Make Nice: A Novel

It’s been 3 months since Lydia Pickford’s passing, and out of duty to his wife’s wishes (certainly not sentimentality), H F (Harold - the “self made” man) has called his kids together for a reunion on the island where they vacationed until their early-mid teens. Three kids and one granddaughter arrive with some expectation of a grand announcement from the patriarch, except, as was the case during most of their growing years, he spends little time with any of them. All are left to their own devices.

The varied cast of characters include: oldest brother, Pete 30ish, still single, a snail scientist still hoping to win some parental recognition – the “nice” peacemaker; Vivian, in the midst of a mid-life struggle in her show more marriage and still hoping to catch a glimpse of those “glory days” as an early teen; Corey, the youngest man-child who still can’t keep focus long enough to hold steady employment, who has been secretly subsidized by his mother’s monthly checks, and who has always tried to prove his creativity by making money the easiest way possible (think undiagnosed ADHD); and then there is Ashley/Ash the daughter of Vivian who comes across as the most mature of the entire clan – a little snarky (think cartoon Daria) but having a fairly balanced head on her shoulders.

The reader is along for this weeklong vacation/reunion on an un-named bougie island somewhere on the coast of Lake Michigan, where the sand is imported, and the horses lead un-manned carriages around the island (think Mackinac, but not Mackinac). Of course, let to their own devices, each character is faced with the person he/she has become as they take a stab at recapturing the last time they were a “happy” family.

Thank you to #NetGalley, # RyanEffgen and #KnopfPublishing for the opportunity to read and review this debut novel. All opinions are my own. show less

Sandwich meets the Wedding Peope is actually a pretty accurate description. All books take place over a week, all focus on middle aged characters dealing with their own problems, their parents and their children. However I didn’t find this nearly as funny as the blurbs would have me believe. I didn’t like it quite as much as either Sandwich or the Wedding People but was nonetheless an enjoyable read giving a glimpse into one family’s lives and meditating on the difficulty of relationships of all sorts.