Are You Sitting Down?

by Shannon Yarbrough

"Yarbrough weaves the lives of a band of disparate characters into a rich tapestry complete with death, secrets, and murder, tied up with a Christmas bow." -LK Gardner-Griffie, author of the Misfit McCabe series

"A true-to-life portrait of a modern American family. You'll find pieces of your own life in this gritty, moving story." -R.J. Keller, author of Waiting for Spring

A rape victim raising a biracial baby. A drug addict haunted by a dead girlfriend. A homosexual mourning a dead lover. A teacher having an affair with his student. And a businesswoman sexually harassed by her boss. What do they all have in common? They all sit at Lorraine White's holiday dinner table; they are also her children.

But Lorraine's children are not the only ones in the family dealing with ghosts of the past. This is the first Christmas the Whites have spent together since the death of their father. And it very well could be their last, as arguments ensue, secrets are revealed, and perhaps a murderer walks among them.

In his latest novel, Shannon Yarbrough explores the damaged soul of one small town family and breaks through the boundaries of love, convincing his readers that no matter how hard life gets, sometimes the support of family is often the only true foundation we have left to depend upon - whether we want it or not.

Genres: Fiction, Drama, Contemporary, Suspense, Thriller, Christmas

257 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 3, 2010

Reviews

[Cheryl Anne Gardner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let me just preface this review with a full disclosure. I know Shannon Yarbrough. We travel the same Indie review circles, and I reviewed an earlier book of his titled Stealing Wishes, which I enjoyed a great deal. As a matter of fact, the author thanks me in the back of this book for simply "getting" his writing. When he queried the Podpeople for this book, I happily snapped it up. I wasn't mistaken in doing so, because true to form, Mr. Yarbrough always gives the reader compelling characters and thought provoking storylines, albeit in this story, some of those storylines are quite disturbing. I reviewed this from an uncorrected proof copy, so there were quite a few formatting and grammatical issues to wade through, but I am sure these were rectified in the final edit.

As in all Mr. Yarbrough's work, the family members in this story are revealed to us with an honest objectivity some might find troubling. This book really begins at the end, if you will. All secrets are revealed with stark acceptance. All the characters have had time to dwell on their sins, and all have reconciled their various justifications. There are no labored confessions here to tug on our heartstrings. Everyone at this point has lived through their struggles and has accepted who they are, what they've done, and that the scars are permanent. The author makes no judgments here. Every crime is weighed equally, and by crime, I mean the crime each character has tried, convicted, and punished themselves for.

The story is told in alternating first-person points of view, each chapter devoted to one character, and aside from everyone being bludgeoned to death by Southern small town life, each character is connected to everyone else in the story not simply by familiar family bonds, but by the secrets they keep. Bigotry, infidelity, rape, murder, terminal illness, addiction, sexual orientation, sexual obsession, love, hatred, loss, and death, these are the ties that bind in this story.

As for the structure, it is much like any ordinary family holiday dinner: chaotic, which I felt served the story well. Each character is present "in the moment" and yet not because the past weighs heavily on each and every one of them. It felt to me almost like an American haunting of a sort, as if each character were a ghost cursed to reflect on what they had become instead of what they could be. Always drawn back into the past to dwell on the misery leveled upon them over the course of their lives. For some, that misery came with a poorly made choice, and for others, like Travis, the misery is downright unjust.

They say in a small town everyone knows everything about everyone else, and this story serves to debunk that myth. Here everyone knows what they think they know, and in reality, they only know what's relevant to their own personal struggle, and their attitudes towards the secrets that they think they know are really just reflections of their own inner turmoil. No one really knows anything deeper about the other characters aside from the surface wounds, which is sadly true to life. We talk to the people in our lives, but we rarely really listen. We claim to "share" our most intimate feelings with a certain few, but we rarely tell anyone the unadulterated truth about anything. That realism and truth about the collective consciousness is driven home quite powerfully in this story.

In this book, Christmas is a time for giving and healing, and what the reader gets to unwrap are the intimate confessions of a family who has never chosen to be honest with itself. The reader must decide where sympathy should be given and judgment passed. All the various perceptions in the story lack any real peripheral vision, allowing the reader to supply that on their own, which I loved. The reader is offered the rare opportunity here to be the psychoanalyst, and that, for me, made it a very engaging read. Nothing is ever really resolved by the end of the story, but the reader is left with the possibility of redemption to ponder well after the last page is turned. Very well done.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shannon Yarbrough’s intriguing third novel, Are You Sitting Down, explores the dysfunctions of the White family and their neighbors in the charmingly named town of Ruby Dregs, Tennessee, a Memphis exurb. Delving into the themes of corruption, carnal desire and forgiveness that Yarbrough also staked out in his first two novels, Are You Sitting Down portrays small town life as claustrophobic, malicious and filled with secrets.

