Family Album

by Penelope Lively
Hennepin County Library audiobook 7 CDs
read by Josephine Bailey
genre: realistic fiction

This felt less like a novel and more like vignettes on family life. Dad Charles is distant and scholarly. Mom Alison is almost overbearing in her motherly love. Ingrid is a bit of an enigma at first, but becomes more than just an au pair as the story goes along. The children - this is mostly their story.

Paul - ne'er do well, lazy, unmotivated . . . being Alison's favorite was detrimental, I think. She keeps blaming others for Paul's poor choices

Gina - married to Phillip, TV journalist, strong-willed, I liked her best.

Sondra - 38, living in Rome, fashion, devoted to remaining childless, runs a boutique, getting into real estate and renovations

Katie - married to ???, Boston or San Francisco, the "nice" one, hung out with Roger a lot

Roger - married to Susan (Chinese descent), lives in Toronto, pediatrician

Claire - based in Paris, dancer on tour, getting ready to retire at 30 . . .

Allersmead - the house itself is a character in this story. How fitting that the last part is the house's perspective . . .

The stories bop around from the present to moments in time from the past. Corinna (Charles' sister) is a piece of work. I wonder if she and Martin are included primarily to help us get to know Charles a little better.

Charles is oblivious! When he's researching his book on teen male rituals, he seems unaware that Paul is a teen male getting angry with his dad.

I enjoyed this book and thinking about families, communication, relationships, etc. The Cellar Game wasn't as sinister as I expected when it was first mentioned.