Great Reads: Family Matters
Great Reads is a series of posts featuring recent books that are highly recommended by Toronto Public Library staff.
Families – you can’t live with ’em…
These novels are all about families – good, bad, dysfunctional. Enjoy these stories of mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, partners, sons, daughters, brothers and sisters negotiating the sometimes intense, always complex relationships within families.
 |
Adult Onset by Ann-Marie MacDonald Mary Rose is a successful author living in Toronto with her partner, Hilary and their two young children. Trying to balance writing and family life, she begins experiencing symptoms of a long-forgotten childhood illness. The illness makes her rethink her childhood memories and relationship with her paren'ts. Regular Print |
|
 |
Ballistics by D.W. Wilson Alan West has returned to the Rockies from Toronto to visit his ailing grandfather and to search for the father he never knew. An unrelentingly masculine novel, tough and tender, sometimes violent, dealing with estrangement and peace-making among fathers and sons. |
|
 |
The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout Brothers Jim and Bob Burgess experienced a traumatic accident when they were children (a mishap on the part of Bob led to the death of their father). They return to their small town as adults when their nephew is charged with a hate crime. A well-written examination on how patterns established in childhood can impact the choices we make as adults. Regular Print |
|
 |
The Cranes Dance by Meg Howrey Funny, dark, intimate and unflinchingly honest, The Cranes Dance is a book that pulls back the curtains revealing the private world of ballet dancers and the complicated bond between sisters. |
|
 |
The Dinner by Herman Koch Two couples meet for dinner to discuss a terrible act committed by their teenage sons. Building slowly to a devastating conclusion, Koch’s novel is a study of violence, politics, madness and the sometimes thin veneer of civilization. Regular Print |
|
 |
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng Lydia Lee is the adored child of her white mother and Chinese-American father in 1970s Ohio. But, when she is found at the bottom of a lake, her family is startled to realize how little they really knew about her and each other. Ng has written both a gripping thriller and an intimate portrayal of how husbands and wives, paren'ts and children struggle to understand one another. Regular Print |
|
 |
Hiding in Plain Sight by Nuruddin Farah After her brother is killed in a terrorist attack in Mogidishu, a Somali-born woman leaves behind her expatriate European life and returns to Kenya, the country her family had settled in, to raise the son and daughter he left behind. |
|
 |
The Juggler’s Children: A Journey into Family, Legend and the Genes that Bind Us by Carolyn Abraham When Carolyn Abraham decided to try to solve some of the mysteries in her family history through DNA testing, she uncovers and encounters more than she ever expected. Regular Print |
|
 |
The Vacationers by Emma Straub An American family vacationing in Spain is forced to confront their inner demons in this character-driven novel that offers fresh insight into the complexities of familial bonds. Regular Print |
|
 |
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler Rosemary considers the moment in her childhood that haunted her entire family when a beloved family member, Fern, suddenly vanished. Rosemary’s psychologist father had brought Fern to live with the family, and growing up, Rosemany considered Fern not just her sister, but her twin. Fern was a chimpanzee. A compelling study of kinship and love. Regular Print |
Other Posts in the Great Reads series:
Comments