Fiction and nonfiction alike are rife with complicated families. After all, “all happy families are alike each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” I love to read about complicated families: it’s a good exercise in seeing people complexly. And, they’re often just entertaining as all get-out. Here are my current top picks for complicated family stories.
Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi
Bird escapes from her terrible family life to a small town in New England, where she falls in love with Arturo Whitman and becomes his daughter’s step mother. When she gives birth to their next daughter, family secrets come very much to the front.
In The Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
This is based on the true story of the Mirabel sisters, who rebelled against the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. The story follows them from childhood, seeing how they are often at odds with each other, their parents, their husbands, each other’s husbands, and of course the dictator they all live under.
The Turner House by Angela Flournoy
The Turner children must decide what happens to their parent’s house in Detroit, now virtually worthless, now that their mother is elderly. The thirteen kids have a myriad of opinions and memories tied to the house, including the oldest Francis, who saw the Haint, and Lelah, battling a serious gambling addiction.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
While this story is about Henrietta Lacks, the HeLa cells, scientific research, and how segregation and the medical system treated African Americans, it is also about Lacks’ children. The author works very closely with one of Lacks’ daughters, and tells the story of what happened to her family and how they reacted to learning their mother’s story.
The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
Nella Oortman comes to Amsterdam to marry Johannes Brandt, and live with him and his sister Marin. He is kind, but standoffish; his sister is stern and serious. Nella feels out of place in this family, until she figures out the secrets they’re hiding, that threaten to unravel the whole family — including her. This book also delves into 17th century Dutch society, which we should all remember is where the Pilgrims fled to when the 17th century English were too loosey-goosey for them.
ErinKwed 