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Family Skeleton
Margaret, matriarch, widow of Edmund Rice O'Day of O'Day funerals, secretly surveys her family from the safety of her tapestry room in leafy Toorak. They are all oblivious to the secrets that lie hidden and are threatening to be uncovered by the keen eye of Doria Fogelsong, a distant relative from Florida.
With elegant wit and a sure-footed compassion, Family Skeleton mines the dark heart of family life in the context of a lucrative funeral business. It leads readers down the crooked paths of the shadowy past while engrossing then in the drama of strong competing characters, all documented with Carmel Bird's trademark audacity of design, sureness of touch, and unerringly musical use of language. Prepare to be shocked and delighted.
With elegant wit and a sure-footed compassion, Family Skeleton mines the dark heart of family life in the context of a lucrative funeral business. It leads readers down the crooked paths of the shadowy past while engrossing then in the drama of strong competing characters, all documented with Carmel Bird's trademark audacity of design, sureness of touch, and unerringly musical use of language. Prepare to be shocked and delighted.
236 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 24, 2017
‘Imagine you have a talking skeleton in the wardrobe. That’s me. I still have my own teeth.’
Families have secrets: some more than others. Some secrets might just be embarrassing, while others change lives. And just imagine the stories a talking family skeleton could tell.
Meet Margaret O’Day. An elderly and wealthy widow, living in a lovely home, Bellevue, in one of Melbourne’s wealthiest suburbs: Toorak. Bellevue was built for the O’Day family back in 1933. Edmund Rice O’Day, Margaret’s late husband, was a distant cousin: one of the ‘funeral’ O’Days, while Margaret was one of the ‘medical’ O’Days. Edmund died in the arms of his mistress, no great surprise to Margaret, she always knew that he would never be as wonderful a man as her father, Killian O’Day. Still, Edmund always made sure that Margaret had what she wanted, including a beautiful butterfly screen which had once graced the foyer of O’Day Funerals.
As the novel opens, Margaret is reflecting on her life, committing thoughts to paper in the form of a journal. She is watching over her family: her four children, their partners and her grandchildren.
‘There’s something about facts – and lies for that matter – when they are written down, something real and permanent.’
The story unfolds, both through Margaret’s journal (The Book of Revelation) and the observations of the talking family skeleton. The butterfly screen, known as the Zephyr screen, is both beautiful and macabre. Beautiful Zephritis butterflies from Peru, killed for their beauty. They have been matched, underside to underside, so that both sides of the screen are almost identical. Margaret is drawn to the beauty of the screen even though she is aware (occasionally, at least) of how it was made.
Life moves on. A distant cousin, Doria Fogelsong, arrives from the USA, determined to write a comprehensive O’Day family history. Doria is present for the baptism of Margaret’s youngest granddaughter Ophelia. Ophelia? Margaret is not happy with the choice of this name. Margaret is also concerned that Doria’s research into the past is both unnecessary and unseemly. Or are there secrets to be uncovered?
I love Ms Bird’s writing. In this novel, in fewer than 300 pages, she creates a family, a wealthy family with history, with foibles, with at least one family skeleton. Each chapter opens with an epigraph attributed to Edmund O’Day, one of his remarks about death. The description of the Zephyr screen has me caught between admiring its beauty and saddened by the way it was made. Her descriptions of some of the people had me laughing out loud (possibly inappropriately at times) and wondering whether Doria or Margaret would prevail. The talking family skeleton gives the reader so much more information than Margaret’s Book of Revelation, but the reader needs to be vigilant. If only Doria could speak to the family skeleton!
‘And I’m not in the story anyway. I know and I tell, but I don’t act, being the skeleton in the wardrobe, you understand.’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Families have secrets: some more than others. Some secrets might just be embarrassing, while others change lives. And just imagine the stories a talking family skeleton could tell.
Meet Margaret O’Day. An elderly and wealthy widow, living in a lovely home, Bellevue, in one of Melbourne’s wealthiest suburbs: Toorak. Bellevue was built for the O’Day family back in 1933. Edmund Rice O’Day, Margaret’s late husband, was a distant cousin: one of the ‘funeral’ O’Days, while Margaret was one of the ‘medical’ O’Days. Edmund died in the arms of his mistress, no great surprise to Margaret, she always knew that he would never be as wonderful a man as her father, Killian O’Day. Still, Edmund always made sure that Margaret had what she wanted, including a beautiful butterfly screen which had once graced the foyer of O’Day Funerals.
As the novel opens, Margaret is reflecting on her life, committing thoughts to paper in the form of a journal. She is watching over her family: her four children, their partners and her grandchildren.
