The Condition

Sorely Disappointing

I'm just going to rip into this book.

I got this book, because it looked interesting. Reading about Turner Syndrome (something I knew nothing about) and how it affects a family appealed to me.

I was up to page 100 before anything was mentioned about the disease. It's been a quick read, but it just talks about a family and what they are all about. So far nothing is jumping out at me.

Page 123. Still nothing. Scott seems to be getting the most attention in this book and it's not really all that interesting.

Page 169. Chapter 4 starts here. I hadn't realized it until then, but each chapter has about 4 sub-chapters. They are laid out like a normal chapter, but without a number. This turned me off (even more than I already was).

Ooh here we go. We are finally talking about Gwen and how her condition affects her and her family. Four (4) pages later, we are done with the explanation. Nice.

I finished this book, because by then I was invested in it. Sadly.

This is a story about a family. A family like yours and mine. With our quirky relatives and secrets we all keep in death. It was an easy read, but really, who cares? I feel I could have gone to my neighbors and gotten a good story just as easily.

There is NOTHING in this book that makes it different from anyone else's life. The Turner Syndrome isn't discussed with any detail. We aren't even told how Gwen dealt with it during her school years. It's just brushed over. We are told about her running away to a man on an island that she barely knows. Show me a woman that hasn't done that at least once in her life. We all fall for the mysterious man at some point. Nothing special there. The brothers each have their secrets, (Show me a family that doesn't) and the parents are divorced, but still speak to each other at time. Just your regular American family.

Woop-de-doo

Sorely disappointed.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Character driven novel

I was deeply interested in reading this book about a family with its fractures and challenges and strengths within the family. It's always a good sign when I carry a book wherever I go just in case I have a moment to read. This was one of those books for me.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

This is an intriguing character driven tale that looks deeply at how a health condition impacts everyone in a family

In 1976, the marriage between Paulette and Frank McKotch is teetering on the brink of collapse because he wants sex and lots of it and she doesn't. They are spending the summer together with their three kids at Cape Cod with plans to sell the beach cottage when the vacation ends. However both are stunned to learn their thirteen years old daughter Gwen has been diagnosed with Turner Syndrome, a chromosome deficiency that keeps an adult in the body of a pre- puberty child. Gwen's parents disagree about how to proceed; Frank seeks medical answers while Paulette wants to keep Gwen safe.

Two decades later, Frank and Paulette long divorced have never married again. Their son Bill lives with his beloved male partner and works as a cardiologist in Manhattan, but hides his sexual preference from his parents. Their youngest child Scott teaches school and is married with two kids. Gwen lives alone working at a museum. On a vacation, she falls in love with her guide. However, Paulette, still protecting Gwen, orders Scott to find his sister and bring her home. His mission forces each of the five McKotches to relook their relationships and their lives.

This is an intriguing character driven tale that looks deeply at how a health condition impacts everyone in a family; even one that is dysfunctional. The cast drives the story line as each seems real though in many ways the rest of the family besides Gwen show their traits by how they act towards her. The key to this touching tale is the way Jennifer Haigh avoids turning THE CONDITION into a five tissue box soap opera; as readers will feel for Gwen who demands no tears as she is a self sufficient adult.

Harriet Klausner

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Good, Solid Read

I would just like to correct momof3's entry on this site. She states in her review that the author did not include information on treatment of Turner's Syndrome -- estrogen therapy and growth hormone. In fact, the author does write about this in a chapter in which Frank, the girl's father, is reflecting on the unsuccessful use of each of these treatments on his daughter. I just felt that should be cleared up. I found this to be a good, solid read. The book was well constructed, and I enjoyed the character development, as well as the window into New England living. The descriptions of Paulette's house, for instance, were so well written I felt as though I were seeing it with my own eyes.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

nice writing

this one was one smoothly written novel. From the start to the end, I thought it felt like going down the river on a windless and waveless day. One word of caution, this is not one of those books where you read through it quickly. Absorb every bit of it. That's the only way to capture all its wonders...

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Wasted my time!

Ugh..I kept thinking it was going to get better, but it never did. I felt there was no story, no beginning or end just blah. Do not waste your time and money

boring

reading this book is like visiting a stranger and having to listen to them ramble for hours about people you do not know or care about.

loved this book!

