I adored this latest novel by Emma Straub with its messy family dynamics and focus on truthfulness and love. The main character, Astrid Strick, is a 68-year-old widow who, after witnessing the sudden death of a woman she knew but didn’t like (for forty years), she begins questioning her life and, in particular, some of the parenting choices she made with her now adult children.
All of these children have their own secrets, as does Astrid: she had been in love with another woman for several years and is now determined to tell her kids and attempt to atone in other ways for some of the ways she feels she has wronged them over the years.
Astrid’s daughter, Porter, at 32, runs a nearby goat farm and makes cheese. She has decided to have a baby on her own yet has not told her family about the fact that she is almost five months pregnant.
Astrid’s thirteen-year-old granddaughter comes to stay, sent from the big city by her parents in the aftermath of an ‘incident’ involving a girl at her school. She, too, has issues to resolve and is a great character in the story.
I loved the way sibling and parental relationships were portrayed and was so engaged by everything that happened. I also loved how tenderly and sweet the relationship was between Astrid and her lover, who works at the town beauty shop. I cannot recall when I’ve ever read a novel with older women who love each other. It’s quite refreshing.
Full of insights about families and complete with a good dose of humor, this novel was one of my favorite reads so far this year.
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Reviews with images
Emotionally distraughting!
Astrid, who is in her late 60’s feels she might have not been the best mother to her three children, after loosing her acquaintance in an unfortunate accident. Astrid feels she has to right the wrongs and come clean to her children in an attempt to prevent them from making mistakes that she made in parenting.The POV sensitively shifts between Astrid, her oldest son Elliot, her daughter Porter and her youngest som Nicky and Elliot’s daughter, iterating and screaming different views on life in their dysfunctional family. The author interestingly introduces too many social, economic, psychological and personal issues, which after a certain point felt too much to handle (especially the second half of the book). Every family has its own dysfunction, but the way this family is portrayed, really made me feel swamped as there is only so much I could handle!! Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for reading about familial bonds, love and relationship stuffs, but there’s a fine line between emotional roller coaster and overwhelming Tsunami.The writing is beautiful, engaging and feels poetic at many points. This is a heavy read, at least for me. After finishing this book, I realised I haven’t felt this burdened by a book in recent times.3.5/5⭐️
Top reviews from other countries
Vickie J. Morris
Meh. A book that tries to fit every current social issue in.
Reviewed in Canada on March 31, 2022TCMBookworm
Thoroughly surprising and enjoyable.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 10, 2021