Good Family

by Terry Gamble

A retreat on Lake Michigan for old-money WASPs, Sand Isle has long been the summer residence of the Addison family. The youngest member of the clan, Maddie Addison, survived an awkward but sheltered adolescence only to be plagued in adulthood by alcoholism, a failed marriage, and an unendurable loss that sent her fleeing the burden of family expectations. Now, after an eleven-year hiatus, Maddie has been summoned back to Sand Isle, where her widowed mother languishes near death. What awaits Maddie is a collision of distinct, eccentric personalities -- by turns hilarious and poignant -- as well as an archive of memories that evoke pleasure, passion, and pain. Beneath the silent gaze of her ailing mother, Maddie and her family must confront their past and face the future to once again find a home in a house steeped in untold stories of its own.

Genres: Fiction, Novels, Contemporary

348 pages, Paperback

First published June 27, 2006

About the author

The author of three critically acclaimed books, THE WATER DANCERS, GOOD FAMILY, and THE EULOGIST (William Morrow, to be released January, 2019), Terry Gamble lives in Northern California with her husband, balancing her life between being a productive member of the community and hiding out in a shed in the woods, trying to write.

Reviews

[Kristine · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, I didn't actually get very far in this book. I wanted to read it, but was so annoyed by something I couldn't let it go.
Early in the book one of the characters finds a box of letters that tell the story of the family cottage where it all takes place. The problem is that the letters are all FROM the grandmother to various people. If she wrote the letters, why are they in the box? People don't have letters they SENT. Maybe it gets explained later, but I couldn't get past it.
A silly pet peeve, maybe.

[Frish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Family. was a breathtaking read and one which I was not prepared to end. Metaphors and poetry resonate in tandem. Proof can be found in savored passages such as "time has scoured the taste for luxury out of our generation like plate off base metal."
and:
"There is a moment in truth telling when one recounts a story told in one's head so many times that it suddenly sounds false. Memory has a surreal quality, as if experience, perception and interpretation don't quite mesh. What is the boundary between intention and consequence?"

"Time has a way of attenuating like a piece of Silly Putty, stretching the transferred image ..."
Terry Gamble has given each of her characters their own voice, their own history, their own unanswered riddles.
And, as she stretches those transferred images I have here beside me a delicious read by someone whose voice I can hear clearly, navigating the vast range of individuals that make a family that have each there own history, puzzle through their shared history, and in turn, create another.

If you have family you will relate.

[Pcox · Rating 3 out of 5]

In need of less wandering around. Enjoyed the setting and part 1 the most. Could have wrapped up the rest with fewer scenes and tighter plot. I read it all though so that means something.

[Michele Benson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maddie travels to her family’s summer “cottage” to await her mother’s imminent death. Her siblings and cousins arrive in stages and the relationships and histories of the family are explained in beautiful detail.

[Bookbeaver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark me down as another who wasn't sure what I was getting into with this novel and whether or not it was something I could relate to - other that is than the setting, being that I'm a northern Michigan product and understand the unique setting and 'struggles' of the elites who call my home theirs for the 'nice' part of the year. But somewhere along in this story the multitude of characters (I found I was often referring back to the family tree thankfully provided) grabbed me and I was pulled completely into their crazy, befuddled, uncomplicated-yet-complicated lives. And the deeper the story delved into this scene the better Gamble's writing became. Then she nailed the whole of the Lake Michigan island I live on when Ian tells our main character Maddie, "Sand Isle is a dream, Maddie. Like some strange, beguiling dream of childhood. You could sit right here and think the world makes sense."
The world in this story really doesn't fit into today's fast-paced, ADHD world, so I guess I can understand some readers complaining this story drags in places, but it's not the story, it's them. This is a story that unfolds at the perfect pace for this story. The characters attempt to hide their idiosyncrasies as Gamble slowly allows them to come out. We learn just enough of each family member to begin to understand them.
And in the end this is, as the title implies, a complete story of family, perhaps not really a 'good' family (all not-so-good families are not-so-good in their own way). And in the death of the family matriarch, which the entire story revolves and evolves around, Gamble gives an extraordinary look into this family and by doing so, if you allow it, opens a door to look within your own family.

[Michelle Skeffington · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book really made me wish I'd lived 80 years earlier. It would have been so great to pack up with the servants and go to the lake house for the summer! The story was a bit on the angst-filled side, but I really enjoyed it.

[Catherine Symchych · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great portrayal of life in a resort town in Northern Michigan along with a family drama that could be almost anywhere. There were a few minor plot points that were left hanging, and others that she circled around to later, working well with the nonlinear storytelling. I love books with vividly drawn settings that make me feel like I’m looking at illustrations. Those books work best for me if, like this one, I can relate to the people and know that our paths aren’t all the same but our struggles are universal and relatable.

[Ann Boytim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sand Isle has been in the Addison family for many years and now Maggie Addison and other members of her family are summoned home where her widowed mother is near death. The family members recall the good times of the past years and all have such different personalities and backgrounds. Maggie wonders what the future will bring after her mothers death and what will happen to the house that has many stories.

[Wryter · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually put down books that I don't find engaging, but due to COVID, I have to read whatever I can find, so I stuck it out! I found the story arc just didn't. I kept waiting for something to happen, and it never did. I will put it into our Little Free Library and hope that someone else will enjoy it more than I did.

