Congratulations Eleanor
on the recent release of
Any Other Family!
Any Other Family by Eleanor Brown
Sisters Fiction, 368 pages
Published July 12, 2022 by G.P. Putnam's Sons
The New York Times bestselling author of The Weird Sisters returns with a striking and intimate new novel about three very different women facing an impossible question: What makes a family?
They look just like any other family. But they aren't a family like any other – not quite. Instead, they are three sets of parents who adopted four biological siblings, committing to keeping the children connected after the death of their grandmother.
Tabitha, who adopted the twins, is the planner of the group, responsible for coordinating playdates and birthdays and Sunday night dinners, insistent that everything happens just so. Quiet and steady Ginger, single mother to the eldest daughter, resists the forced togetherness, her own unsettled childhood leaving her wary of trusting too much. And Elizabeth is still reeling from going directly from failed fertility treatments into adopting a newborn, terrified that her unhappiness means she was not meant to be a mother at all.
But when the three women receive a surprising call from their children’s birth mother, announcing she is pregnant again and wants them to help her find an adoptive family for this child too, the delicate bonds they are still struggling to form threaten to collapse. As tensions rise, the women reckon with their own feelings about what it means to be a mother and what they owe each other as a family.
Set across the span of a family vacation, one full of boisterous laughter and emotional upheaval, Any Other Family is a thought-provoking and poignant look at how families shift and evolve and a striking portrait of motherhood in all its forms.
My thoughts about Any Other Family ~~
(I love to note the first lines of the books I'm reading. First lines can really grab a reader's attention and I love seeing where the author takes the reader after their first line.)
First line—"They look like any other family. A real one: cousins, siblings, aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters."
I've been waiting years for another book by this author. I was sad to hear that she was taking time away from writing to adjust to her life with a newly adopted son. I totally understand though, good for her! I was so excited when I learned that she had returned to her writing life as well.
So adoption, and all the challenges that that entails, is very familiar to Ms. Brown and it shows in this very well written, very insightful story of three couples who adopt four siblings and immediately become one huge family.
Being on the periphery of an open adoption myself, I know what a loving, fulfilling relationship it can be for all. But it is not always easy. Things come up that cause loved ones to distance themselves, at least for a little bit.
I really loved all of the characters in this story and enjoyed spending their vacation with them as they try to work out fitting a new baby to their already solid family dynamic. Everyone has their strengths, and weaknesses, and the reader is along for the ride as they all try to figure it out.
The wait for another book from Ms. Brown was well worth it and I highly recommend Any Other Family. It is beautiful, full of love, and a must read for anyone interested at all in adoption stories.
I received an ARC of Any Other Family from the publisher via NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.
About the author
Eleanor Brown is the
New York Times and international bestselling author of the novels
The Weird Sisters, The Light of Paris, and
Any Other Family.
Connect with Eleanor
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