Home
/
Fiction
/
More Than Enough
More Than Enough
Nov 12, 2025 1:22 AM

Author:John Fulton

More Than Enough

After a gang of neighborhood boys attacks Steven and his sister, Jenny, the Parkers are doing very well on the resulting settlement money. The family's dream of success in their new home of Salt Lake City seems fulfilled. But their period of high living soon ends, and each family member grasps at what he or she wants most.

Fourteen-year-old Jenny longs for normalcy, a state she tries to find in her Mormon friends' religion. Steven's father clings to his desire for affluence, even as his more practical wife tires of his dreams. For Steven, nothing is more important than keeping his teetering family together.

More Than Enough is a breathtaking dissection of human behavior and the American Dream. In it the break-up of a very ordinary family becomes utterly heart breaking. A novel that is as powerful in its dismantling of unremarkable lives as Andre Dubus III's House of Sand and Fog.

Reviews

Admirable...Brilliant...Fulton is wincingly sharp on female materialism... [The characters] are drawn with emotional exactitude and profound tenderness

—— Daily Telegraph

Make no mistake, this is one of the finest debuts in years. It is a treasure of a debut, beautifully written, a humane reminder that money is not everything despite the message behind the American Dream

—— Sunday Tribune

A heartbreaking story of shattered dreams. A promising, emotionally-charged first novel

—— Big Issue

A rigorous portrayal of the contemporary family, More Than Enough is riveting in its emotional acuity and unflinching honesty

—— Peter Ho Davies

Fulton pins his characters painfully and honestly to the page

—— Guardian

For those of us who suspect all the mysteries of life are contained in the microcosm of the family, that personal relationships prefigure all else, the work of Jane Austen is the Rosetta Stone of literature

—— Anna Quindlen

How could these novels ever seem remote...the gaiety is unextinguished today, the irony has kept its bite, the reasoning is still sweet, the sparkle undiminished, as comedies they are irresistibly and as nearly flawless as any fiction could be

—— Eudora Welty

That young lady has a talent for describing the involvements of feelings and characters of ordinary life which is to me the most wonderful I ever met with

—— Sir Walter Scott

I'd like to write a play as perfect as Emma

—— Simon Gray

Remarkable. It is a strange and joyous book which will yield much to the patient reader

—— Elis Ni Dhuibhne , Irish Times

Lark and Termite, Phillips' fourth novel, has high expectations to live up to. That it meets, and even surpasses, such expectations is only one of its many achievements

—— Angel Gurria-Quintana , Financial Times

'A richly textured novel with a wondrous story at its heart about the many permutations of love'

—— Sunday Herald

compulsive, innovative, challenging

—— Lesley McDowell , Independent on Sunday

A moving meditation on the redemptive power of family and love.

—— Sarah Churchwell , Observer

The voices and structures are remarkable

—— Meaghan Delahunt , The Scotsman

Tender story

—— Angel Gurria-Quintana , Financial Times

With its almost mystical exploration of love in all its forms, this is a tender portrayal of a family that proves unsinkable

—— Elizabeth Buchan , The Sunday Times

Phillips's characters...are alive and intimately rendered; their warmth suffuses the novel like low-burning embers

—— Eimear Nolan , Irish Times

Merivel offers a rich and satisfying sequel to the bright beginning of Restoration

—— Lindsay Duguid , Sunday Times

More interesting than all the period decoration is the character of Merivel, a character whom the author has such deep knowledge of. Tremain’s fusion of an engrossing character and the minutiae of another time is a marvel

—— Lucy Daniel , Daily Telegraph

Tremain's control of her character and her reflective but often dramatic unfolding of events are impressive acts of authorial ventriloquism, in which she gives a nod to the great diarists of that era but carries off her own man's story with wit, grace and originality. There is only to add that, despite the linear storytelling imposed on a journal, she not only effortlessly sustains momentum and mood, but brings the novel to as near a perfect ending as one could wish

—— Rosemary Goring , Herald

Tremain is particularly good at exploring the nuances of life for the hapless Merivel so that reader empathises with his sense of loneliness and despair. As well as exploring the sensitive side of Merivel’s character we share his intimate thoughts which are often very funny. A beautiful book

—— We Love This Book

A delightful portrait of an aging man at the mercy of his own foibles and frustrations

—— Marie Claire

Sequels rarely live up to their predecessors but this one comes close

—— Lianne Kolirin , Daily Express

A glorious book of heart-warming philosophy and heart-rending sadness

—— Sainsbury’s Magazine

An excellent novel...thrilling reading...incredibly entertaining

—— Bookgeeks.co.uk

Surely one of the most versatile novelists writing today

—— Daily Express

Vivid, original and always engaging

—— The Times

Rose Tremain writes comedy that can break your heart

—— Literary Review

Steps inside the mind of Sir Robert Merivel

—— Sunday Business Post

For a second time this is one to cherish

—— Boyd Tonkin , Independent

A Pepysian romp of the first order

—— Independent Radar

Continues in the same superior vein as Restoration… The fusion of such an engrossing character, and the minutiae of another time, remains a marvel

—— Daily Telegraph

In this evocative and beautifully drawn novel of family and loyalty in the face of an uncertain future Tremain continues the story of a wonderfully unique character

—— Hannah Britt , Daily Express

Hugely enjoyable

—— Reader's Digest

Merivel’s hapless charm remains intact in this tour de force of literary technique

—— Sunday Telegraph (Seven)

A sequel that looks back to the earlier novel without ever quite recapturing its spirit is the perfect form in which to evoke that feeling of having to carry on, and of trying to make yourself have fun even with it eventually begins to hurt

—— Colin Burrow , Guardian

A marvelllously rollicking good read, and it is such a pleasure to meet Robert Merivel again. Rose Tremain brings the character to life in a way that makes you want to find out even more about the period. Enormously skilled and deft

—— Good Book Guide
Comments
Welcome to zzdbook comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdbook.com All Rights Reserved