The occasion is Christmas, and the novel’s anchor, Travis White, is returning to Ruby Dregs for his family’s annual gathering. The middle child of five White siblings, Travis escaped the confining prejudices of Ruby Dregs for the more cosmopolitan culture of Memphis, but he cannot escape the memory of his recently deceased partner Justin, nor can he entirely leave his family and their problems behind him. And do they ever have problems!

The litany of crimes, aberrant behaviors and immoral acts committed by or against the Whites and their neighbors would put Caligula to shame, including but not limited to rape, drug addiction, a fatal drug overdose, incest, sexual harassment, suicide, adultery, murder and the relatively innocent lying, which is so common in Ruby Dregs as barely to rate mentioning. In addition, the characters struggle against the perceptions of their more backward neighbors and family members that interracial relationships and homosexuality are evil, giving nearly every character in the story enough problems to warrant a separate novel each.

The story features multiple first person narrators, who take turns offering their own back-stories and giving conflicting versions of present-time events. All of the major characters (including two who have died) get chances to share their perceptions, and their stories, told confidentially to the reader, provide a panoramic view of the family and town; but none of the narrators offers the reader a moral lens through which to view the characters’ actions.

Whether they perpetrate or suffer the crimes and misdemeanors they relate, the characters rarely make any judgments about what they do except to justify their own crimes, and the novel’s attitude toward the town’s secrets is neutral. All secrets—marital dysfunction, homicide, closeted homosexuality—carry the same moral weight in Are You Sitting Down, and the novel treats its grotesque and realistic elements in exactly the same manner, so that the gothic aspects of the story offer neither commentary nor framework for understanding the characters’ more mundane challenges.

For example, the misadventures of Sebastian, whose drug addiction contributes to the fatal overdose of his girlfriend, are presented with the same tone and withheld moral judgment as the actions of Mr. Black, a sociopath; Martin, who exchanges sex for grades with one of his high school biology students; and Travis, whose only “crime” is being gay. Surely Sebastian and Travis deserve our sympathy, at least, and Mr. Black our condemnation, but the novel presents all secrets as equal. The amoral atmosphere of Ruby Dregs thus becomes a kind of Hobbesian diorama, in which acts are only right or wrong, worthy of sympathy or condemnation, according to the perceptions of the people who discover them.

Are You Sitting Down does offer moments of redemption, most notably in the story of the marital difficulties of Mark and Ellen, and it often achieves an elegiac serenity when describing the physical environs of Ruby Dregs, a town as peaceful and quiet as a snow globe. Yarbrough’s gift for engaging scenes and snappy dialogue is on display throughout, though there are also long stretches of narrative exposition in which action is related second- or third-hand. The novel is a sprawling experiment in point of view and jigsawing perceptions, which does not focus as clearly as Yarbrough’s earlier, more spry Memphis novel The Other Side of What, which covers some of the same territory.

I look forward to seeing the next novel from Yarbrough’s inventive mind.

[Brandon Halsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Shannon Yarbrough’s “Are You Sitting Down” a dysfunctional family spend the holidays together; over the course of a Christmas dinner long held secrets and grievances are aired. The setup is familiar; many films, television shows, and books use a similar home-for-the-holidays hook as the catalyst for high drama. What sets “Are You Sitting Down” apart is Yarbrough’s scalpel-like precision while cutting deeply through his character’s tortured psyches.

Members of the large White family are:
Travis: a young gay man still mourning the death of his lover.
Martin: a teacher having an affair with one of his students.
Sebastian: the black sheep of the family struggling with his drug addiction.
Clare: a woman raising her rapist’s son.
Ellen: another victim of traumatic sexual assault.
Lorraine: The matriarch of the White family; reeling from a recent terminal cancer diagnosis.

Each chapter is narrated in the first-person by alternating characters (including a ghost speaking from beyond the grave who fills us in on some crucial backstory); subsequent chapters introduce us to the Black family and expand the narrative further beyond the White clan.

