Because laughter smooths out the
bumps on any trip.
Travel and family often provoke enough
anxiety, each on their own; combined, they can drive you over the edge. Monica McInerney's
laugh-inducing—and refreshingly honest—novel is the perfect
antidote to both. For 33 years, Angela Gillespie has sent a holiday newsletter
extolling her family's virtues and the charmed lives they're all leading. Until
this year, when she decides to tell everyone the truth: It's been a terrible
year for the Gillespies. Her
husband is having a hard time with retirement, the grown twins' careers are in
freefall, her daughter is badly in debt and her 10-year-old son retreats into
his imagination to an unhealthy degree. Luckily—and
unluckily—Angela has an accident and
loses her memory, and the rest of the Gillespies have to work together to
address their problems with each other and with themselves. Midway through, you
may feel the urge to call up your parents and siblings and tell them how
wonderful they are in comparison. Whatever else she may have done in the past, your
mother probably hasn't told everyone she knows that you're having an affair
with your boss, has she?
— Stephanie Klose
