The Children by Ann Leary

 

Whit and Joan had a love for the ages.  That's what they thought and the fact that two families had to be broken up in order for them to be together was a shame but just what had to happen.  Joan had two daughters, Charlotte and Sally.  Whit had two sons, Perry and Spin.  Somehow the two families managed to merge and the children grew close.

Now everyone is grown.  Joan and Charlotte still live in Whit's beach estate, a codicil in Whit's will and trusts granting Joan lifetime residency.  Charlotte is mildly acrophobic and spends her time writing a successful mothering blog although she has no children and stuck in a decade old relationship with Everett who lives in the carriage house and is the caretaker, raised as another brother to Spin and Perry.  Sally is in the New York symphony but is bipolar and has periodic times of breakdown.  Perry is rich and living the life of a wealthy, old family scion.  Spin is the youngest and is a teacher at the boarding school his great grandfather founded, living there.  

Then a big event happens.  Spin meets Laurel while skiing one winter break.  She is smart, accomplished and beautiful and the two start a relationship.  Laurel is writing a novel.  She was to be on the Olympic team for skiing but an accident put an end to that.  The relationship moves fast and the two are engaged before the family even meets her.  Laurel's arrival cracks the even keel of the family and soon long-buried secrets start to emerge.  Will the family survive?

Ann Leary has written a marvelous novel about families.  It is narrated by Charlotte who loves her family above anything.  All the members are stuck in the past, hemmed in by family traditions dating back generations and by long-held secrets.  The catalyst that causes the revelation of these secrets may cause a rupture that cannot be healed.  Readers will fall in love with Skip and with Charlotte as both are wonderful characters.  This book is recommended for readers of family literature.