Not by design, I’ve been reading quite a few novels about family dynamics. Here are some mini-reviews.
The Last Hundred Years Trilogy: Some Luck, Early Warning, Golden Age Jane Smiley (2014, 2015) Hang in for more than 1300 pages in three volumes, to follow an Iowa farm family, the Langdons, through an American century, from 1920 to 2020. As you proceed at one year per chapter, refer to the family tree that’s included whenever you need to. Savor the Langdons’ good years, because Smiley’s political predictions for the years 2015 to 2020 are eerily accurate and pretty distressing. I’ve read this entire trilogy twice. If you don’t have time for all three books, at least read Some Luck, which is my favorite segment.
Perfect Life Jessica Shattuck (2009) The lives of four friends intersect in the Boston area fifteen years after they met in college, with a plot that revolves around the question of what it means to be a family, biological and non-biological. This contemporary novel is good, but I like Shattuck’s historical novel, The Women in the Castle, better. See my review here.
A Lie Someone Told You About Yourself Peter Ho Davies (2021) Ho Davies doesn’t pull any punches as he explores dark truths about fatherhood, marriage, abortion, and the raising of a high-needs child. The book might be autobiographical or it might be totally fiction—doesn’t really matter when the writing is this good.
Good Company Cynthia d’Aprix Sweeney (2020) The plot here is a little thin (woman finds evidence of husband’s affair and struggles with the knowledge), but the character development is excellent. The setting toggles between the New York theater world and the Los Angeles world of TV and movies.
Mary Jane Jessica Anya Blau (2021) Take an absolutely hilarious look at 1975: the music, the food, the clothing, the Zeitgeist. A sweet, sheltered 14-year-old girl becomes a summer nanny in the unusual household of a psychiatrist who is treating a rock star recovering from addiction.
Reviews of some nonfiction titles are coming!