The author manages to keep the various plot threads from slipping into soap-opera territory (through all the repressed sexuality, secret adoptions, and even murder) and grounds the melodramatic storylines in reality. Every reader will be able to identify with at least of one the main characters.

[Kate Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This book is incredible, tender and moving and always wonderfully understated. A close study of the inner lives and thoughts of the members of one family as they gather for Christmas, we see their triumphs and their disasters through their own eyes as they remember the events of their pasts and build their hopes for the future. It has a somber, melancholy tone, and there's more tragedy than comedy, which in places skims close to hyperbolic, but each character is so beautifully drawn, so lovingly presented, that it could not have been written any other way. It's a haunting book, true Southern Gothic in the traditional sense - think Other Voices, Other Rooms - heart-rending and thought-provoking and highly, highly recommended!

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Are You Sitting Down? is an intense, often disturbing portrait of a small town fictional American family that on the whole proves more satisfying than the sum of its parts.

Those parts are its chapters, each told in the first person by a variety of characters, and titled with the name of that character. It reminds me of As I Lay Dying. Even the title--Are You Sitting Down?--somewhat parallels that of the Faulkner classic. Because of this approach, a little patience is required to get into the novel's rhythm. The timelines and events between chapters overlap and there are plenty of flashbacks requiring close attention. This overlapping is necessary to create a full picture and it is never redundant. In the end, the accumulation of first person narratives gives an omniscient image--the reader knows more than any single character--of this complex southern family at this sensitive point in their lives.

All of Lorraine White's children are coming to celebrate Christmas with her, the first time they've all gotten together since their father's death a year before. This says something as four of the five siblings live in the same small town as their mother, Ruby Dregs, Tennessee. The fifth, Travis, the middle child, is the outsider, coming in from Memphis, only a two-hour drive away.

Along with material gifts, each sibling brings home emotional baggage of some kind, some burden of guilt, grief, or both. Lorraine's children seem to have been dealt an inordinately high amount of misery, the causes of which could compete with any soap opera: adultery, cancer, death, rape, unplanned childbirth, drug abuse, sexual interference, and others. For much of the novel they--pun intended--unwrap the sordid events of their pasts for the reader, recalling the causes and showing the effects, all while they perform the mundane activities of preparing for the Christmas reunion. For those who enjoy reading psychological puzzles, this novel offers a plethora of possibilities. Only Lorraine, even though diagnosed with terminal cancer, seems a peace with herself. Her main concern, how and when to tell her children.

Travis White drives the story. His narrative provides the opening, closing and more of the individual chapters than the other characters. As the middle child, Trevor's perspective on the family tends to be more central and as the only member living outside of Ruby Dregs, Tennessee, his observations more detached and therefore helpful to the reader. And then Travis's issues surrounding, "coming out," and the prejudice against homosexuality gets wider coverage than most of the others, although it doesn't dominate. What plays a bigger part is the recent death of Travis's lover, Justin Black, to cancer brings in his Justin and his parents as the only non-White family narrators. Mr. and Mrs. Black, an odious and sadly tragic couple I'd never want to meet. Their presence illustrates that, no matter the dysfunctions within a family such as the Whites, things could be worse.

But while Travis is the central figure, I don't seem him as a protagonist. Instead, it's the White family unit that's the protagonist. It's the family that has a goal: to reunite; it's the family that has a plot and conflict: coming to together with clashing histories; and it's the family that has to overcome to reach the climax, not the individuals. Whenever one of the characters narrates it seems like it's the family's consciousness--perhaps even channelled through the dead father, Frank--that speaks as a unit throughout. The writing style remains consistent with all the narratives, objective and honest reportage of facts mixed with highly subjective opinion of interpretation, although the distinctness between the characters comes through.

Are You Sitting Down? doesn't regale us with a tale as much as it impresses itself on us. It casts no judgements but presents subjective individual views that contradict and overlap. The characters are Whites and Blacks but the essence is all the greys in between. Not much ties up at the end for them; there are loose ends and uncertain resolutions. But that's life, isn't it? Yet for the family on the whole there is some redemption at the end. Taken as a whole, Are You Sitting Down? is satisfying and feels complete, a good example of patience rewarded.

[Steven Knapp · Rating 5 out of 5]

The short novel Are You Sitting Down begins tragically with the death of Frank White, the beloved husband of Lorraine White and father of five adult children. But even as Frank is dying, the author cleverly allows him to inform the reader about the final minutes of his life in the first person. Frank’s personal account of his own death introduces the format that allows the remaining characters in the novel to also tell their life stories in the first person.

