Eleanor Bennett has died and her children are left a recording that rocks their world. Byron is the successful and faithful son who stood by his parents as they aged. Benny is a bit more of a free spirit working to find herself and fulfillment and her parents have judged her choices causing her to isolate from them. Now she must face the truth of their separation. Both she and Byron must listen to their mother’s stories and realize that their own searches for self might mirror their mother’s.
I was all in on this one for the first half. There is a lot of depth to the characters and we get rapid, short snapshots to move through all of their lives and time points. At first it is a bit frenetic and there is a lot to absorb, but I was thrilled by it. I think the second half as revelations happened, the pace of them got slower and there were lots of asides I thought were unnecessary. I loved the food and science and athletic stories that resonated with one another but sometimes felt they could have been edited down a bit to move the story faster. Ultimately, it does everything you want in a multi-generational saga, there are highs and lows and real revelations. You wish that these folks had the strength and resolve to sit and talk through their differences. How different their lives would be.
What is your favorite kind of cake?
openmypages 