Baby of the Family by Maura Roosevelt is at the top of my list to read. I am so excited based on the description of the book. There are not enough books out there about family dynasties, I love reading about families that date far back and have a glamorous but troubled history.

A wry and addictive debut about a modern-day American dynasty and its unexpected upheaval when the patriarch wills his dwindling fortune to his youngest, adopted son–setting off a chain of events that unearth family secrets and test long-held definitions of love and family.

The Whitbys: a dynasty akin to the Astors, once enormously wealthy real-estate magnates who were considered “the landlords of New York.”

There was a time when the death of a Whitby would have made national news, but when the family patriarch, Roger, dies, he is alone. Word of his death travels from the longtime family lawyer to his clan of children (from four separate marriages) and the news isn’t good. Roger has left everything to his twenty-one-year-old son Nick, a Whitby only in name, including the houses currently occupied by Shelley and Brooke–two of Roger’s daughters from different marriages. And Nick is nowhere to be found.

Brooke, the oldest of the children, who is unexpectedly pregnant, leads the search for Nick, hoping to convince him to let her keep her Boston home and her fragile composure. Shelley hasn’t told anyone she’s dropped out of college just months before graduating, and is living in her childhood apartment while working as an amanuensis for a blind writer named Anandaroop Gupta, with whom she develops a rather complicated relationship. And when Nick, on the run from the law after a misguided and dramatic act of political activism, finally shows up at Shelley’s New York home, worlds officially collide as Nick and Mr. Gupta’s daughter fall in love. Soon, all three siblings are faced with the question they have been running from their whole lives: What do they want their future to look like, if they can finally escape their past?

Weaving together multiple perspectives to create a portrait of an American family, and an American dream gone awry, Baby of the Family is a book about family secrets–how they define us, bind us together, and threaten to blow us (and more) apart–as well as an amusing and heartwarming look at the various ways in which a family can be created.

This novel promises to be full of secrets, consequences of decisions that impact family members, sibling rivalry.

March 5th 2019

The Whitbys are an American dynasty that has succumbed to the passage of time. Once a family of great wealth and notoriety, the most recent generations have squandered away their money and influence. When the current patriarch of one branch of the family, Roger Whitby, Jr., dies, his multiple children from four tumultuous marriage most sift through what's left. Brooke, the dutiful youngest daughter of Roger's second marriage, finds out first that what's left of everything, including her home and that of her youngest half-sister, Shelley, has been left to the youngest, the adopted son, Nick. All the siblings suffer from the world Roger has pulled them into. Brooke has been in search for some stability ever since her father left for a new family. Shelley never felt her father's affection, she never could shake the feeling that she was a mistake. And Nick didn't want to be involved. And now he's disappeared. Has he gotten in some kind of trouble? Brooke recruits Shelley to start the search, with the family's past following close behind.

Overall, Baby of the Family is a story about growing up and taking responsibility for oneself. All three siblings have a thing or two to learn in this aspect. I just finished reading a narrative about the Patty Hearst kidnapping. I ended up seeing a lot of parallels in these two stories regarding actions and consequences, especially when the players are from wealthy families (if no longer particularly rich, then still wealthy in connections). At some points I grew frustrated with the spoiled Whitby siblings, but they were just children trying desperately to find their place in the world. We can all relate to that.

This book was just not my cup of tea. I picked it up and put it down a few times, but I couldn’t manage to finish it. I found it to be quite verbose and I had a difficult time keeping all of the characters straight.

Genre: Literary Fiction
Publisher: PENGUIN GROUP Dutton
Pub. Date: March 5, 2019

The author, Maura Roosevelt, is the great-granddaughter of Eleanor and Franklin. Her novel is about a fictional modern-day American dynasty, the Whitbys. I admit the author’s own family lineage is what captured my eye in choosing this book to review. The fictional Whitbys will make you think of the once enormously wealthy real-life Astor family. In the past, the Astors were known as “The Landlords of New York.” I love how this novel begins: First, with a quote from George W. Bush: “When I was young and foolish, I was young and foolish.” Then, in the book’s opening, we learn that the always-foolish, current family patriarch, Roger Whitby Jr., dies after squandering away a fortune. We learn that, half a century prior, a Whitby death would've made headlines around the world—not anymore. The reader immediately knows that we will be entering the world of Roger’s offspring and their children as they learn to live minus the billions.

Roger Whitby Jr. has many children from four marriages that all ended in divorce. (The author added in a family tree, which is a nice touch). After his death, he bequeaths what is left of the fortune to his last son, who is adopted, as well as the baby in the family. This naturally becomes the tension in the story. The reader will become familiar with three of his children, each from a different marriage, who play major roles in the novel. They are half-siblings but still, they share the same feeling of abandonment. In these three, we learn that the story is not actually about the inheritance, but rather the half-siblings' childhood and adult struggles that stem from being a member of a famous clan (Heh, I can’t help but wonder about the author’s motives for writing this book).

I believe that Roosevelt attempted to write a novel on family love and healing. If so, that is not what I read. Basically, this is a poor little rich kid tale. There are so many subplots with each grown child that I became confused, which led to lack of interest. Spoiler: One daughter, in her early twenties (in the first job of her life) is clearly being sexually abused by the man she works for, yet I didn’t feel the anger that I should have felt. Her story gets lost in between the others. This is a shame as the novel has such potential. It reminded me of Jonathan Franzen’s novel “The Corrections.” There are strong similarities (meaning lots of Tolstoy-like soap). I am not comparing the talents of the famous Russian author to either of these current day writers. I am trying to say that Roosevelt’s “Baby” is missing the American Gothic feel that “Corrections” managed to catch.

I finished reading this novel a few days ago, but it seems that I cannot stop processing it. This is the story of the remnants of a once great family. It focuses on the three youngest children of a very careless, destructive and irrational patriarch.

It is the story of Shelley, Brooke and Nick, siblings who have different mothers and have had tenuous connections during their lives. The catalyst is the death of paterfamilias Roger Whitby, member of the esteemed, once wealthy Whitby family. His death and his will cause a family crisis, threatening his youngest daughters while leaving the remainder of his fortune to his adopted son, Nick.

The author was able to bring these characters to life, their actions and motivations proved to put me in a hypnotic state as I traveled into Whitbyland. The descriptions of the characters and their surroundings are more vivid than anything I have read recently. I generally have a problem with too many characters, but the richness which the author uses to describe each character precludes any confusion.

There are secondary characters, but each moves the plot along and furthers our understanding of the protagonists. The bizarre Mr. Gupta and his daughter Grace, are skillfully woven into the plot.

I loved Shelley, I wanted to understand her motivations, she absolutely engaged me (still is) in trying to figure out what made her tick. I found I admired Brooke the most beleaguered and warm, the thoughtful caretaker sibling. It is Nick who left me unsure about my feelings. I think my total relationship with the characters demonstrates the quality and depth of the novel.

Roosevelt left me satisfied by pullling all the characters together. I was totally engaged and enjoyed every moment.

This is a debut novel that is simply stunning. The author’s insights into white privilege and the WASP ascendancy made me curious about her own connections, especially with her formidable last name. She is, in fact, a descendant of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. Her understanding and abilities as a story teller make her a force to be reckoned with.

Bravo! One of the great novels of 2019, I am so glad I had the opportunity to read it. I intend to recommend it to all my reading groups, it should not be missed.