by Amy Engel
Published March 2017 by Crown Publishers
Finished 12/17/16, ARC from LibraryThing
Most families have some secret or secrets they'd rather not have revealed because of the possible embarrassment; but for most, if those secrets were to come out, it wouldn't be the end of the world, just slightly, temporarily uncomfortable. Like your Uncle Fred was a closet alcoholic or your Grandmother had a baby out of wedlock prior to meeting your Grandfather. Common enough, innocent enough secrets that ultimately wouldn't change your love for those relatives. But some families have devastating secrets that, even though everyone knows should be revealed to stop the madness, are still held only in the close family circle and are explained away, ignored, rather than their revelation change the lives of those affected forever.
Here we have the latter of those kinds of secrets. I haven't noticed any reviews yet that spill it, and I won't do so either. I think it's best not to know prior to reading this because then you might not want to read it at all. I know that would have been the case with me. The secret dribbles out very early in the book so then there's still time to decide whether to continue. I chose to read on, somewhat reluctantly, because by then the story had me in its clutches. There was no turning back.
Wonderfully unique characters, most detestable, but to know their histories is to understand them (for the most part). I only hope no part of what the author wrote is autobiographical, other than having grandparents in Kansas. It's a disturbing and rough read.
No comments:
Post a Comment