#Things Unsaid #Net Galley

I did not finish this book.  It did not keep my interest.  I did not finish this book.  It did not keep my interest.   I did not finish this book.  It did not keep my interest.   I did not finish this book.  It did not keep my interest.

A somewhat sad story of a woman trying to do right by her aging parents and siblings while doing all she can to hold her own family together. A fairly heavy read.

Oddly compelling story of a daughter trying to live up to the expectations of her elderly parents and siblings while struggling to keep her own family intact.  As her parents continue to spiral down a financial hole, Jules desperately tries to help them while fending off the ongoing money demands of her siblings.  Jules finds it hard to explain and justify her actions to her own husband and daughter. She is so weighted down with the expectations and demands and seemingly unable to break free of what she has been almost groomed to do from childhood; that is, bail out everyone else.  When her own little family is in crisis, Jules comes to accept that the tables haven't turned so she digs deep to keep her parents and siblings at bay in order to finally be fully available to her daughter and now-estranged husband.  Despite some odd and somewhat unsettling aspects revolving around her brother's story, the novel was hard to set aside.

This story examines a family from every angle. As the parents are aging, adult children come to terms with the legacy left them, the way they were parented, and how each decision made affects the future. This book is cautionary, haunting, but still inspirational. Sections and chapters are written from the points of view of various characters, though transitions are abrupt. Confusing at first, this kept me on my toes and working as a reader to determine which character was speaking when a new scene emerged. These characters are well-developed and intriguing, but some questions are left unanswered throughout, and still, at the end.

Very heavy look at a dysfunctional family. Definitely worth reading, interesting characters and story. It is sad and heavy though!

A story of a dysfunctional family that tells the tale of three siblings.

Bob and Aida Whitman are parents to Jules, Joanne, and Andrew. The experience of growing up with these awful people has the children all tun out very differently and we as we learn their stories we see how this family drama plays out.

It's true that how we are parented affects our own parenting and we see this Jules. 

This is more than a novel, it's more like a case study of how the children try to escape their parents mistake while still trying to do the right thing by them 

Interesting tale