A Very Typical Family by Sierra Godfrey

The title is misleading. The family is anything but typical. At the age of fourteen Natalie called the police when she found her brother and sister at a party where they were all high on drugs and one teenager actually died. They were both sent to prison and neither of them had forgiven her though they are both out of prison now. Years have gone by, the family has split up, no communication between the mother and Natalie either. Natalie faces obstacles of her own at her job in New York. Ear marked for the top job, she is ousted at the very last minute by her boyfriend of whom she had such high hopes of making the relationship permanent. Heart broken mainly by what she feels as betrayal at work, Natalie is then faced with a letter from a lawyer, saying her mother has died and left the ancestral home to the three children who can inherit provided they actually come together to the house. The lawyer says there is no acknowledgement to the letters sent to her siblings upto date. This is how the story starts. Natalie undertakes the long journey back home, hoping to get some space from her relationship and her heart break and try to overcome the break up with her brother and sister as well. The story goes through several hiccups at every stage before a reunion of any kind can happen. Trying to put a dysfunctional and deeply hurt family together again is never going to be easy. The story is emotional, draining but a very good one. Sent by Sourcebooks Landmark for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.