Mary Lawson (1) (1946–)

I read this 'on a break' from trying to conquer the world's longest and dullest biography of Sylvia Plath, but really wished I hadn't after meeting the characters. Apart from Megan, who escapes her supremely dysfunctional background to start a fairly successful life in London, the Cartwrights of northern Canada are the poster family for 'just because you can doesn't mean you should'. The parents are like Mr and Mrs Bennet of Pride and Prejudice, only without the excuse of living in Regency England and trying again and again for a son and heir. And at least the Bennets stopped at five! Nine children and only one daughter, who gets lumped with running the house and raising her siblings for fifteen years - but the father, Edward, who for some reason gets to tell his story in first person, hides in his study from children he hates and a wife he doesn't love, while Emily keeps popping them out and then abandoning her children once out of nappies. As Megan says, 'they're not even Catholics!' I did feel really sorry for poor Adam, but who keeps having children when the brood mostly runs to boys?

There is more to the story, and the narrative is Anne Tyler-esque, which I usually enjoy, but I just couldn't get past the selfish parents. The multiple timelines, jumping back and forth to cover the same events from different perspectives, didn't help either.

Back to Sylvia *sigh*… (more)