Tag: Family

Grace and Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon by Matthew Norman (Literary Fiction)

Grace and Henry have been “mommed” — brought together by their well-meaning mothers over a ridiculously fabricated wifi problem to see if they could help each other out. Grace’s husband died after a long battle with cancer; Henry’s wife died in a private plane crash that also took out most of the senior leadership of the company for which they both worked. Neither is anywhere close to being ready to “move on,” but thanks to the intervention, they do find some comfort in having a friend who understands what they are going through.
This book is about grief and holding it together against all odds and yet … I found myself laughing out loud on every page. It takes real authorial talent to focus on the depth and complexity of trauma induced emotion while simultaneously seeing the wry humor available to the reflective soul during nearly any aspect of life. I loved the characters — Henry and Grace, but also Grace’s son — the sensitive, artistic, emotionally intuitive boy-child Ian; their family dog Harry Styles, purchased on the way home from her husband’s funeral, Grace’s emotional support ghost (aka her dead husband), and the various friends and family who surround them with infusions of the kind of quirky love that only the collection of misfits we call ours can provid

I loved the writing — the wry humor, the stellar dialog, the poignant shifting of perspective between a future focus and the firm grip maintained on rapidly elusive memories. It made me think about how we consider our priorities — how often do we seek excitement over contentment or adrenaline rushes over dwelling in beauty? How often do we discount the importance of human connection over career advancement or external recognition?

I’ve read all of Matthew Norman’s books and don’t know how I missed this one which just came out last November. He writes families and individuals with humor and depth — one of the few male writers I’m aware of who can write about these topics in a way that resonates with me.

Some great quotes:
Parenting in times of crisis, I’m learning, is a delicate balance between fiction, nonfiction, and pure fantasy, like when Bella asked if we could call her dad in heaven, and I told her they don’t have cell towers there.

Watching this guy drink a beer is like watching someone test something for poison. He sips, looks with trepidation into his glass, awaits death.

Unfortunately, the rest of my apartment looks like it’s set in a dystopian future where humans no longer care about home décor because we’ve been enslaved by robots.

Plus, she probably isn’t even awake. It’s 7:47 p.m., and she said she’s been tired for eleven years.

… And I’ve combined them with my favorite lounging sweater. Last time I wore it home, my mom said she didn’t know Goodwill had a section specifically for shut-ins.

Fun for the Whole Family by Jennifer E. Smith (Literary Fiction)

Four currently non-communicating siblings (who used to be closer than close), three big secrets, and a sudden trip to North Dakota bring to a head the lives of the four Endicotts: Gemma, Connor, and twins Jude and Roddy — all in their 50s by the time the story takes place. Gemma — the “normal” one, currently fighting IVF battles; Connor — author of a “tell all” book on the family (while claiming it is fiction with “emotional truth” rather than “literal truth”); Jude — a megastar with constant nightmares; and Roddy — an almost has-been soccer star on the verge of marrying his partner, Winston, while trying to make a comeback.

They had a fairly non-traditional childhood — going for long and extremely disorganized annual summer road trips with the mother who left the family when the youngest was eight. With flashbacks to fill in the blanks and the highly itinerized trip to the wilds of North Dakota to propel the action, the story grabs you from multiple angles and just won’t let you go.

I liked the characters a great deal — they each had a principled core, with frank reflection and sincere longing to reconnect. I’d be happy to be their friends (my ultimate positive assessment!). While there was plenty of drama — as there is in every life — it was (to me) more of a “real” drama, rather than a manufactured and overly manipulative one. The pacing was excellent, and I found the story heartwarming — not because good things necessarily happened, but because of the honest understanding and connection that occurred.

The Garden of Small Beginnings by Abbi Waxman (Audio Book)

Writing: 4.5/5 Characters: 5/5 Plot: 4/5

Four years later, Lily is just barely getting her life together and keeping the grief to a simmer after her husband is killed in a car accident mere feet from the family home. But this is honestly not a sad book (although the author does a good job of exploring how Lily does claw her way back up out of the grief trough). Instead it’s uplifting, humorous, and meaningful all at once.

An illustrator for children’s textbooks, Lily is sent off to a gardening class at the L.A. Botanical Garden to become one with the vegetables she will need to illustrate for a brand new client. She takes her two children (5 and 7) and her sister Rachael with her, and to say the class is populated with some wonderful characters is an huge understatement. The book is clever, literary, and linguistic — I love that Waxman is both a fantastic writer and chooses to write a world where bad things happen, but the individuals involved can make good things happen too. Her characters have agency. I also like the way she works with stereotypes and diversity issues — tackling the assumptions people make about each other and the surprise and follow up understanding when their assumptions are challenged. Very skillfully done.

I listened to this on audio book and the reader was fantastic. I probably would have preferred to read it in book form, though, because I like to savor Waxman’s writing and that is hard to do when you’re listening (and driving, hiking, or otherwise too busy to stop and do some kind of audio underlining). I did manage to capture a couple of lines though: “Just turn the handbag of your soul inside out, and shake it“ and “She has people skills like lions have gazelle skills.” As a bonus, there was a lot of actively good gardening instructions, given in small, digestible, pockets. Take note!

All That’s Left Unsaid by Tracey Lien (Audio Book — Literary / Multicultural Fiction)

Writing: 4/5 Characters: 4/5 Plot: 3.5/5

Ky Tran comes back to the violent, drug ridden, largely Vietnamese / Chinese Sydney suburb of Cabramatta when her relatively nerdy, honor student, brother is brutally murdered at a post graduation party. The witnesses won’t talk, the police don’t care, and her parents haven’t the language skills or the will to pursue the matter. Ky tackles the witnesses — most of whom she knows — unable to let the matter rest. The novel structure fills in background, the story each witness reluctantly lets out, and the real story each remembers about while curating what comes out of their mouth. The path of disclosure winds towards a confrontation with Minnie — the best friend Ky hasn’t spoken to in years.

The writing is good and the main reader for the audio book is excellent (I did not love the two minor readers but they only appear once each for a relatively short time). I appreciated the in-depth descriptions of different approaches taken by members of a refugee community trying to make a life in a new country that doesn’t necessarily want them. Insightful commentary on loyalty, friendship, family, justice, and the concept of “being good.”

Thank you to Harper Audio and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on September 13th, 2022.