The four Welch siblings recall their childhood from each of their perspectives in this memoir of growing up together, but individually.
First thoughts: reminds me of The Way Back (movie) and This is Your Life (by Meg Wolitzer). Very of its time, class, and race (80s, upper, white).
A memoir? I know - why do I keep reading memoirs when they are my least favorite genre? I keep thinking they can't all be self-absorbed and dramatic, but that's kind of the point of memoirs. I just pretend it's fiction while I read so I'm not as eye-rolly and unimpressed by rich people problems.
Recommended for: a specific type of person - someone who enjoys memoirs, or grew up with money. Yes, the Welches face events that are tragedies no matter who you are (deaths of parents, loss of finances), but they were uniquely positioned to be pretty okay (All Right, in fact) despite all this.
Final thoughts: Just OK. Well-written, to be sure, and a testament to the power of sibling love. I appreciated getting to hear everyone's perspective (and not being stuck with one narrator). In the end, though, I was still wondering "so what" about everything - I wasn't sure what the underlying motivation for writing the memoir was.
First thoughts: reminds me of The Way Back (movie) and This is Your Life (by Meg Wolitzer). Very of its time, class, and race (80s, upper, white).
A memoir? I know - why do I keep reading memoirs when they are my least favorite genre? I keep thinking they can't all be self-absorbed and dramatic, but that's kind of the point of memoirs. I just pretend it's fiction while I read so I'm not as eye-rolly and unimpressed by rich people problems.
Recommended for: a specific type of person - someone who enjoys memoirs, or grew up with money. Yes, the Welches face events that are tragedies no matter who you are (deaths of parents, loss of finances), but they were uniquely positioned to be pretty okay (All Right, in fact) despite all this.
Final thoughts: Just OK. Well-written, to be sure, and a testament to the power of sibling love. I appreciated getting to hear everyone's perspective (and not being stuck with one narrator). In the end, though, I was still wondering "so what" about everything - I wasn't sure what the underlying motivation for writing the memoir was.
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