Summary family pictures by sue miller reviews

A masterful, engrossing novel about the life of a large family that is deeply bounded by the Stranger in their midst — an autistic child. The whole world could not have broken the spirit and strength of the Eberhardt family of Lainey is a wonderful if slightly eccentric mother. David is a good father, sometimes sarcastic, always cool-tempered.

Two wonderful children round out the perfect picture. Then the next child arrives — and life is never the same again.

The whole world could not

Over the next forty years, the Eberhardt family struggles to survive a flood tide of upheaval and heartbreak, love and betrayal, passion and pain…hoping they can someday heal their hearts. It captures perfectly the sass and grit of family life. Harrowing and funny and haunting. And then it all went haywire. Randall sat in their midst, more beautiful than the first two, but immobile.

He seemed possessed, my mother has said. Under a spell. Mary followed a year later, and then Sarah a year and a half after that. From the start we knew what was expected of us.