Delicious Books About Family Three Ways, Or, Saturday Morning at 8:42am

In pursuit of understanding how to write genre fiction, I have read very much of it these past few years. I now know that I like any fiction, as long as it’s well written. Give me an ordinary tale well told over an extraordinary tale poorly done, any day. I also now know that books about families are a thing unto themselves.

Here are three books I’ve read and liked recently, from found family to extended nuclear, from robustly commercial to memorably literary (defined in my own particular taxonomy by how much of the experienced story and meaning is on the page, and how much is off). Commercial=On the Page. Literary=Off. Which raises the question of exactly where the meaning of literary fiction resides, but for today we’ll leave that to professors.

Between Us, by Mhairi McFarlane, upcoming

How many of you have read McFarlane? Some people say she writes rom-coms, others would say contemporary women’s fiction with a romantic element. Either way, she’s a master of the good read. Her families are found, groups of late 20s/early 30s British friends who play pub trivia, live in flats, and have regular jobs. Not princesses, in other words, and devoted to each other. Her books often, maybe always, involve a best friend relationship with bumps, a bad actor ex, and a not-so-bad new chance at romance. The stories aren’t just about the romance though, they are driven by the growth of the female main character.

Between Us is McFarlane’s latest, available now by pre-order. I read it via NetGalley, a site where you request to read books pre-publication, and was really excited we were approved for this one. I say we, because I’m assuming the publishers like you all as readers. I will just tell you that the book opens with all the friends going to spend a weekend at a stately home, courtesy of one of them having won a lot of money on a reality show. Such a fun twist on the English country weekend that I only wish they stayed longer. My only other reservation about the book is that the final relationship bump for the eventual new romance felt unnecessary, but otherwise, every time I put this down I was excited to pick it back up again. On Goodreads, here.

The Most Fun We Ever Had, by Claire Lombardo, 2019

This book is really long, like 500 pages in hardback. Which, as I loved it, was a good thing. You have to come to know seven characters, at least–two parents, four adult daughters, one grandson and maybe one or two others as love interests. The joy of the story, for me, was an author who believes in what she was doing, who is willing to use great skill in the service of small domestic histories and the multi-threaded tensions and happinesses of family. Lombardo is a graduate of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, and teaches creative writing, and I imagine I could feel that.

The plot in some ways doesn’t matter. The mother and father have been married for a very long time, and still love and desire each other. The four daughters are all quite different; all struggle. One of the daughters has given a child up for adoption, and that child has been reintroduced to the family. Then everybody makes their way and lives their lives. And you feel somehow expanded for having loaned space to their history. On Goodreads, here.

Love Marriage, by Monica Ali, 2022

This plot matters enormously, as the characters behave against expectations and I think that’s one of the points. Set in London, in brief, the daughter of a Pakistani family becomes engaged to an intellectual, upper-class English scion. The engaged couple are both doctors, as is the father of the daughter. The mother of the scion is a Bloomsbury sort. Someone in the story has a same-sex love affair, I won’t tell you whom. Someone in the story goes to a therapist and I won’t tell you whom. Someone has a baby, and, you guessed it, I won’t tell you whom.

Not a story one can forget, and leaves unvoiced questions in its wake, but also is completely entertaining and quirky and fun. On Goodreads, here. You may notice, all these books I love have a Goodreads score in the high 3s. Make of that what you will, and share any thoughts if you’re so inclined.

Books for summer! Here’s to an excellent weekend of reading.

No affiliate links herein