‘There’s something about facts – and lies for that matter – when they are written down, something real and permanent.’
The story unfolds, both through Margaret’s journal (The Book of Revelation) and the observations of the talking family skeleton. The butterfly screen, known as the Zephyr screen, is both beautiful and macabre. Beautiful Zephritis butterflies from Peru, killed for their beauty. They have been matched, underside to underside, so that both sides of the screen are almost identical. Margaret is drawn to the beauty of the screen even though she is aware (occasionally, at least) of how it was made.
Life moves on. A distant cousin, Doria Fogelsong, arrives from the USA, determined to write a comprehensive O’Day family history. Doria is present for the baptism of Margaret’s youngest granddaughter Ophelia. Ophelia? Margaret is not happy with the choice of this name. Margaret is also concerned that Doria’s research into the past is both unnecessary and unseemly. Or are there secrets to be uncovered?
I love Ms Bird’s writing. In this novel, in fewer than 300 pages, she creates a family, a wealthy family with history, with foibles, with at least one family skeleton. Each chapter opens with an epigraph attributed to Edmund O’Day, one of his remarks about death. The description of the Zephyr screen has me caught between admiring its beauty and saddened by the way it was made. Her descriptions of some of the people had me laughing out loud (possibly inappropriately at times) and wondering whether Doria or Margaret would prevail. The talking family skeleton gives the reader so much more information than Margaret’s Book of Revelation, but the reader needs to be vigilant. If only Doria could speak to the family skeleton!
‘And I’m not in the story anyway. I know and I tell, but I don’t act, being the skeleton in the wardrobe, you understand.’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
February 5, 2017
Quirky, acerbic, humorous, shocking, beautifully crafted.
All I can say is - read it!
All I can say is - read it!
November 17, 2016
Family Skeleton is the ninth novel of Carmel Bird, this year’s winner of the Patrick White Award. It is, as you have probably guessed from the title, a novel of family secrets and scandals, told with Carmel Bird’s trademark wit and pizazz. What you probably haven’t guessed is that the narrator is the skeleton in the cupboard…
Actually, there are two narrators. Margaret O’Day is the matriarch of the family, living in comfortable widowed splendour in Toorak, and occasionally the subject of media interviews because of her philanthropic interests. One day she decides to write her memoirs, which alternate with the skeleton’s narrative, under the title ‘The Book of Revelation’ and an epigram from her dead husband’s memos to staff. These epigrams have a certain piquancy because Edmund ran the family funeral business (which looks suspiciously like a theme park for the dead). It’s known as O’Day Funerals and the epigrams include examples such as ‘My life is not as happy as it was, now I am dead.’
Edmund was a philanderer, dying in the arms of his mistress, but Margaret is long past any tension about that. Indeed, she includes Fiona and her two children in family gatherings, and in addition to paying for the boys’ education, she’s also made provision for them in the Will. Margaret, although a woman of scrupulous reputation herself, is not stuffy about anything much except good manners and the niceties of life in her mansion. She gets a little testy over naming rights of her grandchildren, however, but this is largely due to a mild case of superstition.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2016/11/17/f...
Actually, there are two narrators. Margaret O’Day is the matriarch of the family, living in comfortable widowed splendour in Toorak, and occasionally the subject of media interviews because of her philanthropic interests. One day she decides to write her memoirs, which alternate with the skeleton’s narrative, under the title ‘The Book of Revelation’ and an epigram from her dead husband’s memos to staff. These epigrams have a certain piquancy because Edmund ran the family funeral business (which looks suspiciously like a theme park for the dead). It’s known as O’Day Funerals and the epigrams include examples such as ‘My life is not as happy as it was, now I am dead.’
Edmund was a philanderer, dying in the arms of his mistress, but Margaret is long past any tension about that. Indeed, she includes Fiona and her two children in family gatherings, and in addition to paying for the boys’ education, she’s also made provision for them in the Will. Margaret, although a woman of scrupulous reputation herself, is not stuffy about anything much except good manners and the niceties of life in her mansion. She gets a little testy over naming rights of her grandchildren, however, but this is largely due to a mild case of superstition.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2016/11/17/f...
December 23, 2016
This is rather a quirky book - especially in its choice of narrator (announced on the first page as the skeleton in the wardrobe). But is this the family skeleton or are there other secrets to be uncovered? We quickly find out that Margaret, the matriarch of the O'Day family, is going to die during this novel - but when? We also find out that she is going to write a journal - what will she reveal? At the christening party of Margaret's latest grandchild - unfortunately (in her opinion) named Ophelia - is an American relative, Doria Fogelsong, dedicated to researching the family history. What will she discover?
