Right Back Where We Started From

By: Joy Lanzendorfer

Narrated by: Xe Sands

If misfortune hadn’t gotten in the way, Sandra Sanborn would be where she belongs - among the rich and privileged instead of standing outside a Hollywood studio wearing a sandwich board in the hope of someone discovering her. It’s tough breaking into the movies during the Great Depression, but Sandra knows that she’s destined for greatness. After all, her grandmother Vira crossed the country during the Gold Rush and established the Sanborns as one of San Francisco’s most prominent families, and her mother Mabel grew up in a lavish mansion and married into an agricultural empire. Success, Sandra feels, is in her blood. She just needs a chance to prove it.

In between failed auditions, Sandra receives a letter from a man claiming to be her father, which calls into question everything she believes about her family - and herself. As she tries to climb the social ladder, family secrets lurk in the background, pulling her down. Until Sandra confronts the truth about how Vira and Mabel gained and lost their fortunes, she will always end up right back where she started from.

Right Back Where We Started From is a sweeping, multigenerational work of fiction that explores the lust for ambition that entered into the American consciousness during the Gold Rush and how it affected our nation’s ideas of success, failure, and the pursuit of happiness. It is a meticulously layered saga - at once historically rich, romantic, and suspenseful - about three determined and completely unforgettable women.

©2021 Joy Rankin (P)2021 Blackstone Publishing

Amazing narrator!

I suppose that the storyline and conclusion are fitting for such unlikable characters. The narrator is fantastic, and the author does a great job of compelling the reader to continue, even with such a horrible cast of characters.

I'm glad my mom died

If anyone has read the book I'm Glad my Mom Died and enjoyed the heart wrenching Hollywood tale then following Sandra's journey through Hollywood at the height of the great depression will hit you in all the feels. The way the story is woven of strong stubborn women forming family tapestry of broken promises and broken dreams yet somehow you're still left hoping. It is a beautiful timeless tale of what it is like to love your parents but to never truly know why they are the way they are and so blind to see how much alike you are. I loved it.

Great story

At first, I found it hard to follow because it switched settings back and forth, but once I was familiar with the characters that ceased to be a problem. As always, Xe Sand’s narration was perfection. It was interesting to see the parallels in the 3 generations of women.

Excellent narrative

A interesting story. Keeps your attention. The life of two woman’s good and bad life decisions

Most Unlikable Characters!

Xe Sands gave another great narration to a book where all of the three main characters had no redeeming qualities at all. I wanted them to have some sort of redemption at the end, but all ended up being completely selfish and shallow.