What Makes A Family

Available: January 31, 2017

Thank you to NetGalley.com for the opportunity to read an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I have devoured all of Colleen Faulker’s previous novels and loved each one. I’ve cried my way through them, laughed at some parts, and smiled at the similarities with my own brood. “What Makes A Family” is a good book – it just didn’t leave me with the warm fuzzies around my heart like all of the others. I was sad for my grandparents who have passed.

What I loved: The history of the carney world in the Great Depression was fascinating to learn about. Life in the Great Depression is something so many people cannot wrap their heads around as we are losing the survivors every day and just being reminded of what people struggled with on a daily basis to get through life makes you stop and think about all that you have.

What I didn’t love: There are the strong women (Sarah, Abby and Sarah) and the weak ones (Birdie and Celeste) and the men are practically useless in this family. Little Joe has been coddled by his mother for his entire life that he doesn’t seem to know how to exist without someone doing practically everything for him. It’s a weird dynamic on Brodie Island and I’m not sure if it’s a great place to be. Birdie is a doormat who doesn’t have any self respect because she was never taught that she was valued. Her own daughters treat her like the hired help and that’s a poor family dynamic.

What I learned: Grandparents once had lives outside of you – its time to learn about those years.

Overall Grade: B