I liked this book. I love flawed characters who "grow" as the book progresses, because we are all flawed in our own ways and I like to think that I have learned a few things about myself throughout the years - and changed some things I didn't like, as well as some erroneous perceptions about others. The older I get, I find myself trying to put myself into someone else's "shoes" before developing an opinion about them.
Interestingly, I could understand how each and every character "felt" in this book, which made their decisions and lifestyles completely compatible with their lines of thought. Billy was the "golden child" - not only brilliant, but beautiful. I can see why he felt like he had to hide his homosexuality. Scott felt like the "fifth wheel" in his family - which would make sense with a brother like Billy and a sister with a disability. He would have been the one to get the least amount of attention from his parents. So his "acting out" made perfect sense. Gwen was protected her entire life and made to feel "small" - pun intended. It's hard to get out from under that. Well-developed characters!
I believe that Frank sincerely loved Paulette. She was the love of his life. I completely understand why their marriage fell apart though. Frank was a workaholic, but HE is the one who really tried to help Gwen when he realized something was wrong. Paulette tried hard to love her family - in her own way. They say that "love is blind" and I think she was blind in regards to who each member of her family really was.
I loved how Billy, Gwen, and Scott each came into their own. They stopped living the lives they felt was expected of them - and started living the lives that they wanted to. Most important: Frank and Paulette loved them - and each other - MORE, not less, after discovering who their children actually were! I LOVE how Frank accepted Sri immediately. I was thrilled that Gwen gave Rico another chance. I was happy that Scott could move on with his life with his children sans wife! I thought it was interesting the Scott figured out things about himself as he was researching his son's behavior - and then tried to change those things about himself. Maybe now he can address Ian's issues.
I loved the character development. Sometimes I got bored with the endless descriptions of places, ideas, things. Too many details about inanimate objects and I get restless!
My cousin's daughter has Turner's Syndrome, but she was diagnosed at birth. (She is 18 now). At first I could not understand why it would take Gwen's parents 12 YEARS to figure out something was wrong with her, but I felt satisfied with the explanation the book offered. As with any disability, disease, illness, there are different levels of severity and obviously Gwen's disability wasn't as severe as my cousin's daughter. Gwen was also born in the 1960's, so I'm not sure how much was known about Turner's Syndrome at the point.
Wendy's Rating: ****
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