of how a group of people with a shared past move forward in very different directions is an interesting one. The plot itself is moved way too much by coincidence. ( )

This was fine, but left me feeling a bit eh. I think Emily St. John Mandel has a great knack for character development, but the plot of The Lola Quartet is a bit contrived and this book just didn't weave the spell that [b:Station Eleven|20170404|Station Eleven|Emily St. John Mandel|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1415583784s/20170404.jpg|28098716] did. ( )