Customer Reviews

The Only True Genius in the Family

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Claire is a daughter, a wife and a mother. She has a career, a solid marriage and has successfully raised a talented daughter. So what's missing? As the daughter of a legendary American artist and the mother of the hottest new artistic talent to hit the scene in years, Claire is searching for her place in this world. How she finds that place, and what it takes to get there, is the journey explored in Jennie Nash's new novel, The Only True Genius in the Family.

I'll share the opening sentence to give you a taste of what you're in for:

"My dad died at an incredibly inconvenient time, and I have no doubt that he planned it that way on purpose."

Isn't that a great opening line? Thankfully the captivating beginning to this novel went on to become a thought-provoking middle and then a satisfying ending.

The Only True Genius in the Family is an exploration of one woman's place in this world. Author Jennie Nash artfully weaves a thoughtful, character-driven story and then laces it with subtle moral dilemmas, continually prompting the reader to step into Claire's shoes.

The novel is exquisitely put together, balancing the grieving process that accompanies the death of a parent with the hope we have for our children and then finding our own place in our family dynamics.

Recommended for anyone who has ever doubted their place in this world.

There's a temptation to pass this book off as merely superior chick lit, and in some senses, it does contain similar characteristics. There's a woman and mother at the center of the story, there's family relationships, and a coming to terms with the death of a family member at the core of the novel.

Ah, but then, author Jennie Nash raises the stakes by introducing two very unusual subjects so rarely probed in such detail that bring her writing game to an entirely literary level. The first is just how parents injure their children, and how all of us carry the scars of childhood with us throughout our lives, reliving those same behaviors within our own family.

The second, perhaps more interesting is the study of creativity. Does it emanate from genius, or is it a seed that we all carry within us that some people are simply more free to express? In "The Only True Genius in the Family," the central character Claire is a food photographer with a successful career. Unless you compare it with her father's, of course. Her father is a true American icon, a landscape photographer in the tradition of Ansel Adams or Edward Weston.

Adding to this feeling of self doubt comes Claire's daughter, Bailey, who not only has a special relationship with Claire's impossibly difficult father, but is an outstanding artist in her own right. Bailey is just on the cusp of greatness as she puts on her graduate show for her MFA. A mother shouldn't feel jealous, right? In fact, she is happy for her daughter's success, but there's this unhappy voice within Claire that keeps muttering that both her father and daughter "just had it so easy." Everything they touch turns to gold, and in Claire's case, genius seems to have skipped a generation (or so her father painfully notes).

With this rich material, author Nash never gets maudlin, but instead takes us into Claire's world, and allows us to feel her pain, as she literally begins to lose her own creative vision with the death of her father. It's a gripping story that will have you thinking about the characters long after you reach the last page. It's a great read, even for chicks.

This book centers around Claire, a middle-aged married woman with a grown daughter. The novel opens with the death of Claire's father, a famous, "genius" photographer with whom she never got along. Although with the help of her husband, Claire has managed to build a very successful late-life career as a food photographer, she still seems to have bought into the idea that her father's talent has skipped a generation, residing instead with her daughter, Bailey, a gifted younger painter who is on the verge of getting her Master's of Fine Arts degree. With her father's death, the fine balance that Claire has created in her life begins to slowly crumble away. Claire's unresolved issues with her father manifest in tension between her and Bailey, especially given that Bailey, who was always extremely close to her grandfather, is now in control of the bulk of his estate. Claire must find some ways to come to terms with her relationship with her father, her relationship with her daughter, and her own talent and career.

This book was a quick and most engaging read. As a main character, Claire is not always likeable; at times her behavior feels annoying and even absurd. However, this might make a good reading club book, especially for a woman's book club consisting mainly of mothers who might relate well to Claire's character.

I really liked this novel. A lot. I started this book dismissing it as chick lit but the book I read was much different and much deeper.

I had so much sympathy for Claire. I know what it feels like to feel like you are lacking compared to others. I could imagine the anguish she must have felt believing her father, who she always wanted the approval of, loved her less because she was not as gifted and artistic as he would have liked her to be. I understand her feelings in way that I did not think that I would.

The origin of genius and talent is also something I have never thought of before and I found it pretty interesting when I did. Is genius genetic or is it learned? I don't know. My dad is a genius in math and both my sister and I are veritable dunces when it comes to math. But then again, my father is an engineer and I managed to gain his talent for computers and technology. I also gained my love for reading from my mother. So, I do think that these forms of aptitude can be genetic but that genius can't be learned is, I think, false.

