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What Members Thought
So strong, so melancholic.
39-year-old Veronica travels to Brighton, England, to arrange for her brother Liam's body to be shipped home. A suicide, they were very close as kids (he slightly older), but he became a drinker as an adult.
As 2 kids of 12 (and 7 miscarriages in there too), their family was tough. Too many kids, too much cruelty between kids, mom a bit of a ghost and dad doing what he could with too many kids. Veronica mulls over this--why so many? What about those months she and Liam ...more
39-year-old Veronica travels to Brighton, England, to arrange for her brother Liam's body to be shipped home. A suicide, they were very close as kids (he slightly older), but he became a drinker as an adult.
As 2 kids of 12 (and 7 miscarriages in there too), their family was tough. Too many kids, too much cruelty between kids, mom a bit of a ghost and dad doing what he could with too many kids. Veronica mulls over this--why so many? What about those months she and Liam ...more
Irish families, particularly large ones, are often rife with illicit secrets. I should know, I hail from one. An Irish family that is, not an illicit secret.
While the premise of this book is a good one that captured my interest and the nature of loss and family connections is explored in an intriguing way, through the wake of a brother lost too soon, the writing itself I found to be dry and a bit off-putting. Which may be why it took me three months, off and on, to finish this book.
While the premise of this book is a good one that captured my interest and the nature of loss and family connections is explored in an intriguing way, through the wake of a brother lost too soon, the writing itself I found to be dry and a bit off-putting. Which may be why it took me three months, off and on, to finish this book.
I can see the reviews are polarized. I'm only about 40 pages in, but suspect its my kind of book. I'm loving it. We're reading it for next month's book club and it will interesting to see how the group responds to it.
Finished it. I suspect not everyone in the book club will, but I thought it an very interesting book with the layering narrative. ...more
Finished it. I suspect not everyone in the book club will, but I thought it an very interesting book with the layering narrative. ...more
An unusual, but engaging story. The narrator definitely has a somewhat distorted view of the world and we follow her through her grief over her brother's death. It did a really good job exploring sibling relationships and just how much what happens to us in early life can impact us as adults.
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Beautiful writing, but a protagonist whose distaste for all things human was very disturbing and unpleasant.
Feb 11, 2008
Renata
marked it as to-read
Apr 02, 2008
Dulcie Pavuluri
marked it as to-read
Apr 17, 2008
Carrie
marked it as to-read
Apr 18, 2008
Donna
marked it as to-read
Jun 26, 2008
Suzanne
marked it as to-read
Oct 25, 2008
Carrie
marked it as to-read
Jun 15, 2009
Linda
added it
Jun 14, 2010
Cookiesue9x
marked it as to-read