Lorraine White must now face her first Christmas in a very long time not only without her loving husband but also with the knowledge of her own secret that she has chosen to keep from the rest of her family. As each of her five children and their families prepare to arrive at Lorraine’s home for this very special Christmas Eve, we begin to learn that none of their lives are without complication.

From this point Are You Sitting Down transforms itself into two different novels. In the first version, the casual reader can be easily entertained as each family member introduces the details of their own life story. Not unlike almost anyone else, many of those stories relay incidents of unforeseen tragedy interlaced with descriptions of the occasional triumph. From this more casual perspective the book becomes a simple mystery novel with each character providing the clues that allow the reader to learn far more about the extended White family than any individual family member has ever been allowed to know. But for the more careful reader, the same pages also reveal a much more complex narrative that runs parallel to the simple mystery. In this version, the author provides an insightful look into the lives of the many characters that have had their personalities uniquely molded by the intimacy of growing up in a small town that has a proximity to nature than most life-long city dwellers could never fully appreciate.

The author’s narrative which describes the personal lives of the book’s main characters, regardless of their age or gender, demonstrates an insight into human behavior that goes well beyond what most of our fellow humans are ever able to acquire. Some novels are of course little more than an autobiography in which the author attempts to disguise his own life story by substituting different names for his main characters, staging the story in places other than those where the author may have once lived, and creating some events that may have not yet been a part of the author’s real life. It seems plausible that all three techniques might apply to this effort. With this in mind, it may be possible for the discerning reader to identify which character in the book most likely represents the author. The evidence for such a conclusion can be found within the detailed descriptions of the joy that others have brought to this character’s life as well as those narratives which express the pain this character was occasionally forced to endure. The descriptions of each emotion are so vivid that it would be difficult to believe such perceptions could be offered by someone who has not walked down a similar path in real life.

A word of caution, although this work can be read just a few chapters at a time and even over a period of several days, once opened this is the kind of book that is hard to put down. Should you chose to read it over a longer period of time, I would suggest you at least plan your schedule far enough in advance to allow sufficient time to read the last three chapters all in one sitting. You may want to also budget for a few minutes of quiet time after you have finished the last few pages just in case you feel a need to reflect on how the final narratives may have touched your own life. Should you reach the end of the book and discover that you did not need this brief time for personal reflection and recovery or that the author should have done a better job trying to tie up some lose ends, then I would suggest that you may have missed the larger point of the book. Perhaps this may even be why the author asks the question “are you sitting down” in the first place. It is after all a book which offers insight into the meaning of life, even if it may not have been the author’s original intent to do so.

Steven Knapp
Belleville, IL

[Booklover, Indianapolis · Rating 2 out of 5]

(August) Very blah. Really, this book was a whole lot of nothing. I feel like the author wanted to write a 'deep' book filled w/skeletons and such, and she just failed in that regard. Each character was supposed to be interesting - but they weren't. They were boring and unlikable. The parts of the book told by the dead guy - boring and pointless. The mother's new boyfriend - when Travis say's "I'm gay" he keeps saying "what?" and "I don't understand" - really how hard is that to compute? And Clare **spoiler!!** when she was secretly adopted her siblings were 9, 13, 19 and 25 - but no one ever, in the last 22 years, has slipped and said anything - she's never noticed pix in the family album of mom pregnant w/her sibs but not w/her, never heard her own birth story - and her parents lived in the same house her whole life - but no one in town ever commented on how she just appeared out of nowhere? And she is so sure her having a "mixed" baby is the biggest disappointment her mother has ever had? Not that she had a baby while 21 and unmarried and that she has been a difficult wild child who didn't go to school and was a substance abuser (as was her older druggie brother) - but this mixed baby is the single worst thing that her mother ever experienced? Even though there is no hint Grandma feels that way (or anyone else)? The book is filled w/odd old fashioned notions and many inconsistancies. Definitely would not recommend. BC rating: 2*

[Lori Henrich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Christmas at the White house is always interesting. This story follows on the White children as they each deal with their past and how it affects how they deal with future challenges. I found the idea of the story interesting, but from the blurb about the book I expected it to be totally different. It was kind of disappointed in that respect but the story was still good.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story has a lot of potential, but there were some flaws that made staying engaged difficult. There were many points of view, but all told in the same voice. There were way, way too many loose ends that made no sense to me when the books was finished. It is a good story, but it could have done with better editing.