[Danelle Dietrich · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish we could give half stars; this is a 4.5. I really enjoyed it; am now planning to read more of Terry Gamble’s work.

I had to start it a third time before I could get into it because it is sad, right off the bat. But the stories, the place, the characters, the time periods, Ms Gamble’s beautifully descriptive prose… (the qualities list goes on) all make the read well worth it.

[Angela McGrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was just too slow for me. The writing was good, but the story didn’t really ramp up until more than halfway through. By then I had lost interest...hence why it took so long for me to finish. :(

[Vic Wulsin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genetic & Memic Heredity

We are individuals, unique. We are connected physically and culturally to all before us and all yet to come. Gamble blends the particular with the universal in this intimate story of a good good family.

[Claudette Christensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the book; the characters were well developed and relatable. The story was woven across time with the characters well. The one thing that kept it from a 5 star is that the ending was a bit of a let down.

[Nathan Perkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

the strength of this novel lies in how familiar the characters and mini plots were. I was not driven through by an overarching plot. I'm not sure there was one. I read through the whole novel because I was interested in the shorter stories.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

VERY slow reading & was there any point/story to this book. Not a fan.

[Eileen S · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm really not sure if I liked this book. It was very drawn out and boring.

[Delissca · Rating 1 out of 5]

I actually did not finish this book. It moved way to slow and was very boring.

[Susan White-Riggs · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was ok, I was drawn in by the writing, I felt I could really "see" the characters, but the story was so so- sort of predictable.

[Michele Delimont · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good in parts but just interesting in others. A life like I wouldn't know - spending the summers in a lake house, but the family issues were spread across the board.

[Atticus · Rating 5 out of 5]

vivid in familiarity, odd how fiction resembles your own life.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

And 1/5 because it was about 75 pages too long

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and an engrossing tale of family and what that means

[Sherry Hershberger · Rating 5 out of 5]

9 stars

[Karry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do love fiction about families and this one is quite interesting, although very strange, aren't they all!
The writing is good, not great, but I liked the plot, everyone growing up and coming home because mom is not going to live for long. It's not just that this plotline has not been written about, but this time the characters are what you might fancy. They are one of the outstanding reasons for reading the book. Too many to explain, but most everyone is on the edge of weirdo. Nonetheless, I liked it and would recommend it to others who like a family story with a few new twists.

[Marti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summer home. Big family. Main character named Maddie. I liked it just fine.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am glad that I did not read the reviews before I read this book. I may not have given it a chance. This book takes place at Sand Isle on the Lake Michigan coast. A grown family returns to their summer home to help their aunt and mother die peacefully. Mattie is the black sheep of the family who has been absent for 11 years. The family is full of hardships and struggles and coming back to the summer home seems to bring out these struggles in each family member.

I did have a hard time keeping the families straight, as there are a lot of characters including aunts and uncles, sisters, nieces and nephews. A lot to comprehend about each of them. This story has a lot to it, and the language I found was hard to get through at times. There wasn't as much as an emphasis on the WASP way of life, which I found disappointing as it is mentioned on the back cover. Sand Isle is mainly a community of families who have money and made their fortunes off of selling medicines, curtain rods, or horse whips.

While at the summer house Mattie finds her great-grandmother's diary and discovers that her immediate family is not the only one who had struggles to go through. I enjoyed reading entries of the diary but during "Part Two" of the book was at times confused about what time frame we were in. The book went back and forth between the past and present and was hard to grasp it all at times.

This book was enjoyable, but I would suggest reading it when you have time to study it. It does take some brain power to get through.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Family with money saga. A group of flawed people gather to help their mother die....to attend to her ....to be with her. Takes us back to the main character's childhood and young adulthood and tragedies that she had to contend with.

Well written I thought with many descriptive sentences which I like. Set in various places from L.A. to Lake Michigan coast.........I did like the characters in the book ....no one I disliked.

About an insular American family. Main character is a woman with no girlfriends, actually no friends at all except her business partner. Her entire life is her family and her ex boyfriends.........weird book but well written and I grew to care about this odd duck family.

Really weird rich people but it rang true to life based upon some of the odd ducks from rich families that I've met throughout my life.

[Bianca · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was depressing and ultimately hard to read. Definitely no page turner. The entire premise was about a woman who returns to her family summer home after about a decade to say goodbye to her mother, the last living matriarch of the family, revisits old demons, confront old family secrets and find closure for many of these things. In reality, it could be anyone's family, the issues are very true to reality, but it was a total downer none the less and it took me forever to get through this one...

[GD · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have low expectations for this, but I picked it up in the hopes that it would be about a family of caring and compassionate people, a mainstream story as opposed to the usual YA fiction I've been reading. I'm 50 pages along, and am finding that it is rather about depressed, cynical, wealthyfamily members who have hardly any use for one another, but gather together as the main character's mother prepares to die. I'm still reading, but I realize now that this book is bound to disappoint.

[Ricci · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a sucker for reading anything that is related to Michigan and so I picked up this book. It is an interesting tale of an "old-moneyed" family and their fall from grace. As the current matriarch lies dying in the upstairs bedroom, the family story unfolds through memories of generation after generation summering in their "cottage" on a paradisaical island in Lake Michigan. This book is an interesting look into the past and a reminder of how different life used to be.