Title: Always the Last to Know by Kristan Higgins
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: Contemporary, Women’s Fiction
Length: 400 pages
Book Rating: C+
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley
Summary:
Sometimes you have to break a family to fix it.
From New York Times bestselling author Kristan Higgins, a new novel examining a family at the breaking point in all its messy, difficult, wonderful complexity.
The Frosts are a typical American family. Barb and John, married almost fifty years, are testy and bored with each other…who could blame them after all this time? At least they have their daughters– Barb’s favorite, the perfect, brilliant Juliet; and John’s darling, the free-spirited Sadie. The girls themselves couldn’t be more different, but at least they got along, more or less. It was fine. It was enough.
Until the day John had a stroke, and their house of cards came tumbling down.
Now Sadie has to put her career as a teacher and struggling artist in New York on hold to come back and care for her beloved dad–and face the love of her life, whose heart she broke, and who broke hers. Now Juliet has to wonder if people will notice that despite her perfect career as a successful architect, her perfect marriage to a charming Brit, and her two perfect daughters, she’s spending an increasing amount of time in the closet having panic attacks.
And now Barb and John will finally have to face what’s been going on in their marriage all along.
From the author of Good Luck with That and Life and Other Inconveniences comes a new novel of heartbreaking truths and hilarious honesty about what family really means.
Review:
Always the Last to Know by Kristan Higgins is an angsty multi-generational family novel.
Barb Frost and her husband John have been married fifty years when John has a stroke. Their marriage has been through plenty of ups but mostly downs. Several years of infertility finally resulted in the birth of their oldest daughter Juliet. Twelve years later, Barb is dismayed to discover she is pregnant again and after a difficult birth, Sadie enters their world. Barb obviously favors Juliet and the two are best friends. Sadie and her father are close and John always stands up for her. After John’s stroke, the family holds their breath as they wait to see if he will recover. When it becomes obvious he will need round the clock care, Sadie moves back to the small Connecticut town she left behind for the bright lights of New York. What will the future hold for Barb, Juliet and Sadie as they each face their own personal struggles against the backdrop of John’s health crisis?
At seventy, Barb has finally come into her own. After years of volunteering for various projects around town, she is now first selectman and she is making many positive changes through her hard work and dedication. While on the career front she is happy, Barb has given up on John and her marriage. Difficult years of infertility strained their marriage and they never quite recovered their close relationship. Barb instead lavished all of her attention on Juliet who, in her eyes, is absolutely perfect. For various reasons, Barb has never been close to Sadie and her daughter could never do anything right. John’s quick defense of Sadie grates on Barb’s nerves and adds to the distance between her and her daughter. On the verge of a shocking announcement, Barb is instead faced with caring for her husband whom she is quite angry with after she learns stunning information.
Juliet is happily married with two daughters. She is also an extremely successful architect who is suddenly struggling with becoming irrelevant to her longtime employers. She is also keeping a secret that eats away at her after her father’s stroke. Juliet is close to breaking point as she feels inadequate and exhausted while she juggles her family life with her demanding career.
Sadie could not wait to leave her hometown amid dreams of traveling and making her mark on the art world. In the process, her relationship with the love of her life Noah Pelletier ended with both of them suffering broken hearts. After unsuccessful attempts to snag a showing for her paintings, Sadie is now an art teacher who sells her artwork on the side. She is absolutely devastated about her father’s stroke but she remains optimistic he will recover. Sadie returns to the idyllic town to care for John and immediately comes face to face with Noah. Realizing her feelings for him have never changed, is there any chance for a reconciliation? Or will the same problems they could not resolve years earlier prevent them from finding happiness together?
Unfolding from multiple points of view, Always the Last to Know is a multi-layered family-centric novel. While well-written, the storyline is a little predictable. The characters are well-developed but they are not very sympathetic or likable for much of the story. The pacing is slow until about the last third of the novel. It is at this point that Barb, Juliet and Sadie become much more appealing and easier to relate to. Kristan Higgins brings the novel to a heartwarming, uplifting conclusion.
