Hardcover, 304 pages
Expected publication: February 19th 2019 by Berkley
The Mothers meets An American Marriage in this dazzling debut novel about mothers and daughters, identity and family, and how the relationships that sustain you can also be the ones that consume you.
The Butler family has had their share of trials—as sisters Althea, Viola, and Lillian can attest—but nothing prepared them for the literal trial that will upend their lives.
Althea, the eldest sister and substitute matriarch, is a force to be reckoned with and her younger sisters have alternately appreciated and chafed at her strong will. They are as stunned as the rest of the small community when she and her husband Proctor are arrested, and in a heartbeat the family goes from one of the most respected in town to utter disgrace. The worst part is, not even her sisters are sure exactly what happened.
As Althea awaits her fate, Lillian and Viola must come together in the house they grew up in to care for their sister’s teenage daughters. What unfolds is a stunning portrait of the heart and core of an American family in a story that is as page-turning as it is important.
The Butler family has had their share of trials—as sisters Althea, Viola, and Lillian can attest—but nothing prepared them for the literal trial that will upend their lives.
Althea, the eldest sister and substitute matriarch, is a force to be reckoned with and her younger sisters have alternately appreciated and chafed at her strong will. They are as stunned as the rest of the small community when she and her husband Proctor are arrested, and in a heartbeat the family goes from one of the most respected in town to utter disgrace. The worst part is, not even her sisters are sure exactly what happened.
As Althea awaits her fate, Lillian and Viola must come together in the house they grew up in to care for their sister’s teenage daughters. What unfolds is a stunning portrait of the heart and core of an American family in a story that is as page-turning as it is important.
My Thoughts…
I just don’t know what to say about this book. I couldn’t stop reading, I couldn’t put it down, but when I finished I sat back and thought hmm…what do I think? I didn’t love it, I didn’t hate it, I just don’t know.
I struggled with keeping some of the characters straight. I figured out the Butler kids right away but the spouses and secondary characters kept getting confused in my brain. I had to go back a couple of times to see who was telling the story and then it all came together. None of the characters were easy to like and each had their own nightmares to struggle with. It was good to see that they kept in touch and when the going got tough they came together to help each other out.
The storyline was one problem after another. There was an arrest, abuse, runaways, eating disorders, a marriage dissolving, and so many other problems that is seemed to all just keep piling on. Maybe that is the problem for me, it was such a dark story and I kept looking for the light that never seemed to come. The story was sad from the very beginning and it never got happy.
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