The Condition: A Novel | Jennifer Haigh | Excellent family saga in a quick read

The Condition: A Novel | Jennifer Haigh | A Great Read

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The Condition: A N...

	The Condition: A Novel Jennifer Haigh Harper, 2008 - 400 pages average customer review:based on 79 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Excellent family saga in a quick read

This epic story of a New England family takes place in 1997, the year each member of the McKotch family finally begins to become the person he or she is meant to be by facing, and learning from, the past. But the book begins with with a brief 30-page introduction to the McKotches in 1976 as they vacation on Cape Cod, blissfully unaware that their family is about to fall apart.

In 1976, Paulette has just celebrated her 35th birthday. She dropped out of college at age 20 to marry Frank, an athletic handsome boy from a poor Pennsylvania coal-mining family, in contrast to Paulette's prominent old New England family. Frank is now a dedicated scientist and professor who spends more time in his lab than with his wife and three children, who are ages 14, 12 and 9 in 1976.

Frank seldom made an appearance at the cottage where his family spent each summer, but it was during a rare visit in the summer of 1976 that his scientist's eye suddenly revealed to him that something was seriously wrong with his very small 12-year-old daughter Gwen, whose toddler-like body made her so different from other girls her age. He instinctively and correctly diagnosed Gwen as having Turner's syndrome, which meant she would never fully mature physically.

From that date, Frank appeared to see his daughter as her disease, as he researched, obtained the most up-to-date medical care and carefully monitored Gwen's progress. Paulette went to the other extreme and lived in denial that her daughter could not be molded into a typical teenage girl dressed in the latest fashions and enjoying the attention of teenage boys. She has told Gwen and her brothers that they are not to speak to anyone, including extended family members, about Gwen's condition.

By the time the family's story begins in 1997, Frank and Paulette have been divorced for 20 years; both realize they're aging and facing a future alone while they examine the past with regret. Each of the now 30-something adult children also realizes life has not turned out as planned, and they place much of the blame on their parents divorce, which they in turn blame on Gwen's condition.

Gwen's condition is a metaphor for the human condition, and every reader should be able to relate to the McKotches. They could be any family that focuses all its energy (and subsequent blame for everyone's problems) on one family member's condition, be it the alcoholic father, the mentally ill mother or the hyperactive child. The McKotch family has Gwen and Turner's syndrome for its focus. As everyone must eventually learn, the McKotches learn that we can either feel victimized by life or we can take responsibility for our own decisions, our actions, and our reactions to what life hands us, and that we all have missed opportunities and made bad decisions. The McKotches are also classic examples of lack of communication fostering misunderstandings.

The author has done an excellent job of character development and brought each member of the McKotch family fully to life for me. I also appreciate that she didn't dwell unnecessarily on Gwen's Turner's syndrome, but gives just enough well-researched information on this actual medical condition to help the reader understand Gwen's struggles and to move the story along.

I highly recommend this novel. I plan to also recommend it to my book group, because I think everyone could relate to it in some way and the topics for discussion would be nearly endless.

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A Great Read

I stayed up late several nights reading this book which was hard to put down as well as thought provoking. One of the most compelling modern novels I've read in a long time. I had read MRS. KIMBLE but liked this much better, it was more complex and the plot felt less contrived. There was a lot of drama but I certainly did not find it a soap opera - the character development was too well done for that - each member of the family was clearly differentiated and fully human. The problems this family had were unique to the McKotch's, yes, but similar to problems in most families - the ideal versus reality, the pressure to conform to a parent's expectations versus finding your own way, the generation gap and more - not new themes but they are freshly realized in this novel. For a young author, Haigh has an unerring insight into the feelings of the aging parents, Paulette and Frank. I am ready to read this again and savor it, since I raced through it the first time to see what was going to happen next. One or two of the plot's twists and turns seemed to require a modest suspension of disbelief (would Scott really give away $20,000?) but this is a small cavil in an overall very worthwhile read.

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Enjoyable!

I enjoyed this book as much as I did 'Mrs Kimble'.
With dynamic characters, intriguing plot and an interesting way of crafting this multigenerational story the author hit a home run.
'The condition' is not only about Gwen who suffers from Turner's syndrome but about her siblings Billy and Scot as well as the parents Paulette and Frank McKotch.
The characters in this story are true to life and the author's descriptions, nuances and humour were right on.
I was educated regarding Turner's syndrome and yes - I also learnt some new vocabulary. I was awed by the author's "perspicacity." (!!)

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The Condition

I was disappointed in this book. I was expecting a spell-binding novel I could not put down based on the reviews I read from Oprah and Costco. It was just "okay", not "great", in my opinion.

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, page 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

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