On the surface, the Armsteads are an average privileged family, and like any “average” family it’s
Probably best not to underestimate what brews beneath the veneer. After Ben loses his job (due to a spectacular bout of mid-life heebie-jeebies) the narrative of Helen’s lilfe as a suburban wife and mother is broken and she, Ben, and their adopted daughter Sara are each forced to learn what they are capable of beyond what is familiar, in fact, to redefine what familiar means. While many books allow the description of their characters’ internal wolds to act as an unbiased sample of the selves which their characters project in daily life, John Dee demonstrates that appearances are no more deceptive than our own personal interpretations of “who we are” and “why we do what we do” in the world. It is a novel about family discord, betrayal, discovery and atonement, and I breezed right on through it.