[Tabitha Howell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I loved how he author put us in the heads of all the characters, lending truth to the saying "you don't know what battles others are fighting." Was pleasantly surprised to find the author was born in a town very close to me, and and I felt like I knew Dogwood and Ruby Dregs from that. Well done and I hope we see more of him in the future!

[Diane Porter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastically diverse characters - very engaging. My only issue is that it felt a few hundred pages too short....I wanted to know more....all these intriguing characters are introduced but never developed, their journeys end prematurely without the resolution I would have liked.

[Deedra · Rating 5 out of 5]

audible:I really liked this book!What a twisty storyline!There were some real surprises. Geoffrey Boyes was a terrific narrator.I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.'

[Ann Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great!

I chose to read this book because I've always been asked "are you sitting down?" when there was unpleasant news. I had no idea I would fall in love with most of the characters. The author truly made me feel as if I was right there alongside the White and Black families.

[Shirley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Family

This was a book about family in all it’s glorious faults. Family is messy, loving, stressful and sometimes disappointing. This book brought out all of these characteristics. There were many “main” characters and they all had a voice in this book. A good read.

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bored

I'm sorry to say this book had me bored through most of it. It was strange bouncing from each family member to the next and other characters. Everything seemed so random. There was so much description I found myself skipping paragraphs.

[Shanna Tidwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a good book about family. How we love each other and also hurt each other unintentionally. How we survive and persevere. The story was well thought out and character development was amazing. Narration was excellent too.

[Gabriella · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so glad that I read this novel. First off, my impression was that it would be a realistic Midwestern family drama. As I got further immersed in the book, I began to see that it is in fact a deeply Southern tale, concerned with secrets, sex and death. The book opens with a death, in fact; the father, Frank White, has a stroke while his wife Lorraine weeps at his side. Yarbrough does death scenes in an unusual and interesting way. They are strangely intimate, as we see the thoughts of the dying person as they fade out of the world. Their thoughts are for their loved one, but the implication is that they are being freed from something messy and sad. In fact, the family that Frank is leaving behind is not really a happy one. Each adult child has secrets which they haven't shared with the others; each carries burdens and regrets and shame. The anchor of the book is the third child Travis, a gay man who has lost his lover Justin to cancer. Each person reflects on their life in short chapters, making this a many-angled novel of unusual depth.

Travis is an outsider to the family, living in Memphis while the others have stayed in the small town aptly named Ruby Dregs. (The foul rag and bone shop of the heart, anyone?) While he adores his mother, he realizes at the end of the book that he hasn't been as close to her as he thought. The driving plot of the book is the leadup to the family Christmas, where all the Whites will be together. This Christmas, it's well-behaved Travis's turn to make a scene--a shocking outburst that had me laughing out loud, but also keenly aware, as a gay person, how painful it is to always be the person pushed aside and not central in a family. Another highlight of the book is Travis's first visit to the Ruby Dregs cemetery to see Justin's headstone, which he has picked out. In a powerful scene, an old black woman selling flowers seems to be channeling Justin's spirit as she brings Travis messages from beyond the grave. "Are You Sitting Down?" deals with themes of forgiveness, reconciliation, and a journey to wholeness, but Yarbrough's writing makes clear that death is always just around the corner and that despite the hope of family togetherness, each of us is stumbling through life alone dealing with our past and our secrets.

There's another element to the story. Justin's parents, the Blacks, are painted as truly toxic. In fact, as we see more of Justin's father, who initially seems like a mild-mannered, obese old man, we get peeks into the mind of a sociopath. To deal with love, death AND evil... this novel takes on a lot, posing destabilizing questions about reality at every turn.

Here is a quote that seems to sum up the spirit of the novel. It comes as the Whites' youngest daughter, Clare, is thinking about what she found when she looked through her father's desk after he died. "Sometimes we yearn for the truth that we think is hidden from us. It's only when we find the truth we've been looking for that we often wish we didn't know after all, and then we see why it was kept from us in the first place."

[Robin Tidwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Are You Sitting Down?

No, really, are you? Because this book, not coincidentally by the same title, will knock you off your feet!

Shannon Yarbrough, local (St. Ann) author of “Are You Sitting Down?” has written a fabulous tale of a family Christmas gathering, full of secrets and nuances, lively characters, and some not-so-picture-perfect holiday montages.

