By Maggie O'Farrell
Edition: revised
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008
ISBN 0156033674, 9780156033671
256 pages
The first few pages of the book foreshadow just where this story is going. Not so much foreshadow as yell at you with a bullhorn from on top of a flashing sign: Bad Things Are Coming. And yet, when you finally read it - It's still like a goddamn ton of bricks: What would you do if tomorrow you got a call informing you of the brand new Great Aunt you never knew existed? Your dead grandmothers sister has been in a mental institution for over sixty years, because your Grandmother was too ashamed to admit they were related. Further, what if you discovered that this woman should have never been locked away? What if she changes everything you thought you knew about your family and your self? Would you meet her?
The book asks those, and many other questions of you, and gives you plenty of room to maneuver yourself around in the pages. It's not that the characters are hollow or poorly written, but it's written in a manner that almost pushes you and your own family into the roles printed on the page.
Two out of Four Stars.
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