Not every book I pick up turns out to be un-put-downable.....but this one was. I found a hard back copy of Jennifer Haigh’s book The Condition in one of Port Washington’s Little Free Library kiosks. I took it along on our recent RV exploration. It was a page-turner. A family saga set in New England and the main themes revolves around a family’s inability to come to terms with the reality of one child who is diagnosed with Turner’s syndrome.
It is a novel, but I will assume that the basic information about this genetic condition are presented accurately. And the interarctions between each of the parents....with each other and with each of their three children as they grow into adulthood is sometimes touching, sometimes heartbreaking.....and sometimes hits close to home.
The book was another reminder, to me, that within one family each child can have a totally different experience of childhood. And these differing views and memories can later interfere with any kind of satisfying adult relationship with one another.
Several sentences made me stop and re-read them....several times. “Love is like any other material. You can only lean on it so hard, for so long. Sooner or later it is going to give.” “It was astounding what a person could forgive if she wanted to.” “The difference is vast; you could fit a whole life in the gulf between. And so she has.”
I love it when a book speaks to me.......and this one did.
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