The novel begins with the well-written, poignant event that leads into the story itself; each chapter is told from the point of view of one of the cast of characters:

Travis, the middle child who is dealing with the loss of his long-time partner, Justin;

Mr. Black, Justin’s father;

Clare, the youngest child and a single mom;

Lorraine, the family matriarch;

Ellen, the oldest daughter who appears to be leading a perfect small-town life;

Sebastian, the fourth child, and semi-recovering drug addict;

Martin, the eldest;

Justin, from his perspective, both in flashback form and from beyond the grave;

and Mrs. Black, his rather mentally unstable mother.

Each of these people has a secret – some suspected, some stated outright, but most are quite shocking and totally unexpected. The story segues from chapter to chapter quite smoothly, each component building on the next.

Travis has come home for Christmas, from Memphis, to a fictional small Tennessee town where the remainder of his family still resides. While privy to many of his siblings’ secrets, his mother’s remain unknown to him – as well as to the rest of the family.

Essentially, the entire story takes place in one evening, peppered with flashbacks. The kids are arriving at Lorraine’s, the grandkids are excited about Christmas; brief descriptions of earlier moments in the lives of the characters allow the reader some background.

The dialog in this novel is outstanding, very natural and compelling. The twists and turns keep the reader flipping page after page, waiting and wanting to learn more.

Highly recommended, “Are You Sitting Down?” is an interesting and thought-provoking book, as well as being very entertaining. The only question that remains is this: when will we see a sequel?

[Tess · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started reading “Are You Sitting Down” around noon this past Saturday. I intended to read a chapter or maybe two at the most. Four hours later I was still reading. From the beginning of the prologue I was engaged in the story. I wanted to know more about the people that the author, Shannon Yarbrough, was introducing me to. What made them so real, I think, is the way he chose to tell the story. Each person is given a voice and I got to see the events that happened from their perspective, and experience the emotions that each of them experienced. Not once was the story repetitive or boring. The author kept the story engaging and always moving forward, even while allowing the characters to tell parts of the story that happened in the past. Sound confusing? You would think so, but it is done beautifully in this book. And because of the talented, descriptive storytelling I got a sense of who each person in the story REALLY was. I got a glimpse of how each of them felt and how they each saw the situations they were placed in. A very good friend of mine has struggled with an addiction to prescription drugs for years but people would never know it when looking at this beautiful, intelligent woman. Recently she told me how shocked one of her coworkers was to learn about her addiction. The coworker said, "But you don't look like you have those types of problems!" And my friend's reply was that everyone has a private story that nobody would guess. "Are You Sitting Down" allows the reader to share in the private story of each of its characters. At the same time it is a real portrait of how families truly are with their love and support despite any disagreements they may have with each other. I’d recommend this book and can’t wait to see what the author comes up with next.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

The chapter headings reveal its particular narrator and if you’re listening to this on Kindle’s text-to-speech, you might find yourself wondering what just happened if you miss a narrator change.

A particularly dark tale of the dirty deeds of others or the dirty deeds of one’s own making. A rape. A pawing boss with the means to make your life miserable. A deadly overdose. A pervert. An illicit affair. Murder. Some are less dirty deed than they are secret. A discovery in a hidden place. The skeletons are falling out of the closet faster than the door can be shut on them while some you never see coming such as the smack to the kisser.

It’s a tale of the Blacks and the Whites. And I don’t mean skin color but surnames. While the Whites have their own secrets, who’s to say the Black’s secrets aren’t well… blacker?

What I liked about the story: While I’d like to say ‘the shock value,’ that might suggest I enjoy those types of things taking place, which I don’t. But let’s face it. Reading about it is what makes a story.

Though extraneous parts could have been omitted, there were other parts where fleshing out would have definitely benefited the story. There is so much shock factor and very little conclusion taking place. The reader is left to surmise what happens to one person while not understanding why some information is never revealed by a particular person. Why so secret about it?

Anyway, that’s my opinion.

[Sharon Hopkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Are You Sitting Down?
By Shannon Yarbrough

Although this story takes place around a Christmas Family get-together, this is not a feel-good tale of Christmas. Part tragedy and part paranormal, the story opens with the death of the patriarch. From there all the siblings and their families meet at mom’s to celebrate the Christmas holiday, the first one since the death of the father. Everyone, including the mother, Lorraine, has a personal darkness to deal with. Yet with the darkness comes evidence of strength and solidarity of family.
The story is written in first person from each character’s point of view, each having his and her own chapters. The reader knows much more than the other family members know about the rest of the family. The darkest of many tragedies invaded this Midwestern average family, from betrayal and infidelity, to murder and death. Yet though it all, family support is what shines through.
Shannon Yarbrough has woven an intricate tale of love, betrayal and family bonding. There were a few characters whose story didn’t have an ending, which leaves me wondering if there will be a sequel. If there is, I will be sure to get it.
“Are You Sitting Down” is a great read.

