FAMILY ALBUM by Penelope Lively (Penguin, 2009).
This masterful fiction writer from London has turned out another compelling psychological drama that centers around Allersmead, the run-down, sprawling family home that is the same scene of varying points of view on a family’s life. Alison strives to be the perfect archetype of motherhood, whose goal is to provide her six children with a blissful childhood, though that’s not how any of her children remember life at Allersmead, as they each recall, as grown adults and by way of brilliant omniscient narration, birthdays, Christmases and family summer vacations. Each recalls how the eldest son, Paul, falls into addiction, and they remember their father’s impassive stolidity and their quiet and plodding au pair, Ingrid, who remains at the house 40 years later. Lively’s exquisite writing is original and smart, her insights are profound, and her storytelling involves intriguing family secrets, revealed. At the heart of this magical narrative is Alison’s indissoluble conviction: “… This is a family. This shall always be a family.” (9.5/10)
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