Publishers Weekly says THE OTHER FAMILY is "smartly told, funny, and deeply poignant." Mary Gaitskill describes it as "a fine, astringent pleasure." The New York Times calls it a "deep delight." The Christian Science Monitor finds it "polished, satiric," and "compelling." Newsday says it "takes our breath away." |
The Other Family"I believe in Proudhon's idea of free-floating units of children and adults who will group and regroup as necessary." That is what fourteen-year-old Joan Toolan declares in the late sixties at a fundraiser for her aunt, Iris Eberlander, who is running for the New York State Assembly from Brooklyn. But Joan is not too happy with the real-life regroupings going on around her. Joan's mother has abandoned her family and attached herself to the rich and accomplished Eberlanders. Worse, she has taken up with a hilariously awful boyfriend named Aaron Lemon who shifts his attentions between mother and daughter. Now even the Eberlanders-- fragile, idealistic Iris and her demanding psychiatrist husband-- seem to be unraveling. Joan visits the household every July 4th for four years and watches partners switch off. It is all a "delightful dance," as Iris puts it. At least in the beginning. "Jacqueline Carey writes with a rare and exhilarating combination of fleetness, precision, and wit. In THE OTHER FAMILY, she uses those gifts to tell a crisp and beautiful story of families gone awry." -Deirdre McNamer |
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