Book Bite review on behalf of the Sunday Times: http://bit.ly/2XyG0vb

~In these difficult times, stories are important. In a sense, stories are all we have to tell us about the future.~

~Better was largely irrelevant when it came to mothering because the entire enterprise relied on the presumption that one day, sooner than you thought, your child would become an entirely self-reliant, independent person who made her own decisions. That child wouldn't necessarily remember the Halloween costumes you made from hand six years running. Or maybe she did, but she resented you for it because she'd wanted store-bought costumes just like all her friends. It didn't matter how great a mother you tried to be; eventually every child walked off into the world alone.~

~I recognized in [him] the kind of man about whom I wrote most viciously on the blog, the kind who carried himself with an entitlement that masqueraded as confidence. [He] believed that he deserved whatever he wanted.~

~The greatest works of poetry, what make each of us a poet, are the stories we tell about ourselves.~

~I was wrong to tell you that this is a story about the failures of love. No, it is about real love, true love. Imperfect, wretched, weak love. No fairy tales, no poetry. It is about the negotiations we undertake with ourselves in the name of love. Every day we struggle to decide what to give away and what to keep, but every day we make that calculation and we live with the results. This then is the true lesson: there is nothing romantic about love.Only the most naïve believe it will save them. Only the hardiest of us will survive it.~

Beautiful writing

Well written, but alas, meh.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book with a plant in the title or on the cover

Good book with great characters. Reveals raw human traits and the adult relationships between siblings.

An intense look at family dynamics, Renee is the oldest sister, then Caroline, followed by Joe, and then Fiona, the narrator of the story. At the basis of all the conflict is the true meaning of love, as depicted in their relationships. The sisters all have a special relationship with their brother, which changes over time, forcing relationships to alter. Intense but a good read.

Really stuck between 2 and 3 stars. While the writing itself was good, the story line felt unfinished. I felt the author was inserting a lot of her own opinions into the characters—which authors always do, of course— but it didn’t work with the plot.

What a puzzling book this was. I found the frame story to be an odd device, but ending up really liking this.

We discussed more on the All the Books Show: https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/episode-185-a-hollywood-life

Beautiful story about family ups and downs. Loves and tragedies. Told from multiple perspectives make sure you are paying attention.