ruthie_the_librarian's review
4.0
I really like Maggie O'Farrell's style of writing and this one didn't disappoint. Set in the sweltering summer of 1976 she really creates the heavy, humid atmosphere of those days and all the never-ending heat builds upon the 'heat' between the various Riordan family members. It's about love and loss, lies and guilt, and I really liked the way she built the relationships, smashed them apart, and then gently pieced them back together. I almost, almost thought she was going to kill the ending for me, but fortunately she didn't and I closed the book feeling satisfied. Another good read - I'm already looking forward to the next one.
kchessrice's review
4.0
The mother character made me think of a clean-mouthed Mrs Brown! Really enjoyed this book.
frankiebird's review against another edition
4.0
Wonderfully readable if a little obvious and a little over-wrought in places. Some lovely use of language, pages of tender description and plenty of turmoil to chew on. There were unexpected revelations, but I felt a lot of the build up wasn't quite given the explosive conclusion or revelation it was leading to. A definite recommendation for a beach read - you never feel like you're wasting time reading Maggie O'Farrell.
wildflowerz76's review
1.0
Okay, those books that can be classified as literary fiction? They just aren't for me. To me, they seem to all be stories about very boring people, doing very boring things. The prose meanders here and there, never getting to the point and boring me senseless.
DNF. DNF, DNF, DNF!
DNF. DNF, DNF, DNF!
cheryl1213's review
4.0
First things first, many thanks to the folks at Knopf/Random House for the advance reader's copy. The overview of this book, the sixth novel from an Irish author in her early 40s, made me request a copy despite knowing I have an over-sized "to read" list. Amidst a drought and heatwave in July 1976 London, the Riordan siblings gather following the news that their father, Robert, went out on a common errand and didn't return.
Gretta is the matriarch, a woman who has spent the past decades being defined by her family role and battling some pressing emotional demons. Eldest child Monica is a loyal daughter accustomed to being a mini-mom to her younger sister and currently trying to find her footing with a new husband and two resentful step-daughters. Sole son Michael Francis, whose life plans were altered by a sudden pregnancy years prior, is watching his marriage dissolve and worrying over his two kids as their mother seems to pull away. Youngest Aiofe is living in NYC, a much less steady life than her siblings and one constantly hampered by her long-kept secret that she cannot read (she seems to be severely dyslexic). The novel explores their shared pasts and their various presents as they try to solve the mystery of their dad's departure.
I've waivered between a 3.5 and 4 star review on this one. I enjoyed seeing how the siblings shared roots translated into varied adult lives (but with connecting elements). I wasn't as grabbed by some of the mysteries of the past, including those that led to the patriarch's disappearance. I was most interested in Aiofe's story, including the haphazard way she copes with illiteracy in her job (or, more aptly, doesn't cope... she shoves papers in a file and ignores them). I also enjoyed Michael Francis's interactions with his kids and wish there'd been more. However, Monica bugged me...I appreciated her in her youth but less so in her adult-past and didn't care for her present step-kid drama...and I didn't care too much about the missing patriarch (the impetus for the action, but not really the focus) or the history or either Robert or Gretta.
Writing style was solid...not enough to make me seek out the author's other works, but I would read more if the books stumbled into my pile. Read it for sibling relations and the various forms of parenting. Don't come looking for much in the way of setting...could be set anyplace and the attempts to tie in history felt forced.
carol_b's review
3.0
After their father just disappears without a word, three grown siblings return to their family home to help their mother try to figure out what happened. During the course of the search, family secrets come to light and current-day troubles, too. This is a family drama that exposes all the cracks.
shelfimprovement's review against another edition
5.0
Why have I not read Maggie O'Farrell before?!
I don't know, 'cause she's gooooood. Like, sit in the bathtub until you're a prune good. Miss your stop on the train good. Refuse to split the driving time on a weekend road trip good.
I may or may not have done all of these things while reading this book.
In all honesty, this is a pretty standard Family in Crisis novel. The basic plot is a rather familiar one: husband leaves one day and doesn't come home, mother requests the presence of her far-flung adult children who are each so burdened with their own little dramas that their relationships with each other have disintegrated. O'Farrell has set her version of these events in the midst of the 1976 heatwave that sent London into a drought, at a time when the Irish were still viewed suspiciously and traditional values clashed with modern attitudes in the worst way.
Gretta is the mother with a larger than life presence that her children find more embarrassing than anything. Michael Francis, the eldest, is struggling to keep his marriage together despite his resentment that is has cost him all of his professional aspirations. Monica, the favorite, lost her first marriage to an ill-kept secret and now feels beleaguered by how much her second husband's daughters resent her. Aiofe, the baby, has run off to New York after a falling out with Monica and struggles to hide the fact that she can not read. Robert, the absent father, has long used his bookish nature and difficult war experiences as an excuse to avoid discussing his equally difficult personal history.