I couldn't put this book down! I love the story of the family, and the writing. I definately recommend this book.

Another Dysfunctional Family Story

There seems to be part of a parade of books recently published centered around a dysfunctional family that incorporates 9-11 into them. I have somehow managed to read several of them and cannot find the point in them. This one seems a bit above most (Emperors's Children was horrible). The one sentence in the book that seems to sum up the book as a whole is, "pueberty is the one universal human experience". While one of the characters deals with Turner Syndrome, a chromosone disorder that does not allow a female to go through pueberty, the theme of the book seems to be how experiences in pueberty relate to sexuality of an adult. While the premise of the book seems promising, the story is a bit disjointed and relationships seem thrown in at times.

Not Interesting

I couldn't get past the first 60 pages of this book. I noticed a lot of other reviews raved about the characters, but I didn't really find them interesting or relatable. I didn't find that this book focused a lot on Turner's Syndrome, which was why I wanted to read the book. The disease was not the focus of the book, if that's what you're interested in look elsewhere!

wonderful book!

This was a meaty, sensitive, intelligent book, so interesting I could not put it down. Every character was richly drawn, and I cared about each one. The plot never dragged. If you want to sink your teeth into a book, this is the book for you.

Really Good Book!

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the characters and really hated for the book to end. This was the first book I had read by Ms. Haigh and I was so taken with her writing that I also bought Mrs. Kimble and Baker Towers. They are both winners! Enjoy this writer!

One of My Favorite Books in the Last Five Years

I'm astounded to see mixed reviews on this book. It was so amazingly well crafted. The prose was poetic and true and the dynamics in the family fascinating and very believable. I can't say that I agree with a previous reviewer that the use of setting was "fun". In my mind that doesn't even come close to giving the author enough credit. I live in Massahusetts and I couldn't believe how well written her descriptions of Concord, Cambridge and Cape Cod were-- and all the descriptions so relevant in building the characters in her story. Everyone I know who has read this book has loved it! I'll be looking for Jennifer Haigh's other novels.

Wouldn't recommend it....

The book was ok... but it was too long. I assumed it would deal more with having Turner's but it didn't.... I was disappointed.

Well-written, absorbing story

One of the most enjoyable books I've read this summer 'the other was Dreamers of the Day'. If the characters were a tiny bit cliche'd and the use of Turner syndrome was a little gimmicky, the facile language and the family relationships redeemed those issues for me. 'I must also admit the Boston 'sense of place' is fun, having lived there before'

A real page turner!!!

This is non-stop reading at it's best! I've been waiting all summer to find a book to hold my attention while I await the birth of my first grandchild. Jennifer Haigh is a wonderful storyteller!

Misinformation

It is too bad that the author took a condition such as Turner Syndrome and exploited it for use in her book -- especially since she did it in an inaccurate way. Even at the time this novel was set there were effective treatments for Turner Syndrome such as growth hormone and estrogen replacement so young women could develop normally. What a disappointment -- in this day and age you'd think the publisher would have higher standards. For those who ever receive this diagnosis, don't believe the stereotypes put forth in this book!

Well written, but what was the point?

The title refers to 'the human condition.' Following the McKotches, a seemingly perfect New England family, from 1976 through 2001, readers learn that all is not what is seems. Vacations in Cape Cod, private schools and ivy league educations cover heartwrenching dramas. Money issues, Turners Syndrome (something I didn't know anything about before reading this novel), stoic expectations, drug additictions, homosexuality, denial, lack of communication and faulty conclusions all lead to divorce, loneliness, heartache and complete disconnect. This book was very well written. The author has an amazing gift for description and a vocabulary that excels what is offered by most current novels. That said -- I did not like this book. It was melodramatic and depressing. The conclusion was trite and not enough to redeem this book. There was no hope offered. I'm still questioning: what was the point? Is it about the dangers of unspoken rules (present in every family) or that our fates our determined while we're still children? Is it about growing old with your mistakes? The importance of communication? The value of forgiveness and trust? I really have no idea. All of these themes were present but so subtle I'm left melancholy, thinking of all the other books I could have read instead.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.