Natalie Walker is the reason her older brother and sister went to prison more than fifteen years ago. She fled California shortly after that fateful night and hasn’t spoken to anyone in her family since. Ten years later, Natalie receives a letter from a lawyer saying her estranged mother has died and left the family’s historic Santa Cruz house to her–sort of. To inherit it, Natalie and her siblings must claim it together.
Natalie drives cross-country to Santa Cruz with her willful cat in tow expecting to sign some papers, see siblings Lynn and Jake briefly, and get back to sorting out her life in Boston. But Jake, now an award-winning ornithologist, is missing, and Lynn, working as an undertaker in New York City, shows up with a teenage son. While Natalie and her nephew look for Jake–and meeting a handsome marine biologist along the way–she unpacks the guilt she has held on to for so many years, wondering how, or if, she can salvage a relationship with her siblings after all this time.
The book started off on a strong, on the edge, can’t wait to turn the page kind of style then suddenly the enjoyment came into question when the reader was no longer sure where we were going as we followed Natalie Walker after her most recent life’s disappointment. In a contrasting manner, as the story progresses, the context behind her estrangement from her family becomes clearer, but the author’s direction were less clear.
The gist of A Very Typical Family explores the familial and other exterior relationships of Natalie Walker, whose movement of life’s trajectory tilts with news of her mother’s passing. This overdue visit results in Natalie facing her fears and the people she has avoided for many years.
In just a few days, Natalie gains new relationships, rekindles old ones, releases herself from toxic situations, and learns about the power of forgiveness.
The characters aren’t likable, but their flaws are what make them real and relatable, there is something in the style of writing or possibly the characterisation that made it almost impossible to feel connected to any of the characters or even have any empathy towards them.
The book is medium paced, and we spend a considerable amount of time with Natalie as she takes a trial-and-error approach in mending or forging a relationship with each of her siblings.
The major theme of this book is forgiveness. Forgiveness is not always expected, nor is it given. When either occurrence happens, it’s suprising to at least one party; either the forgiver or the forgiven. In A Very Typical Family, we see how lack of explicit forgiveness can warp connections.
Another social theme highlighted throughout the book is the evolution of familial relationships. Natalie hasn’t seen her siblings in years. The large gap of time contributes to her being out of touch and blindly navigating how to communicate with them. People change, and that’s something that Natalie comes to grips with in each situation she’s placed in that involves her siblings, Lynn and Jake.
Along the way of meeting the requirements of her mother’s will, Natalie meet people. One of those people becomes a romantic interest that’s somehow obvious and not so obvious to read because of the interference of other characters. Considering Natalie’s purpose of returning home to settle her mother’s estate, romantic elements in the book felt out of place to the reader.
The ending seemed rather rushed and had an element of cliché therefore we have given the book 4/10.
