Genre: Modern fiction

The Burgess Boys – Elizabeth Strout

The Burgess Boys - Elizabeth Strout
The Burgess Boys – Elizabeth Strout

This took make a while to get into, but I am glad I persevered to the pay offs in the final section.

The Burgess Boys is the tale of three siblings from a small town in Maine – eldest son Jim, the successful New York white collar crime lawyer with a rich WASP wife, Helen; and twins Susan and Bob. Susan, a single mum whose husband has left her and awkward teen son Zach, and small town Maine, to move back to ancestral Sweden; Bob a NY lawyer like his elder brother but working at the other end of the profession, in the legal aid sector, long divorced from college girlfriend and wife, Pam.

When Zach tosses a pig’s head into a local mosque he sets of a chain of events that changes everyone’s lives.

Author page: The Burgess Boys – Elizabeth Strout

Have The Men Had Enough? – Margaret Forster

Have The Men Had Enough? - Margaret Forster
Have The Men Had Enough? – Margaret Forster

We follow grandma’s slow slide into dementia from two different perspectives – daughter in law Jenny and granddaughter Hannah, with grandma’s daughter Bridget featuring strongly, as the family struggles to cope with the physical and emotional strains of balancing love, duty and life.

A hard series of events to watch unfolding, but it felt so, so authentic.

Publisher page: Have The Men Had Enough? – Margaret Forster