The Children

Summary (from the publisher): From New York Times bestselling author Ann Leary comes the captivating story of a wealthy, but unconventional New England family, told from the perspective of a reclusive 29-year-old who has a secret (and famous) life on the Internet.

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, Sally, grew up at “Lakeside,” their stepbrothers, Spin and Perry, were welcomed as weekend guests. Now the grown boys own the estate, which Joan occupies by their grace—and a provision in the family trust. When Spin, the youngest and favorite of all the children, brings his fiancé home for the summer, the entire family is intrigued. The beautiful and accomplished Laurel Atwood breathes new life into this often comically 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 is exposed.

With remarkable wit and insight, Ann Leary pulls back the curtain on one blended family, as they are forced to grapple with the assets and liabilities – both material and psychological – left behind by their wonderfully flawed patriarch.  

 

Review: I won an advance readers' edition of this novel as a giveaway on Goodreads.

 

Reclusive Charlotte is a 29 year old, still living at home with her mother in a rambling and somewhat dilapidated Connecticut lake house that belonged to her late stepfather Whit Whitman. Unknown to her family, Charlotte has a secret and lucrative life on the Internet, where she lives vicariously through an alter ego of her own creation. Now that her stepfather Whit has died, the lake house is owned by his sons Spin and Perry, and Charlotte, her sister, and mother are allowed to live there thanks to largely Spin's generosity. Yet family tensions begin to build when Spin brings home Laurel, his beautiful and accomplished fiancé. As family secrets begin to emerge and a mysterious "Mr. Clean" continues to break into and clean houses in the neighborhood, tension continues to escalate for Charlotte and her family.

 

I felt drawn to this book early on because of the curiosity and apprehension Charlotte and her sister feel to Spin's fiancé, who they still haven't met. They speculate about what she's like and avidly scope out her social media profiles - in short, they behave as many people do nowadays before meeting the significant other of a close family member or friend. Leary is able to naturally incorporate the trappings of our modern life - the internet, cell phones, blogs, Facebook, etc. - in a very natural way. I find that few novels really reference or attempt to incorporate these daily aspects and thought Leary did a great job of having technology be a part of the backdrop of the novel, without it overwhelming the story.

 

I was also drawn to Leary's writing style, which is straightforward conversational, with help from the first person narration, but also has elements of story telling that reeled me in. In fact, the book opens with a family story that Whit used to tell about his grandmother, grounding the novel in a family history and a past that transcends the present characters. Additionally, certain passages struck me as particularly uniquely worded, such as Charlotte's description of her body slowly submerging into the lake for a swim at nighttime: "I'll watch my legs sawn off at the ankles, calves, knees, and finally the thighs as I wade into the dark water. When I'm cut off at the waist, I'll lie back and float like a spirit" (5).

 

In addition to all this, and surprisingly because of the successful building of tension as the novel progresses, the narration was surprisingly comical. In particular, the character of Joan provided comedic relief, such as when she is told that Laurel is allergic to shellfish; "'Oh no,' Joan said, her voice conveying a deep sadness, but not because she pities people who have food allergies. Joan doesn't believe in food allergies. She thinks people have them to get attention" (17).

 

And yet, despite such a strong narration and a promising beginning, all of the tension of this novel was deflated in a somewhat implausible ending when Charlotte discovers that she is not the only one hiding a secret life online. The once comical and story-filled novel devolves into a darker suspense story to see who is persecuting Charlotte. I don't want to spoil the ending for others, but I will say that I was disappointed that the resolution boils down to a greedy villain. In addition, while some characters are remarkably fully realized, others, like Perry and his family, read like mere stick figures with little depth.

 

Despite significant promise, I was ultimately disappointed with the direction this novel took. I would have been happier with a less dramatic and dark ending.

 

Stars: 3