The Children
Published on 6. July 2017
Book
Paperback/Softback
256 pages
978-1-78649-162-6 (ISBN)
Description
As always, Leary makes dysfunction, pathology and even tragedy completely compelling. - The Huffington Post
Charlotte Maynard rarely leaves her mother's home; the sprawling Connecticut lake house that belonged to her late stepfather, Whit Whitman, and the generations of Whitmans before him.
While Charlotte and her sister grew up at Lakeside, their stepbrothers, Spin and Perry, were welcomed as weekend guests. But now the grown boys own the estate, which Charlotte's mother occupies by their grace.
When Spin, the youngest and favourite of all the children, brings his fiance home for the summer, she breathes new life into their rarefied world. But as the wedding draws near, and flaws surface in the family's polite veneer, an array of simmering resentments and unfortunate truths are exposed, with devastating consequences.
Charlotte Maynard rarely leaves her mother's home; the sprawling Connecticut lake house that belonged to her late stepfather, Whit Whitman, and the generations of Whitmans before him.
While Charlotte and her sister grew up at Lakeside, their stepbrothers, Spin and Perry, were welcomed as weekend guests. But now the grown boys own the estate, which Charlotte's mother occupies by their grace.
When Spin, the youngest and favourite of all the children, brings his fiance home for the summer, she breathes new life into their rarefied world. But as the wedding draws near, and flaws surface in the family's polite veneer, an array of simmering resentments and unfortunate truths are exposed, with devastating consequences.
Reviews / Votes
Ann Leary's The Good House creates a one-of-a-kind character in Hildy Good...By the end you'll be flipping pages, trying desperately to piece together what happened as much as the narrator is doing herself. -- Jodi Picoult on The Good House So alive, I swear the pages of this wickedly funny and moving novel are breathing. -- Caroline Leavitt on The Good House A witty, touching, unputdownable novel. * Good Housekeeping * As always, Leary makes dysfunction, pathology and even tragedy completely compelling. * The Huffington Post * With a deft, sure touch, Ann Leary moves easily and confidently between comedy and pathos, painting a rich portrait of a wealthy, eccentric Connecticut family whose conflicts and loyalties are far more complex than they first appear. As the story unfolds, it becomes a profound meditation on the burden of expectations, familial ties that bind, and the explosive nature of buried secrets. -- Christina Baker Kline, author of Orphan Train I loved this... Ann Leary's compelling tale is satisfyingly layered with unreliable witnesses and betrayals large and small. -- Helen Simonson, author of Major Pettigrew's Last Stand The Children is reminiscent of Anne Tyler at her best... Leary's unique voice and perspective make this the novel you won't be able to put down this summer. -- Ann Hood, author of The Obituary Writer A fast-paced, darkly funny novel. * Popsugar * A read-in-one-sitting romp, Leary's wry and searing satire of affluence and elitism comically yet steadily builds to a sobering and malevolent finale. * Booklist * No one does the unreliable female narrator like Ann Leary...A cautionary fairy tale about what happens when you think you're irrelevantly above it all. * Lit Hub * As in The Good House, the details in Leary's characters are bright. * The New York Times Book Review * Great fun. * PEOPLE *More details
Edition
Main
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Atlantic Books
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
174 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78649-162-6 (9781786491626)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Ann Leary is the author of New York Times bestseller The Good House, the memoir An Innocent, a Broad and the novel Outtakes From a Marriage. She has written fiction and non-fiction for various magazines and literary publications. She and her family share their small farm in Connecticut with four dogs, three horses and an angry cat named Sneakers.