TUESDAY POTPOURRI: EXCERPTING “THE CHILDREN”

Welcome to another Tuesday celebrating bookish events, from Tuesday/First Chapter/Intros, hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea; and Teaser Tuesdays hosted by Books & a Beat.

Today’s feature is a book I hope to start reading soon:  The Children (e-book), by Ann Leary – a NetGalley ARC that will be released on 5/24.

 

 

 

Intro:  One August morning in 1956, Whit Whitman sat down to a breakfast of soft-boiled eggs and toast with his grandmother Trudy.  They dined outdoors on the wide front porch of Lakeside Cottage.  Whit’s father had an early golf game that morning.  His mother and sister had gone for a sail on the lake.  Although he was only eight at the time, Whit would always remember what he and his grandmother talked about during their breakfast.  First, Trudy had described her displeasure at finding the family cat on her bed when she awoke.  She had thought it was her sweater and was alarmed when it sprang from her hands.  They they had discussed the weather.

“Isn’t it cold for August?” Trudy asked.

“Not really,” said Whit.  He wanted to go sailing and was bitter about being left behind to look after his grandmother.

“Won’t you and your father want to plant bulbs this afternoon?  Or is it too soon for bulbs?  Didn’t we just plant the tomatoes?”

Whit answered in a dull monotone.  It was a bit soon for the bulbs.  The tomatoes had been planted in May.

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Teaser:  I was supposed to write a listicle for BuzzFeed.  They wanted a few for the twelve-to sixteen-year-old female consumer, so I took my laptop down to the kitchen and wrote “23 Beauty Hacks for Hot Summer Days.” (57%).

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Synopsis:  From New York Times bestselling author Ann Leary comes the captivating story of a wealthy, but unconventional New England family, told from the perspective of a reclusive 29-year-old who has a secret (and famous) life on the Internet.

Charlotte Maynard rarely leaves her mother’s home, the sprawling Connecticut lake house that belonged to her late stepfather, Whit Whitman, and the generations of Whitmans before him. While Charlotte and her sister, Sally, grew up at “Lakeside,” their stepbrothers, Spin and Perry, were welcomed as weekend guests. Now the grown boys own the estate, which Joan occupies by their grace—and a provision in the family trust. When Spin, the youngest and favorite of all the children, brings his fiancé home for the summer, the entire family is intrigued. The beautiful and accomplished Laurel Atwood breathes new life into this often comically rarefied world. But as the wedding draws near, and flaws surface in the family’s polite veneer, an array of simmering resentments and unfortunate truths is exposed.

With remarkable wit and insight, Ann Leary pulls back the curtain on one blended family, as they are forced to grapple with the assets and liabilities – both material and psychological – left behind by their wonderfully flawed patriarch.

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What do you think?  Is this a book you would keep reading?  I have loved two other books by the author, so I’m eager to immerse myself in this one.

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