The Floating Feldmans

Laced with humor, this shipboard comedy features a disjointed bi-coastal family gathered for a weeklong Caribbean cruise to celebrate the 70th birthday of the prickly matriarch. In attendance: an adult daughter lacking in financial boundaries, her husband who is leaving his stable job, their two teenage children who are in anguish because no one paid for their Wi-Fi; and a former-family-screwup-turned-weed-entrepreneur son and his trophy girlfriend. Fireworks ignite when secrets are revealed and everyone hates everyone else for most of the vacation. There's also the patriarch, silently suffering from leukemia, and the cruise director, unwilling to marry his longtime boyfriend. It makes for a merry mix and there's plenty of enjoyable show more snark, but the denouement is a little too pat and predictable for my taste.

Quote: “Annette conducted herself as though there was an audience around at all times, her performance carefully crafted to please adoring fans who, as far as Elise could tell, lived inside her own mind.” show less

The Feldmans are a dysfunctional family. They all have secrets from each other and no one seems to understand anything about the other members of the family. The novel is told in multiple voices and we get to hear everyone's opinions on family issues and on each other.

Annette is turning 70 and decides that she and her recently retired husband, David, should take the family on a cruise to celebrate. Their two children can barely spend a few days with them so a week long cruise is going to be different for all of them. Their son has always been a mystery to them - he never reached the goals that they had set for him and has always felt underappreciated. He shows up for the cruise with his new much younger girlfriend. Annette's daughter, show more Elsie is married with two teen age children. There is little to no communication between her and her children and she is keeping a major secret from her husband...but is he also keeping a secret from her? With all this deception going on, spending 7 days on a cruise is either going to make them or break them....

This compelling novel is about being part of a family and trying to accept each other. The dash of humor that's thrown in, makes it all the more realistic. show less

I was intrigued about this title because I think it was recommended because I read The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson, maybe. I was embarking on a trip with some extended family at the time, as well.

I think a lot of people didn't like this book. However, I did. It perfectly shows how easily miscommunication occurs, and I believe miscommunication is to be blamed for a lot of dysfunction found in families. I did enjoy the book.

Lindas Book Obsession Reviews "The Floating Feldmans" by Elyssa Friedland, Penguin Random House, July 23, 2019

Elyssa Friedland, Author of "The Floating Feldmans" has written a witty, entertaining,and emotional novel. The Genres for this story are Domestic Fiction, Humor, and Women's Fiction. The author describes her dysfunctional cast of characters as complex, and complicated, each having their own set of problems and secrets.

Annette Feldman is going to be 70 and has decided that she wants the whole family to go on a cruise. The Feldmans don't communicate well on the land, so you can imagine what will happen at sea. They all will need their life preservers, that is for sure!! Not only is there a lack of communication, but every Feldman show more also seems to have a secret.

There is a touch of satire, and I appreciate that the author discusses the importance of family, honesty, communication, emotional support and love. I recommend this amusing and thought-provoking story! Happy Reading!! show less

Thanks to Berkley and Linda's Book Obsession.

Come set sail with The Feldmans, one big dysfunctional family. These books are my favorites.

A funny book about Annette and David, the parents of Elise and Freddy (and his girlfriend Natasha), and Darius and Rachel, their children and Annette's 70th birthday cruise.

It's amazing what families don't know about each other until they get together on a cruise so tightly. So much to like with this book.

I love epilogues and this one was well written which was a year later.

Title: The Floating Feldmans
Author: Elyssa Friedland
Publisher: E. F.
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Five
Review:

"The Floating Feldmans" by Elyssa Friedland

My Rationalization:

I found "The Floating Feldman's" quite a story that lots of families have gone through in one way or another. For this family, this matriarch was turning seventy and invited her son, daughter, son-in-law and the two grandchildren to come along with her and her husband on a week's Caribbean cruise for her birthday that she would pay for. I will say that these characters were really something that will definitely keep you turning the pages to see what was coming next in trying to understand them.

It seems like everyone wanted to come on this cruise but omg what kind show more of attitudes, trust issues, resentments, insecurities, and secrets did this family seem to have among themselves? How will this vacation turn out for this Friedland/Connelly family? With the uncle having business with his selling of pot, a daughter being a shopaholic whose bankrupted the family, their father being ill and this story will continue on and will leave you shaking your head and saying Wow! And it seems like this family wasn't alone in having problems for the cruise director had problems not only with his cruse people [this family] but in his own personal life too. I could definitely understand his thoughts of if getting married would be the best thing for him after seeing and hearing what all goes on in some families.

Be ready to find some humor in this good read that will definitely add to the storyline. It will be really interesting to see how all of these secrets will come out by the end of the cruise. So to see how this family drama all comes out you will have to pick up "The Floating Feldmans" to see how well this author presents to the reader a well-written story. I enjoyed how well this author will answer all the questions of everyone's situation by the end of the story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC of this book. show less

A special thank you to Penguin First to Read for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The matriarch of the family Annette Feldman decides she wants to do something for her milestone 70th birthday, so she organizes a cruise for her family.

But between sibling rivalries that keep rearing their ugly head, family secrets, and her teenage grandkids, Annette’s birthday vacation is looking like it is going to capsize. Sailing on the open seas, the Feldmans are forced to face the truths they’ve been ignoring all while learning that the people they once thought most likely to sink them are actually the ones who help them stay afloat.

I thought that the ship was an interesting vehicle for the story because it forced all of the characters to show more not only be in the same vicinity as one another, but it really pushed some of the family dynamics front and centre and created some interesting situations.

The exposition and build up were painfully long. Once Friedland's cast is finally assembled, I expected more by way of confrontations and satire. She did redeem herself with the ending, readers will be satisfied as they disembark.

All-in-all a fun read that's perfect for summer, or cruising. Told from multiple points of view, The Floating Feldmans really brings out the fun in dysfunctional. show less