Twenty-one-year-old college student Olivia Martin has made an art of building walls to keep the world out. Saddled with an immature mother, domineering father, cold stepmother, and bratty four-year-old half-sister, Olivia is more than happy to keep her distance from the people she sarcastically calls her “family.” But when her father and stepmother are tragically killed in a car accident, the responsibility for half-sister Celia’s care lands squarely on her shoulders. Suddenly faced with a new role, Olivia realizes that this may be her second change to be a part of a family – something she always figured she was better off without. LaZebnik has written a poignant debut novel that’s funny and touching by turns. In a solid, well-told narrative, she skillfully contrasts Olivia’s prickliness with her mother’s and Celia’s neediness, and her ability to draw a disparate cast of characters together into a new family makes for an engaging read. Highly recommended for most public libraries.
- Amy Brozio-Andrews, Albany P.L., NY; Library Journal, April 15, 2003
18 Comments
March 2, 2009 at 7:58 am
[...] Same As It Never Was is Claire’s first novel. She had four children at the time and Will was a baby Claire wrote the novel during his naps while the two oldest were in elementary school and the third was in preschool. It’s still hard not to be a little aggravated by that fact. The book is ultimately about what you do when your life unexpectedly changes, plus there is some romance thrown in. [...]
May 5, 2009 at 11:01 am
this was the 1st book i read by claire lazebnik (1st and only so far). i loved it so much that im rereading it! i feel so much like olivia (sarcastic, cynical, ex.)but also like she’s so lucky (hot TA). i’ve met so many guys like joe and even more girls like charlotte and betsy (not 2 mention the class of undergrad girls). the book was so easy to relate to and so hilarious (did i spell that right). idk. sumtimes its hard to sum up how much i loved same as it never was. i still can’t believe she ended up with dennis. i didn’t pick her for the 40 yr old lawyer type. still all in all this was my favorite book ever
May 5, 2009 at 11:55 am
Arrogant, sarcastic, rude, incessant, bitter, cynical, disrespectful, evil, hostile, mean, blunt, and wild are a few names that i’ve been called recently. we’re talking strangers, family, friends, and even kids (i was called mean this morning by my 4yr old niece). my mother calls me sour. i forgot to put that one. my boyfriend calls me little shit after he read your book (i left him alone in a blackout and he found it on my dresser and read it). apparently he thinks olivia and i are similar. i told him he reminded me of joe, but i added that he wasn’t welcome to cheat on me. your book is now common conversation (he starts it) in our relationship.
May 13, 2009 at 6:20 pm
Great movie anzd I’m glad they made ininto a movie (hello sister goodbye life) it rox luv Jen ps I’m upset danny got voted off American idol I thougt Adam or kris shouldve Adam sucks and kris can’t sing but is in some ppls point of view cute
May 15, 2009 at 7:37 am
i didn’t know we were supposed to talk about american idol on a BOOK website
May 15, 2009 at 8:17 am
Well, as long as people are visiting the site, I’m good with anything! Sadly, I’m not watching “American Idol” this season. I think I’m burned out on it. So I have no opinion on the matter.
June 25, 2009 at 1:25 pm
I just discovered you this summer and read all three of your books – Loved them all! I can’t believe I have to wait 2010 for the next one. Keep up the good work!
July 1, 2009 at 1:38 pm
I love being discovered! Sorry it’s taking so long for the next one, but then I’m hoping things will move more quickly. Thanks for your lovely note, Barbara!
August 11, 2009 at 8:25 am
Hi! I really wanted to tell you how much I love this book. It has a permanent spot in my top five favorite novels. I guess that probably wouldn’t mean much unless I tell you the other four, but they kind of vary. Right now keeping you company is Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl, Quite the Other Way by Kaylie Jones, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. Please know that I am totally kidding about that last one! I guess the fifth would be Obernewtyn by Isobelle Carmody, because it kicked off one of my favorite fantasy series.
Anyhoo, I’ve read all of your fiction, and your writing just gets me every time. Thanks for all the laughs (and tear)!
Take care,
Nicole
August 11, 2009 at 12:10 pm
I’m honored!
August 22, 2009 at 2:55 pm
I read only two of your fiction books, but I loved them. they were great. I kind of have a problem that I don’t quite know how to handle. You see, I have a baby sister who’s twelve. (I’m twenty-six so I guess my parents kinda got back in the groove) She spent a weekend at my house and came across my bookshelf. As mature as Lily (my sister) is, when she read Same As It Never Was she cried and laughed and got so angry that she slammed my door so hasrd it broke off the hinges. I’m not exagerating. I didn’t know she was reading it untill she finished and asked me what it meant when Olivia said ‘flavor of the month’. That I could handle. What I can’t handle is deciding whether or not to tell my parents she read it. What should I do?
August 30, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Hi, Steffanie. Sorry it’s taken me so long to respond, but I was away for a week and then I’ve been dealing with sick kids. I’ve known a couple of twelve-year-olds who’ve read the book and been okay with it. It’s been recommended as a “young adult” book (which is admittedly more the 15 to 28 range than 12) and I’ve always felt that while there are some four-letter words and sexual situations, the book is morally pretty sound–it’s about overcoming your selfishness and helping your family. Doing the right thing. So maybe that’s an argument you could make to your family?
November 1, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Hey Claire,
just wanted to let you know how much I love Same as It Never Was…I’ve read it probably more than five times already and it still gets me every time…
Anyway, I am a Hungarian translator (translated Eat, Pray, Love, and The Art of Racing in the Rain, among others…) and would love to recommend it to some of my publishers.. Who could I write to about translation rights in Hungary? Thanks so much. Laura
November 2, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Wow, Laura, how lovely of you to ask! Thanks so much. I actually went ahead and forwarded your query to my agent who handles foreign rights and all. Hope that’s okay. You made my day!
December 29, 2009 at 4:28 pm
I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this book!!! Believe it or not, I actually called Dennis and Olivia from his first visit to the house after she moved in with Celia. I was rooting for them the whole way and HATED Joe from the start! I don’t think it was that the book was predictable (because although that’s what I wanted, I thought I would be wrong)… which was the best part! I got my way and didn’t expect it! Hahaha. But I would soooooo love to see Dennis and Olivia and Celia 10 years down the road… (hint, hint, hint!!!)
December 31, 2009 at 10:24 am
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much! Thanks for letting me know. It’s still my favorite although I do think my next one–the one that’s coming out this fall–touches on some similar themes.
May 27, 2010 at 11:29 pm
While browsing our local library, I was hopng to find a catchy tittle & book cover jacket that would make me pull it off the shelf. Yours did stand out. I do judge books by covers but more so by the first couple lines on the first page of the first paragraph. It grabbed my attention right away. I finished it tonight as I didn’t want to put it down as it had me that intrigued. I can only hope that you will write a sequel say afew years down line. It would be interesting to know how Olviia & Cecelia manage and Dennis too.
You have a knack for writing what we all think at times of certain people.With your dry sense of humor, your characters are believable of someone we all can relate to. So please if you may, do us the honor… your fans, to continue to entertain us & allow us to escape…
May 28, 2010 at 6:47 am
Thank you so much for such a nice note! I have to admit that I haven’t planned a sequel for this one because I was so happy with the way they ended up–such a bizarre but content little family. My new novel, which is coming out in early September (I REALLY have to start a page for it on this blog) does have some similar themes in it. The protagonist is again a very young woman thrust into being a mother sooner than she expected (but for very different reasons) and ends up living with her parents. They’re a much closer family and her child is older, a six-year-old boy, and the plot revolves around the school he’s in–but once again the main character is growing up at the same time as her child!