All We Ever Wanted Was Everything

The Silicon Valley suburb of Santa Rita provides the backdrop for this story of the Miller women - Janice, Margaret, and Lizzie - as they face simultaneous personal crises. When their seemingly perfect lives begin to crack, each woman must confront long-buried truths about herself and her choices. Margaret, 28, returns home after her magazine fails in New York, while her teenage sister Lizzie struggles with high school social dynamics and dangerous behaviors. Their mother Janice watches her marriage and social status transform overnight, forcing her to rebuild her identity from scratch. The story tracks these three women over a summer as they clash, reconnect, and attempt to navigate their new realities together under one roof. External pressures from Santa Rita's status-obsessed community complicate their efforts to move forward. This novel examines how women's roles, social expectations, and measures of success shape identity and self-worth across generations. The characters' parallel journeys reveal universal truths about reinvention and the complex bonds between mothers and daughters.

Readers describe this as a sharp critique of Silicon Valley wealth and social dynamics, following three women navigating personal crises. Many note the dark humor and satire of suburban California life. Liked: - Authentic portrayal of mother-daughter relationships - Details about Silicon Valley culture and status anxiety - Complex, flawed characters that feel real - Commentary on materialism and social climbing Disliked: - Slow pacing in middle sections - Some found characters too unsympathetic - Resolution felt rushed to some readers - Multiple readers noted it was "darker than expected" One frequent comment was that it reads more like literary fiction than the "beach read" it was marketed as. Several readers mentioned struggling to connect with characters initially but becoming invested by the end. Ratings: Goodreads: 3.4/5 (15,000+ ratings) Amazon: 3.8/5 (180+ reviews) LibraryThing: 3.5/5 (300+ ratings)

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🌟 This was Janelle Brown's debut novel, published in 2008 after she spent years as a journalist for Salon and Wired 📚 The book was selected as a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers pick and became an international bestseller, translated into multiple languages 💫 The story takes place over just 28 days but covers three generations of women dealing with the aftermath of a Silicon Valley IPO fortune 🎬 The film rights were optioned by Universal Studios with Julia Roberts' production company, Red Om Films 🌺 The title comes from a song by the British post-punk band Bauhaus, reflecting the novel's themes of materialism and disillusionment in modern America