library binding, 352 pages
Published April 8, 2014 by Turtleback Books.
Auch dieses Buch von Elizabeth Strout ist wieder einmal hervorragend geschrieben und beschreibt gelungen die einzelnen Mitglieder einer dysfunktionalen Familie. Allerdings hat es mir persönlich nicht ganz so gut gefallen wie die anderen Werke der Autorin. Aber das ist mehr persönliche Präferenz und mit Sicherheit nichts, was die Qualität des Buches betrifft. Deshalb auch vier Sterne.
After reading the wonderful "Everything is Possible," I'm going back amdbreading all of Strout's novels. I didn't love this as much as "I am Lucy Barton," but it's still a touching look at what it means to be family, and how everyone remembers a different story, as it traces the story of three siblings over the course of several years. Strout's overall theme throughout all of her books is that being human is infinitely complex and we all contain multitudes, and this novel presents yet another interesting aspect of this theme.
Elizabeth Strout's story about the Burgess family, from a small town in Maine, is captivating and hard to put down. There are actually three Burgess kids, Jim, the eldest, and his younger twin siblings, Bob and Susan. The relationship between the two brothers is very much influenced by a tragic accident that happens when they are very young children. Growing up, Jim had it all over Bob, never missing an opportunity to tease or put him down. Meanwhile, Susan grew up as the ignored sibling; for whatever reason, their mother didn't much like her daughter. So, Jim was the star, while Bob was his mother's personal favorite.
That's the background. The present day tragedy happens when Susan's teenaged son Zack does something mindless and stupid that makes national news and puts Zack in danger of being convicted of more than just a misdemeanor. Susan, like Bob, is divorced, and so …
Elizabeth Strout's story about the Burgess family, from a small town in Maine, is captivating and hard to put down. There are actually three Burgess kids, Jim, the eldest, and his younger twin siblings, Bob and Susan. The relationship between the two brothers is very much influenced by a tragic accident that happens when they are very young children. Growing up, Jim had it all over Bob, never missing an opportunity to tease or put him down. Meanwhile, Susan grew up as the ignored sibling; for whatever reason, their mother didn't much like her daughter. So, Jim was the star, while Bob was his mother's personal favorite.
That's the background. The present day tragedy happens when Susan's teenaged son Zack does something mindless and stupid that makes national news and puts Zack in danger of being convicted of more than just a misdemeanor. Susan, like Bob, is divorced, and so the first person she thinks to call is her brother Jim, who has become a famous trial lawyer. Jim and Bob have both moved to New York City, but they both feel a duty to return to Shirley Falls, Maine to be with their sister and her son. We see how each of them reacts, and we see how they interact with each other, and it is written very well. Stir into this Jim's marriage to Helen, Bob's relationship with his ex-wife Pam, and Susan's depression and anxiety about her son, and the story becomes complex and very real.
One topic that is very important in an obvious way in Zack's story, and in a more subtle way elsewhere, is the clash of different cultures. When people don't understand each other, they can become frightened, feel threatened, and become offended. The real hero, the man who saves Zack, is an older Somali man named Abdikarim who is wise enough to put aside his initial fear and see Zack as the scared, confused boy he is.
Meanwhile, in the rest of the Burgess family, there is a bit of a reversal of fortunes, as Jim's personal life swirls out of control, while Bob and Susan are beginning new, better chapters. I feel like I know them, and I wish them all well.
