Title: Family Family
Author: Laurie Frankel
First, a brief synopsis from the publisher:
"India Allwood grew up wanting to be an actor. Armed with a stack of index cards (for research/line memorization/make-shift confetti), she goes from awkward sixteen-year-old to Broadway ingenue to TV superhero.
Her new movie is a prestige picture about adoption, but its spin is the same old tired story of tragedy. India is an adoptive mom in real life, though. She wants everyone to know there’s more to her family than pain and regret. So she does something you should never do ― she tells a journalist the truth: it’s a bad movie.
Soon, she’s at the center of a media storm, battling accusations from the press and the paparazzi, from protesters on the right and advocates on the left. Her twin ten-year-olds know they need help – and who better to call than family? But that’s where it gets really messy because India’s not just an adoptive mother…
The one thing she knows for sure is what makes a family isn’t blood. And it isn’t love. No matter how they’re formed, the truth about family is this: it's complicated."
Insights and Opinions
+ From page one, it was easy for each of us to think we'd inadvertently chosen a cozy beach read for our book club selection. The prose is snappy and breezy, Ten-year-old Fig is entirely too precocious, the banter between their mother India and the children Fig and Jack is clever but maybe a bit too Aaron Sorkin in its rapid-fire back and forth. Chapters are short, and zip between present day and scenes from India's childhood and formative years with a speed that made some of us dizzy. But, being us, we all stuck with it and were entirely glad we did. As Steve pointed out, "the more you get into it, the deeper it is." And, Linda said "I went back and forth between thinking this book is great and this book is cheesy, but ultimately, I liked it a lot." This is definitely a story that sticks with one after the last page, making you consider what you know about abortion, about adoption, about what it means to be a family, and about being one's authentic self.
+ To prove this point, witness what happened to the discussion that followed. After dipping our toes briefly into our usual habit of thoughtful lit crit, our group members began to tell their own stories. Some stories were personal. Others were stories about relatives or close friends. All of these stories were examples of how people define family as opposed to "family family." Eventually, we got back to discussing the book, having to admit that our "cozy beach read" was not that at all.
+ It's hard to say much about this book without introducing spoilers, so we will avoid that in this summary. Frankel is an expert at the slow reveal, and part of the pleasure in reading this book is discovering important facts along the way. Some of these facts are explosive and wholly unexpected, but all are well-earned.
+ This is a book of contrasts. It's laugh-out-loud funny and heartbreaking at the same time, if that's possible. Somehow, Frankel pulls it off.
+ Liz felt that, during sections of dialogue, some of the characters sounded too much like each other -- the children too adult, the adults too childish, the dialogue too similar in tone. Yet, as one reads on, each character molds into a discrete individual with his or her own recognizable bent. India emerges as someone uniquely herself. Unerringly honest, she is unable to dissemble, even when it would be the wise thing to do. Over time and circumstance, her edges are softened by experience, but her commitment to honesty never wavers. It's what she's honest about that shifts.
+ Frankel is dealing with many themes, and every one of them is a big one. She tackles celebrity, internet trolling, abortion, adoption, childhood trauma and loss, all within 384 pages, and manages it expertly. Although we may not be able to relate to the choices India makes, we believe them, which is no small feat for an author. Because there are so many important themes, some get a bit of short shrift. Lois, for instance, felt there should be more focus on the struggles of the children who'd been given up for adoption. Everyone seems remarkably untroubled and healthy, despite their backgrounds.
+ One of the main themes in the book is that not all stories of adoption are tragic. This is certainly India's point of view and the personal petard on which she is hoist. She is adamant that some of these are sad stories and some are not. Somehow, India manages to be pro-choice and pro-life, pro-adoption, and pro-family, all at the same time. If one has taken a specific position on any of these topics, Family Family will question it and make you stop and think. Per Blanche: "There is no black and white here, only gradations. That's what this book is about."
+ Both Steve and Blanche were taken with the details about the life of a performer, both on Broadway and in the movies, and wondered how Frankel was able to write about both with authority, opening doors to the industry a reader wouldn't otherwise have.
+ Bottom line: We all thoroughly enjoyed this book, despite the fact that at some point along the way, each of us didn't want to. Linda loved the humor, the quirky characters, the inside look into the entertainment industry, and felt it was a page-turner. Chris loved the book and said the fact that India was an entertainer made her particular character all the more believable. Steve summarized, "I thought it was brilliant in its execution. She pontificated sometimes, but the fact that she turned a book with so much depth into a page-turner was impressive."
Our Next Read
For July, we will read the following:
Title: The Emperor of Gladness
Author: Ocean Vuong
Location: Blanche's house
No comments:
Post a Comment