The Children: A Novel

This book was difficult for me to get through. Not so much that it was a heavy read but more that it didn’t hold my interest. For those that know me, I’m a completionist, which comes in handy when I need to finish a book but just can’t find anything to keep me hooked.

The Children tells the story of a jigsaw family, one that has been split up and put back together but not quite correctly. The pieces sort of fit but there’s still some dissonance amongst them. Especially when Spin brings home his new fiance Laurel. In a family where no one talks about anything and secrets are being kept, how can a family move on from the past?

Ann Leary gives a cast of characters not quite unique and a story that for the first fourteen chapters doesn’t seem to go anywhere. Nothing seems to really happen until the last four chapters of the book. By that point, I had kind of given up hope on the story. I was never quite sure where Mrs. Leary was going with this family or what the endgame was. In the end, it was a mediocre story with an ending that seemed to be rushed and half-hearted.

I happen to live in the same geographical location as both the author and the protagonist, so there was no question I was going to read this novel. I am glad I did. This is one of those books that, when you think about it a few days after you’ve finished it, you miss the characters.

The pacing is a little slow at the beginning, but stick with it. Once the pace picks up, you’ll want it to slow back down, but it doesn’t. The last half of the book pushes you along like one of Whit Whitman’s banjo tunes and it won’t disappoint, giving credible resolutions to each of the characters.

The characters are sympathetic and believable, as is the dialog. As a resident of the area I found the plot to be realistic, too. I could actually picture the house, the roads, the lake and the inhabitants. It’s a moving and entrancing story and one I was sorry to see end. Pick up a copy today…you won’t be sorry.

"The Children" is a story about blended families and family secrets told from the POV of 29 year-old Charlotte (Lottie) Maynard, a reclusive mommy blogger who has never been a mommy but makes a decent living pretending to be one.

"Lake Side" is a somewhat rundown, sprawling lake side home in Connecticut that had been in Lottie's stepfather's family for generations. When her stepfather, Whit Whitman, passed away three years earlier, the trust allowed for Lottie and her mother Joan to remain in the house even though Whit's sons Spin and Perry now own the property. The brothers never lived there when their father was alive and had only visited on weekends. Lottie's sister Sally also grew up at Lake Side but left years earlier for a job in NYC. Sally's stability is questionable and after losing her job in the city, she returns to live at Lake Side.

Things heat up when Spin returns to Lake Side with his fiancee Laurel Atwood. The sisters, especially Lottie, are intrigued by Laurel and try to find out as much as possible about her on various social media sites. The sisters feel there is something about Laurel that isn't quite right but, who in this family is really harboring the most secrets?

It took me a while to get into this story but, I did love the very different personalities of this blended, quirky family. There is a lot of conversational dialogue going on throughout which doesn't always work well with me, but overall I felt the story was a nice mix of funny, heartbreaking and drama with but of psych thriller thrown in the mix. Although the ending seemed rushed, I do think readers who tend to enjoy family drama and dysfunction will want to try this one. After absolutely loving this author's debut novel, "The Good House", I have to say, Leary's latest book, The Children, left me a bit disappointed.

3.5/5 stars

{Many thanks to NetGalley for sending me an eARC of The Children in exchange for an honest review. Find more reviews at [...]}

The Children by Ann Leary is a seemingly quiet family novel, set almost entirely in one location, and narrated by an almost-agoraphobe. It is a perfect Summer read, though I don't want to imply that it's fluff.

This is the story of an unconventional family. I want to say dysfunctional, but that's not exactly the right word. The focus is on the children of Whit Whitman and how they view him and each other. There are revelations of family secrets, changed perspectives on who they thought their father was, and a mysterious new addition to the family.

Underlying these sweeping themes are details that created three-dimensional characters. The narrator, Charlotte, is particularly interesting - she runs a secret Mommy Blog, despite having no children. Her relationships aren't perfect and neither is she, but Leary writes her in such a way that the reader is rooting for Charlotte to succeed.

Some reviewers have expressed frustration about the ending of The Children, but I was perfectly pleased by it. While part of it was somewhat predictable, the overall effect was impactful.