[Dan Marvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always enjoyed Shannon's writing since I first read Stealing Wishes. When I learned that he had published a new book, I immediately downloaded it to my Kindle and devoured it in short order.

This is an ambitious undertaking, telling the story of one family through the eyes of its members. I enjoyed the fact that everyone was represented, even those family members that were there in memory only. Like every family get together, there is no small amount of drama, jealousy, and feelings of inadequancy. There is also no shortage of love and, ultimately, understanding. It's a 300 page shapshot of one family dinner that gives the back story so we can pull up a chair and dish up some mashed potatoes.

I enjoyed the writing and the story, but my copy had a variety of formatting and editing issues that sometimes made it difficult to determine who was talking. That's a minor concern though, and the pleasure of reading the book more than makes up for it. Hats off to Shannon for another crowd pleaser!

[Karlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once you start reading "Are You Sitting Down?" it is hard to stop. The characters are highly engaging, so much so that you turn each page wondering what will happen next. I liked the portrayal of family interactions - the secrets we keep, the shared and personal loses we suffer. The reader can identify with the humanity of each family member, even if you find some of their choices repugnant (ie an affair with a student) - none of these people have mental illness (ie: the teacher is not a pedophile)- they have just faced what befalls many of us in life - the desire to, just once, not think about consequences.

Spolier Alert....


The book could have done without the murder storyline. It feel is was not only not necessary to the message of the book, but almost made the themes of lost love, sinful extravances and the sometimes cruelty of life too over-the-top. The Black's story was an important piece of the book and did not need the added murder plot.

[Jessica Blankenship · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book. Very detailed. Shannon is very good at switching each chapter to a new person. Sometimes when a book is written like this, the readers get lost because it jumps around. This book is nothing like that.

This book is awesome. I couldn’t put it down. I read the entire book within 2-3 days in random spurts. Very interesting and keeps you so engrossed in the book that you just want to keep turning pages.

In this book “everyone knows everyone” in a small town just simply isn’t the truth. Everyone thinks they know, but they haven’t even begun to touch the iceberg.. It’s about a family who would rather shove secrets under the rug rather then face them head on..

[R.J. Keller · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story unfolds naturally - and sometimes chillingly - as each member of the White and Black families tell the reader their tale. The prose is often beautiful, but unflinching, as heartbreak, addictions, affairs, and even murders are confessed. Although the story comes to a satisfying conclusion, at the end only the reader knows the whole story of these families...and even then we're left with lingering questions. That's a tricky feat for a writer to pull off well, but Shannon Yarbrough does it with this novel.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those books that I picked up, started reading and almost put down. I want to say that it's an onion, which reveals itself layer by layer, but it's more than that because it doesn't look like an onion, so you don't expect the way it opens up. It is more like an apple; wholesome, all-American, until you understand the dysfunction in this family. Have to say that I, surprisingly, enjoyed this book and it left me thinking about it for days.

[Maggie White · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good fast read. Story of a disfunctional family coming together for Christmas. This is the first time they have all been together since the death of their father. They all have secrets which they think no one else knows. Mostly centres round Lorraine and her relationship with her assorted children. All of them are grown up and have their own problems and dilemmas in life. Good read felt the ending a bit weak though and a little rushed

[Desley (Cat fosterer) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book I've read by Shannon Yarbrough, to be honest I nearly gave up in the beginning because of weird formatting issues, but circumstance meant I had to continue.

I did enjoy the chapters being written by different characters, so you got to hear about things from 2 perspectives, but unfortunately the formatting and typo's mean I can't score it higher.

[Anne Hartman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will definitely be reading more of Shannon Yarbrough - this book was great. I like the characters, the points of view it was written in, the fact that all of the characters were flawed...good read.

[Ashley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm really surprised about all the 5 and 4 star ratings of this book. this was a freebie. I'm glad I didn't pay for it. I'm pretty bummed that I hated it so much because it really seemed like it would be a great book by the blurb.