Top positive review
4.0 out of 5 starsFamily Sinking With Secrets
Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2020
From the outside, they Rossi family is the perfect family. Most families have a few issues, that is life, isn’t it? In the Rossi family, they have every problem packed into this family of four; alcoholism, drug addiction, jealousy, liars, accusations of racism, teenage angst, affairs, and denial.
Emily Rossi, the mother, is the narrator of this novel. She teaches Communication at the local university. Her husband, Eric, works in London during the week and is home on weekends. Daniel the oldest child is a super tennis champion, and Zara, the younger daughter, who is overweight, and the problem child. From the outset, we can identify the problems coming down the pike. I was a little put off at the obvious issues, and wondered if this was a simple storyline. No, the problems and issues escalate throughout this family, and never seem to stop.
At times we hear from Eric as he narrates his part of the family problems. An absent dad as he tries to make it up on weekends, but he can barely make his own life work. Daniel finds his way through tennis, and he takes a back seat while Eric, Emily and Zara run off the road. It is a little disconcerting to see so much angst in one family, but as time moves on, we can see that one problem causes another. No one seems to think of therapy until the family is so off the course, it may be too late.
I find it difficult to make a sufficient analysis about this novel, in some ways it is quite compelling, and in others it is too overboard. It seems like the characters have too much going on without all of them cracking up and falling apart. This is like a bad car accident, you can’t stop watching, but feel guilty about your curiosity.
Recommended. prisrob 04-01-2020
