Shari Goldhagen

Anybody can write a book about four characters and their interactions over a twenty year period. But Shari Goldhagen, a new-to-me author, manages to create four beautifully flawed but sympathetic individuals who weave in and out of each others' lives in ways that are often coincidental but always moving. I knew I was hooked when one of the female characters was making decisions that would lead her to meet up with either one of the male characters or the other, and I felt like I was reading a show more suspense novel, the kind that keeps you turning pages while holding your breath and yelling at the characters "don't open that door!" The author emphasizes large and small decisions we make every day that can change our lives in innumerable ways, and reminds us that every choice we make in a relationship to hold back or let angry words stand between us can have devastating consequences. Highly recommended. show less

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley. It's one of the types of story lines that I tend to really like and it's particularly well done. A disparate group of characters are portrayed starting in late adolescence into their late thirties. They are connected in various ways, and we see their lives intersect as the few plot lines evolve. The concept is similar to Meg Wolitzer's The Interestings and a few other books I have read over the years. What pushed this show more one into a relatively rare 5 star rating for me is that I found myself really liking the characters -- despite all of their flaws and obvious blind spots -- and also enjoying their various stories and how they were connected. And the writing was lovely -- simple but elegant with its occasional clever repetitions, 2nd person narrative and reliance on the link to the Star Wars like movie all characters had seen--or not seen--in the opening chapter. I had the luxury of being able to read this book in a day while spending much time in airplanes and airports, and it was a great way to enjoy a book I would have had trouble putting down. Highly recommended for anyone who likes books in this genre. show less

I reckon this is a pretty good piece of writing. OK, its context is very much middle class America in modern times, and it doesn't attempt to say anything about any other situation, so that might be seen by some as a limitation. Not me though - I'm happy to do my own extrapolation - and besides, my world is very much middle class and not very far from American in terms of values. It seems to me that the book has two goals: to paint a picture of the relationship between two brothers; and to show more say something about the reality of marriage-type relationships. I don't know about the brothers bit - my brother and I don't relate like Goldhagen's brothers, and I don't know any other men well enough to know how they relate to their siblings. But the general description of the relationship issues is entirely believable to me. Goldhagen describes marriage-type relationships which are imperfect from the start; which break up incompletely; in which sex plays an important but very confusing part; and which tend to be patterned from parent to child. That's pretty accurate to me and reading her description does help me reflect on my own life (which is, after all, why I read fiction). show less

This is not my usual fare and I can't remember how I heard about it but I'm delighted I did. Connor is a pre-teen when his mother dies and a teenager when his father dies. It's left to his brother, Jack, 10 years his senior to stand in as his family. Goldhagen chronicles the ups and downs of this relationship over several decades in fascinating chapters that nearly stand on their own as short stories. It's really kind of fascinating to read.