As you can tell, this book made me think. I was struck by this book and I was surprised about how much. It was very well written. The characters were great. The only character that I did not like was Bailey. She seemed to be temperamental, bratty and overly critical of her mother. She seemed to look down on Claire. I think she was part of the reason for Claire's inferiority complex. I wanted to see more of Harrison. He was such a good guy.

I really liked this book and think you will as well. Especially if you are looking for an introspective novel masquerading as chick lit.

The depth of the relationships Jennie creates pulled me into a world where genius is examined from complex angles through intimate, familial interactions. The death of a legendary landscape photographer opened wounds of exclusion for his daughter, Claire, and the joys of inclusion and fame for his granddaughter, Bailey.

I couldn't put it down; I was both angered and awestruck by each complicated character depending upon whether or not I chose to stand outside the individual character or climb inside his/her skin, from one scene to the next. This novel stays with me as I am still sorting out who really was or is the true genius.

And I can't forget the vast disparity between Claire's father and her husband, Harrison; I see Claire's father as the undeveloped, hidden negatives, while I see Harrison as the juicy plum where life lies within its flesh just waiting to be savored. Certainly a book club choice, but I'd like to see it on the book list for contemporary psychology courses.

Finally, as an author of an anthology where daughters write short memoirs capturing their mothers' character, I can't help but wish I could include a bio-vignette written by Bailey about her mother, Claire. So you see, the characters in Jennie's novel are so real that I actually want to contact one of them to write a nonfiction story for my book!

Completely mesmerizing--that's how I felt after I started reading Jennie Nash's latest novel. After tremendous praise for her debut, The Last Beach Bungalow, Nash brings readers to Manhattan Beach, California where her latest protagonist is searching for her true self.

Her father was a legendary photographer, and she's successful, but the one thing Claire has only heard from her father is that true artistic genius seems to have skipped a generation and fallen into her daughter, Bailey's lap. Claire's spent a lifetime of never hearing "I love you" or "You're a great photographer." Things that would have meant the world to her.

Claire's daughter seems destined for stardom when one of her painting sells to a famous producer. This evokes a touch of jealousy in Claire, but more because Claire's father has left the arrangement of his retrospective in Bailey's care. While Claire inherits his log house, Bailey gets the task of orchestrating his life's retrospective. It's a slap in the face that leads Claire on a journey to discover who she truly wants to be, learning a few surprises about her deceased father in the process.

From the start, I have to say I really felt for Claire. It seemed no one in her family was really getting it. Her father left her in her mother's care at a relatively young age and was part of her life only when it was convenient to him. The words he did throw at her when he saw her seemed overly cruel. Honestly, I was surprised she'd want much to do with him at all. Yet, I could also understand her desire to hear just once that he was proud of who she was.

THE ONLY TRUE GENIUS IN THE FAMILY is a heart-wrenching story of a slightly dysfunctional relationship between father and daughter that carries into the mother-daughter relationship. Once started, I found myself caught up in Claire's world not wanting to put the book down until I'd finished the final page.

This book is not suspenseful per se. It's a wonderful character-driven drama, but at the end of each chapter I was compelled to keep reading.

First clue that I was liking the book.

Second tip off -- it's been several weeks since I read it, and I keep thinking of the characters and the themes explored which include

* father-daughter relationship
* mother-daughter relationship
* husband-wife relationship
* the nature of creative "genius"
* passion versus practicality

The third hint that this is a keeper is that I'm now curious about Jennie Nash's earlier works and will definitely look forward to her next novel.

Claire seems to have it all--a successful career as a food photographer, a beautiful daughter who's on the verge of earning her MFA as a painter, and a husband in the midst of selling his long-time family business. Her father is Paul Switzer, considered to be one of the most visionary photographers of his time. Claire has always had a difficult relationship with him. He dismisses her career and lavishes his attention on his granddaughter, who he feels has inherited the artistic genius in the family.

When Switzer dies, Claire's perfect world threatens to fall apart, as she starts to question her own abilities and reexamines the relationship she had with her dad. The complex relationships in the story--both mother-daughter and father-daughter --will offer a lot to discuss within a mother-daughter book club, including issues such as jealousy, resentment, and the question of boundaries around art. Claire's struggle to come to terms with her own talents will resonate with both generations. I recommend it for groups with girls who are in high school.

The way Jennie writes brings you into the story so easily. This book was a joy to read and one that you don't want to put down. I loved it!
I am looking forward to following Jennie and see what next piece of work she produces.

Unresolved relationship with father, strained relationship with daughter, etc. Was enticed by author's inspiration from '28 Artists and 2 Saints' but it was simply an easy read. Nothing interesting about it.