So I saw Jami Attenburg speak at the Gaithersburg Book Festival earlier this spring, and she mentioned that she had been asked to blurb this book. It's her blurb that ultimately sums up the best thing about this book: "It's just the kind of family drama I love: Nobody gets off easy in it, but everybody gets treated with compassion.”
I love, love, loved these characters. They're complicated and flawed, but entirely realistic and deserving of empathy. Each character made me - in equal parts - root for them and exclaim, "What the fuck, dude?" They were so, so human.
Then there's the fact that O'Farrell could write the face off just about anyone else currently sitting pretty in the new release bins. I've read a long string of "meh" books over the last few months and I was long overdue for a book that I could not put down. Her prose just rolled around in my head and I didn't want it to stop. I was impressed by the way that she laid out tiny little ironies -- the illiterate character with the name no one can properly pronounce -- just waiting to be picked apart and mined for meaning, yet never so in your face that I wanted to pat her on the head and say, "We get it, sweetie."
My one complaint, the only thing that I can see being a problem for other folks, is that it feels as though O'Farrell rushed through the ending in order to tie every loose thread up but didn't quite address everything. I got to the end and I wanted...just a little more. The bows she tied everything up with were a little too vague. Regardless, this book is fantastic, exactly what I needed.
I don't know, 'cause she's gooooood. Like, sit in the bathtub until you're a prune good. Miss your stop on the train good. Refuse to split the driving time on a weekend road trip good.
I may or may not have done all of these things while reading this book.
In all honesty, this is a pretty standard Family in Crisis novel. The basic plot is a rather familiar one: husband leaves one day and doesn't come home, mother requests the presence of her far-flung adult children who are each so burdened with their own little dramas that their relationships with each other have disintegrated. O'Farrell has set her version of these events in the midst of the 1976 heatwave that sent London into a drought, at a time when the Irish were still viewed suspiciously and traditional values clashed with modern attitudes in the worst way.
Gretta is the mother with a larger than life presence that her children find more embarrassing than anything. Michael Francis, the eldest, is struggling to keep his marriage together despite his resentment that is has cost him all of his professional aspirations. Monica, the favorite, lost her first marriage to an ill-kept secret and now feels beleaguered by how much her second husband's daughters resent her. Aiofe, the baby, has run off to New York after a falling out with Monica and struggles to hide the fact that she can not read. Robert, the absent father, has long used his bookish nature and difficult war experiences as an excuse to avoid discussing his equally difficult personal history.
So I saw Jami Attenburg speak at the Gaithersburg Book Festival earlier this spring, and she mentioned that she had been asked to blurb this book. It's her blurb that ultimately sums up the best thing about this book: "It's just the kind of family drama I love: Nobody gets off easy in it, but everybody gets treated with compassion.”
I love, love, loved these characters. They're complicated and flawed, but entirely realistic and deserving of empathy. Each character made me - in equal parts - root for them and exclaim, "What the fuck, dude?" They were so, so human.
Then there's the fact that O'Farrell could write the face off just about anyone else currently sitting pretty in the new release bins. I've read a long string of "meh" books over the last few months and I was long overdue for a book that I could not put down. Her prose just rolled around in my head and I didn't want it to stop. I was impressed by the way that she laid out tiny little ironies -- the illiterate character with the name no one can properly pronounce -- just waiting to be picked apart and mined for meaning, yet never so in your face that I wanted to pat her on the head and say, "We get it, sweetie."
My one complaint, the only thing that I can see being a problem for other folks, is that it feels as though O'Farrell rushed through the ending in order to tie every loose thread up but didn't quite address everything. I got to the end and I wanted...just a little more. The bows she tied everything up with were a little too vague. Regardless, this book is fantastic, exactly what I needed.
dmahanty's review
4.0
Set in England 1976, a family comes together to search for their father who has disappeared. Throughout the search, each character reveals their secrets, emotional damage, and eventually come together. A great read!
lauraa06's review
5.0
Set over the course of just a few days, this book examines the ripple effect of one family member's disappearance. It is a character-driven story, with many smaller plot lines slowly unfurling. O'Farrell has beautiful prose, and her ability to seamlessly switch point of view and even moments in time is unmatched. Families are complicated, we all have secrets, and "strange weather brings out strange behavior."
hisdarkmaterials's review
4.0
Enjoyable aside from the very end - everything didn't need to have that perfect Hollywood finish. The book read as real life, real people, real emotions and the ending went and ruined the feeling that had been created the previous 300+ pages.