I was moderately interested in and amused by the first half of this novel with its deftly created characters and setting (Toorak, in Melbourne). Then an unexpected development upsets much of what Margaret holds dear - and gives the book a strong narrative drive to its bizarre ending. Having returned to the first few pages, I can see how cleverly the writer has constructed clues, moving forwards and backwards in time, piquing the reader's curiosity. It would repay a re-reading to see this cleverness more clearly but... so many books, so little time!
Three and a half stars.
I was moderately interested in and amused by the first half of this novel with its deftly created characters and setting (Toorak, in Melbourne). Then an unexpected development upsets much of what Margaret holds dear - and gives the book a strong narrative drive to its bizarre ending. Having returned to the first few pages, I can see how cleverly the writer has constructed clues, moving forwards and backwards in time, piquing the reader's curiosity. It would repay a re-reading to see this cleverness more clearly but... so many books, so little time!
Three and a half stars.
August 12, 2017
Carmel Bird's Red Shoes (1998) is one of my favourite books, and I had high hopes for this, her latest. It shares some DNA with Red Shoes: an unusual narrator, a gossipy tone, unexpected connections where a new character turns out to be a cousin of someone mentioned in passing chapters earlier. Bird is good at creating outside lives for her characters, suddenly zooming in on someone on the periphery and saying, by the way, he'll die in a skiing accident later this year.
In Family Skeleton, the narrator is just that: the skeleton in the closet. Whose skeleton? Ah well, that would be telling. The skeleton tells the story of Margaret O'Day, widowed matriarch of a family of wealthy funeral directors; we also get to read some of Margaret's journal. The story jumps back and forth in time, telling and re-telling snippets of Margaret's childhood and courtship in between present day segments where a distant American cousin visits to do some genealogical research.
The first half is a bit slow; the second half, after Margaret finds out a family secret that she wants to keep from the visiting cousin, picks up the pace considerably. I realised early on that I was more interested in, well, pretty much everyone other than Margaret, but overall, it was an enjoyable read.
In Family Skeleton, the narrator is just that: the skeleton in the closet. Whose skeleton? Ah well, that would be telling. The skeleton tells the story of Margaret O'Day, widowed matriarch of a family of wealthy funeral directors; we also get to read some of Margaret's journal. The story jumps back and forth in time, telling and re-telling snippets of Margaret's childhood and courtship in between present day segments where a distant American cousin visits to do some genealogical research.
The first half is a bit slow; the second half, after Margaret finds out a family secret that she wants to keep from the visiting cousin, picks up the pace considerably. I realised early on that I was more interested in, well, pretty much everyone other than Margaret, but overall, it was an enjoyable read.
December 30, 2022
I’d give this 3 and a half stars. I’ve rounded it down to 3 as it was very slow to get started - the first few chapters felt dull and wordy, packed with seemingly excessive detail. After that, though, it picked up the pace.
This is a beautifully written book with sumptuous, elegant descriptions of the classy, wealthy world that the characters inhabit. This book also has enough bite to keep it interesting.
I didn’t 100% like the character of Margaret, but I don’t think that we are intended to.
I was genuinely shocked by the story’s final twist.
Perhaps this is too literal of me, but at the book’s end, I was left wondering who the narrator was. Was it a vague, omnipresent god-type character? Doria’s ghost? The still-living Lillian? Or no one at all?
‘Family Skeleton’ is definitely worth reading. It’s slightly quirky, very fancy, and overall pretty engaging.
This is a beautifully written book with sumptuous, elegant descriptions of the classy, wealthy world that the characters inhabit. This book also has enough bite to keep it interesting.
I didn’t 100% like the character of Margaret, but I don’t think that we are intended to.
I was genuinely shocked by the story’s final twist.
Perhaps this is too literal of me, but at the book’s end, I was left wondering who the narrator was. Was it a vague, omnipresent god-type character? Doria’s ghost? The still-living Lillian? Or no one at all?
‘Family Skeleton’ is definitely worth reading. It’s slightly quirky, very fancy, and overall pretty engaging.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 5, 2017
An intriguing story told in an unusual style. It is the story of an established Melbourne family, the O'Days. Margaret is the matriarch and knows about most of the family skeletons. However Margaret is shattered when the biggest family secret is revealed.
March 1, 2017
I guess the title says it all . A very interesting book about a Melbourne funeral family and a nosey family historian. Written in a very interesting style ( hard to description). Part thriller part mystery part family saga .
September 28, 2017
A must read just to experience the main character , Margaret O'Day. Bird has absolutely nailed the snobbish Melbourne matron's character.
December 12, 2025
Another book not worth the effort of reading.
February 20, 2017
It was ok not the best I've read but not the worst either.
