Everybody and Their Brother

When her father dies, May Dearborne and her three older brothers all ask the same question: who is going to take care of Kipp? Kipp being their forty-five-year-old autistic brother. Who are they kidding? Since May is widowed, childless, and Kipp’s twin to boot, of course it will be her. May, an art professor at the University of Chicago, gives up her comfortable, independent life to move back into the family home with Kipp. But living with her quirky twin isn’t easy. He makes grilled cheese sandwiches in a sideways-turned toaster, sings in an Alvin-and-the-Chipmunks falsetto, and pesters May relentlessly for a dog and a girlfriend. As May juggles teaching and preparing for the gallery show she hopes will lead to a coveted promotion, she finds herself besieged by men. There’s her narcissistic brother Sal who moves in when his wife kicks him out. And her teenage nephew who needs some space from his infatuated father. There’s Dilly, her smitten childhood friend who shows his love for her through gourmet cupcakes. And then there’s Mr. Do-It-Right, the flirty painter she hires to renovate the old house. Throw in a mystery woman, a puppy, and a girlfriend for Kipp, and now everybody and their brother is clamoring for May’s attention. At its heart, Karla Clark’s third novel is an endearing story about the connectedness of adult siblings and how they inextricably link each other to the world long after their parents are gone.