A Perfectly Good Family

Another solid novel by Shriver; this one follows a middle child named Corliss, who has a belligerent, independent older brother named Mordecai and a timid, homebound younger brother named Thurman. Upon the death of their parents, the three siblings inherit the family's old North Carolina Reconstruction mansion, Heck-Andrews, where Thurman has been living with his wife. Complicating matters are the fact that a fourth of the estate is willed to the ACLU, Mordecai's small business is bleeding money, and that Corliss has just moved back after being evicted from her London apartment. None of the siblings have enough money to buy out the others' shares, and Corliss finds herself being courted by both of her brothers in an attempt to gain show more control of the estate.

The McCrea family is dysfunctional in so many ways that most readers are bound to find something to relate to; for me, it was the mother of the family, who scrimped and saved, always saving up every last bit of food, reusing zip-loc bags, purchasing groceries in bulk, trying not to waste anything. This is captured in a scene where Corliss, Thurman, and his wife Averil try to clean out the family's deep freezer, uncovering scraps of food from decades ago -- their mother's attempt to preserve and keep the past.

This is not one of Shriver's best, but it is definitely worth picking up if you enjoy her complex characters and style of writing. show less

This is the story of three siblings fighting over their inheritance (which they also must share with a nonprofit). I couldn't finish this one. I tried. Really. I didn't care for the characters but I plodded along thinking I would come to care for them or perhaps I might discover that they had some redeeming qualities but it wasn't enough to get me past the halfway point of the book. I was curious about how it would all turn out but life is too short and there are just too many unread books on my shelves (and floor). I found her "We Need to Talk about Kevin" an extremely powerful book but this one seems just 'eh' (however, I'd love to read a review from someone who loved it)

I bought this book after loving The Post-Birthday World, and being deeply affected by We Need to Talk about Kevin. Unfortunately, I found this book not nearly as good.

A Perfectly Good Family is abou three siblings in a battle over the house left to them by their parents....a battle that is really about much deeper family issues. I found it difficult to really care about the characters, who seemed to come to life only in opposition to each other. And, the writing seemed to make the same point over and and over -- whether about the mother's obsessions or the father's distance, or.....

Wow. This book didn't thrill me. Lionel Shriver is still one of my favorite authors, but this book.... It took me several days to read. The three main characters were just boring, and frankly stupid.

I never have managed to get the book about taking to kevin so I though I would try another of her books.
It was pleasant enough, the people in the book were real while you were reading them. The plot was failrly predictable and the writing easy to follow. seems a little lacking in something that I just cant put my finger on to lift it into the excellent catagory, which it is so close to

if you like The Corrections

4.10