Dysfunctional Families


The Glass Castle
Sharp Objects
The Goldfinch
Eleanor & Park
Educated
We Need to Talk About Kevin
Running with Scissors
The Dinner
Orphan Train
I'm Glad My Mom Died
The Dutch House
Everything I Never Told You
Gone Girl
A Child Called "It" (Dave Pelzer, #1)
Dark Places
The Deepest Well by Nadine Burke HarrisThe Choice by Edith EgerHeavy by Kiese LaymonStolen Innocence by Elissa WallA Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard
Abuse Memoirs
12 books — 1 voter
The Foxhole Court by Nora SakavicThe Raven Boys by Maggie StiefvaterCrooked Kingdom by Leigh BardugoPied Piper by Nevil ShuteThe Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
Castaway Fams
9 books — 7 voters

Beautiful, Complicated Family by Rosey LeeWho Colored the Leaves? by Robert D. DeanThe Glass Castle by Jeannette WallsThe Last House on the Street by Diane ChamberlainUnveiled by Courtney Milan
Best Family-themed Stories
64 books — 23 voters

The Pond Beyond the Forest by Shigeko ItoLucky by Scott NelsonNightbird by Shavaun ScottTales of a Mad Hatter by Jan K PaezTreasures In The Trash by Kristy McMorlan
Memoirs That Saved My Life
22 books — 17 voters
Crazy For Alice by Alex DunnConflict of Intrigues by ML YostSpilled Coffee by J.B. ChicoineDaddy Morebucks by Normandie AllemanPortrait of a Girl Running by J.B. Chicoine
Characters with daddy-issues
26 books — 20 voters

Tracy Letts
We covered this around Year Three, Bill: that you're the Master of Space and Time and I'm a spastic Pomeranian. ...more
Tracy Letts, August: Osage County

The fear of abandonment forced me to comply as a child, but I’m not forced to comply anymore. The key people in my life did reject me for telling the truth about my abuse, but I’m not alone. Even if the consequence for telling the truth is rejection from everyone I know, that’s not the same death threat that it was when I was a child. I’m a self-sufficient adult and abandonment no longer means the end of my life.
Christina Enevoldsen, The Rescued Soul: The Writing Journey for the Healing of Incest and Family Betrayal

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