#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, … 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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Yooooo I reviewed a book over on the BookBub blog! First Comes Love was a super sweet, fast read about two sisters whose lives have been affected by a family tragedy. If you like Giffin’s other books, or light women’s fic, you will love this book!
https://media.bookbub.com/blog/2016/06/28/first-comes-love-by-emily-giffin-review/
Josie and Meredith are sisters growing up in Atlanta with their dearly loved and respected older bother Daniel. When Daniel is killed in a car accident, the girls’ complicated bond grows even harder to maintain. They meander through young adulthood and the next fifteen years, to where the main action of the novel takes the reader.
One thing I love about Emily Giffin’s novels is how she weaves so many various themes throughout her novel. On my count, we have: death of a sibling, sibling relationships (especially those between sisters), former flames coming into one’s life and how one reacts, relationships with parents, methods of grieving the loss of loved ones / survivor’s guilt, platonic friendships, reproductive ethics and practices, marital stresses, dating in your thirties – and how we grow, change, and mature (or don’t!) as we get older.
Another hallmark of a Giffin book is that the characters are REAL. The reader will not always like the choices made by the protagonists, or may not even like the protagonist at points at all, but the quirks, foibles, and mistakes lend an authenticity and a humanity to the characterization. Meredith and Josie may drive you nuts, but you will recognize parts of yourself as you follow their respective journeys.
This book is another one of those into which the reader is at once transported. When a story feels real, you lose yourself in it and keep wanting to come back for more.
This is a story we’ve all lived, in one form or another. It’s about what happens when someone you love dies, about how you deal with that loss, about accepting how others grieve differently and trying to accept that difference, and how refusing to deal with the loss can have repercussions for years. And finally it’s about learning to accept the healing and bravely moving forward.
For Josie and her younger sister Meredith, this is a long and painful struggle made all the more difficult by the pre-death dynamic of constant sisterly conflict, lies and selfishness of both parties. I loved the way the author lets us see the story from both women’s perspective. We get to see that what we justify often is perceived by others in a totally different way. And by not being willing to communicate can often lead to judgment and misunderstanding. But we also get to understand that often we are ourselves our own worst enemies. Of course we all know this on some level, but it’s always good to be reminded. Especially when we get to do so with an interesting, funny, and hard to put down story that will have you rooting for a happy ending for both Josie and Meredith.
I love Emily! She has such a way with telling a story. It’s all interwoven about people we all lnow
a story about sisters
Writing keeps your interest but characters are not likeable so book doesnt engage reader
I liked the way a woman wanting a baby after a certain age examines her options.
Very slow! Very tedious! Very unsatisfying!