Lottie is the narrator of The Children, the recently released book by Ann Leary. She would prefer you to think of her as a homebody, though she's flirting wth agoraphobia or perhaps she just refuses to grow up and stop living with her mother, Joan in the Whitman family home. She is also a mommy blogger even though she has no children and never did.

While no one would confuse them for the Brady Bunch as they were both married when they met and fell in love, nonetheless, when Whit Whitman married Joan Maynard, he brought his two sons Perry and Spin and she brought her two daughters, Sally and Lottie into the new blended family. Although Perry and Spin spent quite a bit of the year with their mother, the girls adored them and always thought the family was whole when the boys came. They thought of them as brothers.

However Whit died before our story began, leaving the home to the boys, though with their promise that Joan would live there as long as she wanted. He was from old money and never had to work himself and the children were children of privilege, allowing, for example, Lottie to be living at home rather than looking for work.

By the end of the second chapter we know that a tragedy will happen, one that ends with the death of Spin and it all has something to do with Laurel, a beautiful, young woman who would have been on the Olympic ski team if not for a terrible accident.

So Spin brings his Laurel to meet the family before they marry. Sally is home, Lottie never left and Scarey Perry is out of sight and mostly out of mind. Things do not go well.

I did not enjoy this book very much. It written well enough, but the people were basically unlikable. It was occasionally a bit funny and Lottie is a wry commentator. It is also very much of today with mommy bloggers, goFundme's, cat fishing and sock puppets. It is also an old-fashioned story of family secrets kept far too long, of people with privilege not following the rules and allowing those with less privilege, like Ev the handyman's son, to pay the price, of people talking, not listening, a family fracturing for want of simply hearing each other. I would have more pity, but they all seem to have enough they don't need mine. They are all so self-absorbed, I don't think they need my attention at all. And so, I really did not care that much about them. The Children is a short book and that's a good thing.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy from the publisher through Goodreads Giveaways.

Once this book got rolling, at about the halfway point, it tumbled along quickly. I think few readers will be surprised by the big reveal of who the villain is and even a few years from now, the subplot about the Internet will surely seem quaint. But Ann Leary paints a vivid picture of an interesting, not-as-blended-as-they-thought family with a number of idiosyncratic characters. I especially liked the portrait of sisters Sally and Charlotte. A great beach book.

As I was unexpectedly swallowed whole by this book, I bean to wonder if I was in fact living an unknown secret life, and was now facing this secret existence of myself in the narrator. More likely the captivating and believable voice of the narrator came across as a best friend, someone who understood secret resentments and inadequacies like no one else could. Oh, hello family dynamics and disfunction! The chaos and hidden anger you harbor are all too familiar and relatable. All those unspoken bits about growing up as the product of a second marriage spilled forth from Charlotte, and I nodded along sympathetically and was caught up in her tale of life Before Laurel and After Laurel, and how a barely held together family was eventually splintered beyond all repair.

With an engaging style, and a first person POV (I do love an Unreliable Narrator), we work through the moments of change with memories dragged back from the past. The family’s quirkiness and unspoken secrets hook you from the start, and I could not read fast enough to understand all that is happening. By the time unspoken events are finally revealed, the action is headed down a hill at full speed and you know things cannot end well. It is a story both breathtaking and bittersweet, full of flawed characters and unconventional ways of existing and surviving trauma from the past, told in a most skillful voice. For all that this family tried to shine forth a rays of happiness and contentment, darkness and betrayal long buried are brought to the surface, but not by those you would expect. All in all, highly recommended book, and I look forward to exploring more from Ms. Leary.

I received an e-galley of this book for free from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review. The opinions expressed herein are my own. I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for their generosity in feeding my brain! :)

Lakeside Cottage in Harwich, Connecticut, had been a part of the Whitman family for generations. Whit Whitman, whom we met early on in The Children: A Novel, when he was just a child, would figure largely in the story, but primarily as a legendary character. His marriage to Joan, who had two young daughters, Sally and Charlotte, would launch a whole new blended family that included Whit’s sons from his marriage to Marissa: Perry and Philip (Spin).

His death would set events in motion and unleash issues that would stay buried for years, but in one long hot summer, all would surface with a vengeance. Could the division of trusts and the cottage figure into the trouble? Whit had left Lakeside Cottage to his sons, a trust fund to Joan, as well as to his sons, with the understanding that Joan would stay in the cottage as long as she wished to do so. But maybe everything wasn’t as smoothly settled as they thought.