November 19, 2016
"Imagine you have a talking skeleton in the wardrobe. That's me. I still have my own teeth.” thus begins Family Skeletons by Carmel Bird.
The narrator is only one of the skeletons that hover in this wonderfully witty and macabre book ostensibly about the matriarch Margaret O’Day.
Margaret, a wealthy woman living in Toorak, is directionless since the death of her beloved husband Edmund. She decides, on a whim, to write her memoirs and call it The Book of Revelation. The title becomes a foretaste of what is to unfold.
When her daughter-in-law, Charmaine, names their fourth child Ophelia Rose, disquieting memories crash relentlessly within Margaret. The implications of the name go far beyond the tragic character in Hamlet.
The naming of the child and the arrival of Doria, a distant relative from Florida currently working on the family history, set Margaret on a path of upheaval that she swaddles herself in. For Margaret, some things are better left unearthed.
The narrator is only one of the skeletons that hover in this wonderfully witty and macabre book ostensibly about the matriarch Margaret O’Day.
Margaret, a wealthy woman living in Toorak, is directionless since the death of her beloved husband Edmund. She decides, on a whim, to write her memoirs and call it The Book of Revelation. The title becomes a foretaste of what is to unfold.
When her daughter-in-law, Charmaine, names their fourth child Ophelia Rose, disquieting memories crash relentlessly within Margaret. The implications of the name go far beyond the tragic character in Hamlet.
The naming of the child and the arrival of Doria, a distant relative from Florida currently working on the family history, set Margaret on a path of upheaval that she swaddles herself in. For Margaret, some things are better left unearthed.
May 13, 2020
I’ve been intending to read one of Carmel Bird’s novels ever since I read her inspired essay on Jane Eyre but with my ever-growing list of books to read, I hadn’t yet done so. This one leapt off the shelf at me in the library this week and didn’t disappoint.
Margaret is a wealthy matriarch of a family of funeral directors with a bizarre funeral-related theme park. She lives a comfortable life with the problem of the day her daughter-in-law’s insistence on an entirely inappropriate name for the latest addition to the family.
That is until Doria insinuates herself with her dogged pursuit of the family tree. Margaret, icily polite to Doria, would not like anything unsavoury revealed.
Narrated by the family skeleton, this is witty, dark and immensely enjoyable.
Margaret is a wealthy matriarch of a family of funeral directors with a bizarre funeral-related theme park. She lives a comfortable life with the problem of the day her daughter-in-law’s insistence on an entirely inappropriate name for the latest addition to the family.
That is until Doria insinuates herself with her dogged pursuit of the family tree. Margaret, icily polite to Doria, would not like anything unsavoury revealed.
Narrated by the family skeleton, this is witty, dark and immensely enjoyable.
April 16, 2017
The story is narrated by “the skeleton in the wardrobe”. Now, I know many readers don’t like what they see as cute or contrived narratorial devices – like girls in heaven or dead babies – but please don’t let that put you off here, because in the hands of a skilled writer such a device can lift a story to a whole new level.
The novel’s framing idea is an obsession with family history, which gives you a clue about our narrator – except that the story is not really about the skeleton, whose identity is never divulged, and nor is it about family history. What it’s about, really, is family secrets and betrayal, and the tipping point. It’s about the recently bereaved and well-to-do Margaret O’Day, whose family, through her husband, has been involved in the funeral business for generations. Such a setting is, of course, ripe for black comedy and that’s what we get in this novel. But, back to Margaret. Her husband Eddie, “a philistine” according to our skeleton, was also a philanderer and died in the arms of his mistress. Margaret had been betrayed (more than once), but she knew this, and even accepted this last mistress, and her children with Eddie, at the funeral.
For my complete review, please see:https://whisperinggums.com/2017/04/13...
The novel’s framing idea is an obsession with family history, which gives you a clue about our narrator – except that the story is not really about the skeleton, whose identity is never divulged, and nor is it about family history. What it’s about, really, is family secrets and betrayal, and the tipping point. It’s about the recently bereaved and well-to-do Margaret O’Day, whose family, through her husband, has been involved in the funeral business for generations. Such a setting is, of course, ripe for black comedy and that’s what we get in this novel. But, back to Margaret. Her husband Eddie, “a philistine” according to our skeleton, was also a philanderer and died in the arms of his mistress. Margaret had been betrayed (more than once), but she knew this, and even accepted this last mistress, and her children with Eddie, at the funeral.
For my complete review, please see:https://whisperinggums.com/2017/04/13...
April 26, 2017
Carmel Bird writes well and paints an engaging picture of a privileged, conservative family matriarch and her solution to a pesky family history researcher's chance of revealing the book's title.
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