Secrets of a Family Album [Paperback]

Isla Dewar (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 6, 2005

Compulsively neat, obsessively organised, Lily is a writer who writes about writers. When she is asked to contribute to a book on lost icons, she visits Rita Boothe -- photographer, journalist and wit -- who took LSD when she was forty and never lived up to her promise. Rita shows Lily some of her photographs, including one of a beautiful, sexy creature drinking Jack Daniels in a white limousine. It is Mattie, Lily's mother. Lily stares in wonder and with envy -- she wishes she could live with such abandon. But Mattie is no longer the woman in the limo, and she and Lily's father live in a neglected house with their neglected marriage. Lily and her siblings want to mend their parents' rift, but Marie's husband has walked out, and Rory avoids coming home altogether. Unless something happens, the family's going to fade away. But something is about to happen...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Scots writer Dewar's seventh novel is a funny, moving portrait of Edinburgh family members struggling to define themselves outside of their intricate network of attachments. Through a journalism assignment interviewing a 1960s feminist icon and photographer, writer Lily discovers that her mother Mattie led an exciting and dangerous life as a rock 'n' roll groupie, and Lily begins to wonder if she has not taken enough chances in her own tightly controlled life. Meanwhile, Lily's sister Marie is struggling as a newly single mom and their brother Rory has just been pressured into marrying his French girlfriend, though he's not at all sure he's ready. And, for the first time in their marriage, retirees Mattie and John are fighting. Each confronts half-formed desires and disappointments, petty weaknesses, and most of all, the envy that's endemic to the lot of them. While there's a cartoonishness to the situations (a missing remote control or a wrongly assigned cheese sandwich can incite deep rifts) Dewar (It Could Happen to You) draws complexity from them.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Dewar's latest is a warm, witty slice of modern life featuring the White family: scion Martin, his son John and daughter-in-law Mattie, his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and their assorted spouses, partners, children and friends. Mattie has a particularly rosy vision of how life ought to be--neat, tidy, and perfect. So she's often disappointed when things don't turn out as she expected. Her long-suffering husband tries to help her face reality but isn't always successful. John and Mattie's children all have their own problems and issues: Lily, the eldest and always the good one, has all the trappings of success, but happiness eludes her. Marie, the wild one, made one huge mistake that has transformed her life forever. Rory, the youngest and most headstrong, lives a bohemian life in Paris and has found true love with Isabel, but his fear of commitment makes the relationship uncertain. Despite their squabbles and problems, though, the Whites remain a close-knit, loving family, and readers will find plenty to laugh about, cry over, and enjoy in Dewar's elegantly written family saga. Emily Melton
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Review (June 6, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0755300823
• ISBN-13: 978-0755300822
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 1 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,890,660 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Secrets of a Family Album, November 21, 2009

By 

Janet Cross (High Ride, MO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Secrets of a Family Album (Hardcover)

This book had me laughing aloud. Even though funny, the story line was very interesting. Each character had their own personality and I loved everyone of them.

4.0 out of 5 stars Thoroughly Enjoyed This Book, June 1, 2011

By 

alooknac (Montana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Secrets of a Family Album (Hardcover)

I read this book out of the blue, knowing nothing of the author. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It seems to be getting harder for me to find good books to read. I don't want a book to leave me depressed or emotionally drained. I want to be able to read before bed without having disturbing dreams. And yet I want substance. This book fits the bill and I will try more of this author's work.

It reminds me a little of Anne Tyler's work, whose books I love and I have read them all. Kind of slice of life but told poignantly and with a lot of insight. Interspersed with humorous episodes.

Something that drives me crazy with a lot of modern fiction is that often, two stories are told and the chapters alternate between the two. I'm not against using that device sometimes but I think it has become de rigueur and it's tiresome when it's used constantly.

This was a pretty straightforward, linear story. It did include multiple story lines but they are all connected and you don't have to wonder how things fit together till the very end.

There were a few factual/plot matters that were unrealistic to me because I have personal experience in those areas, but I still enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anybody.