Our first person narrator is Charlotte, who some believe is agoraphobic, but she simply feels more comfortable in the cottage attic room writing her “fictitious” mommy blog. She makes quite a bit of money from advertisers, and all is well on that front…until it isn’t.

The first ripples of trouble appear when Spin brings his fiancée Laurel Atwood home to the cottage. She seems wonderful on the surface. Charming, in fact, and clearly she is beautiful. But Sally, who has some mental health issues, can seemingly see below the surface. Why does nobody believe her? But who would believe Sally when she “gets like that”? Frenetic and manic, she escalates quickly.

I loved this story. I wanted to stay with the characters well beyond the final pages, and I held my breath while experiencing the story as it unfolded, only releasing my breath when I finally learned the fate of the characters. A 5 star read for me.

I really liked how this story was developing, not just the characters but the storyline itself. Yes, the antagonist is fairly transparent but remained engaging enough I thought. The ending, however, was a huge disappointment. I won’t cite examples or give anything away other than the author (and protagonist) left the reader hanging in a way that made the whole story seem pointless. It felt perhaps the author was close to her deadline and needed to “wrap it up” and just made the book end without closure.

I feel like I just got done reading two different books. The first, lasting through much of the story, was an engaging look at a quirky and very comical Connecticut family, with characters who were distinctive and laugh-out-loud funny. I did have suspicions about one of them, which turned out to be spot on, but would lead to an ending so dark and disturbing, it was difficult to reconcile it with what I first read. Strangely enough, I enjoyed both “books” – just not sure if that was a good thing!

What happens when a wealthy Patriarch passes away and leaves behind a blended family? What a discovery of the good, the bad, and the ugly in families.

I won a copy of this book during a Goodreads giveaway. I am under no obligation to leave a review or rating and do so voluntarily. So that others may also enjoy this book, I am paying it forward by donating it to my local library.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for my review. I found this novel to be a bit confusing for me. Was it a mystery? A novel? It started as a tale about Joan and her daughters Charlotte and Sally who live in a famous home that is staying upright by duct tape and prayers. Spin and Perry are the step brothers who have never quite felt welcome in their own home. Spin gets engaged to Laurel, a woman who completely captivates all the family members, but is she all that she seems? Despite the confusing genre switches, the book is highly readable with just enough creepy scenes to make it fun.

A well-written tale of a blended family that never quite blended. The two biological sons of the patriarch never actually "lived" in their home but were frequent visitors. All family members were a little off-center which added to the richness of the story. Secrets and deep emotions come to light after the death of the patriarch and a daughter-in-law new on the scene who has her own idea of family. Interesting cast of characters and a good read.

"The Children" is captivating from the beginning. Leary writes in a conversational style from the point of view of the main character. She does a great job making the characters known through Lottie's voice. However, very near the end of the book, a crisis occurs to unsettle the family. Something had to happen, but the situation seemed out of place and not believable based on the lead up to that point. I'd recommend it though, still a good summer read.

Possible spoiler. Ann Leary is an excellent writer and I enjoyed this book right up until the end, which I found very disappointing. The only surprise for me was that there was no surprise. I kept waiting for something unexpected. She has talent. That's the hard part. A little more work on the endings (The Good House felt the same) would be nice.

At first I liked the "Anne Tyler" type characters, but when they began using vulgar language the resemblance ended. In addition, the author's use of ALL CAPS when people were speaking LOUD is amateurish and boring. I don't like being hollered at. I will check out some of the author's other books, but if see pages filled with CAPS, I'll pass.

Just got an email from the store asking me to review. I finished last week. I truly can't recall the gist of the book. Some characters coming to mind but that's about it. I guess that in itself pretty much says it all. Readable but very forgettable.

Upon the death of a wealthy unconventional father, the thread that holds the blended family together begins to unravel. Long surpassed feelings of resentment begin to appear fueled by a conniving new family member. This page turner is full of surprises and told with humor and poignancy.

I absolutely loved the Good House, and shared it with all the readers in my family and group of friends. I couldn't wait for her next piece, and The Children does not disappoint. beach read, train read, whatever - i couldn't put it down.