FAMILY COMMUNICATION IN FICTION
(Susan Wilson, Ph.D., DePauw University)
Categories are always elusive. They are particularly elusive in family literature because a
“good” story about family is invariably textured with many important issues and themes. I’ve
chosen the following groupings knowing full well that there are other ways of grouping them. In
order to facilitate that, I’ve also tried to gloss other issues that the book may include.
Reading novels is a powerful pedagogical tool. Close reading can help students develop the
ability to “read” interpersonal situations, picking up on cues and relationships that too frequently
are glossed over in our multi-tasking world. Novels can also serve as encapsulated case studies
that students can analyze using theories and ideas presented in a Family Communication class. I
also find that it can provide a common ground for discussion, so students don’t always default to
talking about their own families.
Forming Family
This section is divided into two categories: the kinds of family that are formed through marriage,
birth, and adoption and the kinds where people do the work of “family” without being a
traditional family.
Man and Wife Tony Parsons
New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2002.
Switching between the perspectives of James Heartsock and his pregnant girlfriend (later wife),
Christy Walker, this story details how two people try to move beyond their past personal and
familial mess-ups (Christy’s absent mother and philandering father, James’ dad’s suicide, etc.)
and toward making a life for themselves and their child. (Some details might offend some
readers.)
The Outside World Tova Mirvis
New York, NY: Vintage Books, 2004.
Rose marries Thomas. Rose gets pregnant. However, instead of telling Thomas, Rose gets in
the car and drives to a Catholic home for unwed mothers in Kentucky where she poses as an
unwed mother. When her baby is born, Rose cannot give Cecilia up. Instead she gives up her
past—Thomas, her own beloved mother, parts of her own identity—and marries the home’s
caretaker, Son. She stays on at the home, cooking, caring for the series of unwed mothers and
elderly Sister Evangeline. Patchett’s novel is told chronologically starting from Rose’s
perspective, then Son’s, and finally Cecilia’s.
When fifteen year old Mary Fred’s parents are jailed for failing to secure medical attention
(because of their religious beliefs) for her elder brothers who died, she and her younger siblings
are placed in foster care. Mary Fred is placed in a family consisting of Alice, a divorcee, her
brother, and her own 15 year old daughter, Heather. Told from the perspectives of each of the
four, the novel describes issues including loss of family through death and separation, religion
and family, and depression, as well as how new family ties can be forged.
Love Walked In Marisa de los Santos
New York: Plume, 2005.
Alternating first person perspectives, the novel chronicles the unusual relationship of Cornelia
Brown, a woman who is dating Martin Hobbs. Cornelia is unaware of Martin’s 11-year old
daughter, Clare. However, when Clare’s mother’s mental illness spirals out of control, Clare
escapes, seeking out her emotionally distant father. When Martin unexpectedly dies, Clare and
Cornelia form a strong tie that also extends to Cornelia’s family. The novel also describes what
happens with Clare’s mother, Viviana, returns to claim her daughter that tie is tested. Another
important theme explored is what makes a woman a good mother.
Digging to America Anne Tyler
New York, NY: Alfred H. Knopf, 2006.
Jenny Cox’s life is at an impasse: she and her husband have moved across country. Todd is a
work alcoholic academic, while Jenny has just been downsized. Suddenly, she finds herself at
The Institute for Affirmation. Among the quirky classes and students, Jenny begins to find
answers, including ones about her own adoption.
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Doing Family
Plainsong Kent Haruf
New York, NY: Vintage Contemporaries, 1999.
The novel set in small town Holt, Colorado, shifts perspectives, focusing on Tom Guthrie and his
two boys as Tom’s wife moves out. It also focuses on 16 year old Victoria Robideaux whose
mother kicked her out when she found Victoria was pregnant. Maggie, one of her high school
teachers arranges for Victoria to stay at the farm owned by two old bachelor brothers, Raymond
and Harold McPheron. This is a story about forging “family” when one’s own family fails.
Haruf’s canon is replete with quiet, but meaningful stories about family issues. For example,
Eventide continues with the Plainsong characters, while other novels explore other people in
Holt, CO. Benediction (2013) follows Dad Lewis as he succumbs to cancer and casts back to
actions he has taken earlier in his life and their lasting consequences. As a schoolboy, Frank,
Loss in the Family
This section is divided into several categories—loss through death, aging, loss through divorce,
loss through catastrophic changes.
Death
A Man Called Ove Fredrik Backman, translated by Henning Koch
New York, NY: Washington Square Press, 2012.
People had called Ove “antisocial.” Until he met his wife, Sonja, “the only thing he had ever
loved . . . was numbers” (37). While Ove wasn’t a person to talk about his feelings, “he built her
a bookshelf and she filled it with books by people who wrote page after page about their
feelings” (37). When Ove’s wife dies, he is bereft. Ove’s world is shaken up when unexpected
and not totally welcome neighbors show up. This International bestseller is a wonderful debut
novel about loss and healing. Backman has gone on to write three other novels with powerful
family themes: My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry (2013), Britt-Marie Was
Here (2014), and Beartown (2016).
The Best of Good Sara Lewis
New York, NY: Atria Books, 2003.
Tom Good lives what at best can be described as a humdrum existence, working as a bartender
and living off the royalties from songs he penned shortly after his brother’s death in a car
accident years ago. When an ex-girlfriend moves back into town with a ten year boy who turns
out to be Tom’s son, Tom starts thinking about his life, his family, and his future. In this
process, he begins to see all kinds of connections with people.
Death of a child
“Shiloh” Bobby Ann Mason
In Shiloh and Other Stories, Bobbie Ann Mason, New York, NY: Harper & Row, 1982.
Mason’s short story provides a more succinct treatment of SIDS, its effects on Leroy and Norma
Jean’s marriage, as well as other issues that strain their marriage, including physical disability
and value conflicts.
Suicide
The Center of Winter Marya Hornbacher
New York, NY; Harper Perennial, 2006.
Told from the shifting perspectives of 6 year old Kate, her 12 year old brother, Esau (who suffers
from what is undoubtedly hereditary depression), and their mother, Claire, the novel describes
what led up to Arnold, the father and husband’s suicide and how each of them journey out from
the “waste” of it.
lessons: that prejudice is wrong and that what constitutes family is not necessarily determined by
blood.
Death by Murder
Aging
The Secret Diary of Hendrik, 83 ¼ Years Old Hendrik Groen, translated by Hester Velmans
Great Britain, Michael Joseph, 2016.
An International Bestseller, this diary follows the life of Hendrik Groen as he deals with the
aging process, declining health, loss of one’s family and friends, and the restrictions of life in
institutional care. Despite a narrowing of circumstances he retains an independent and
frequently wry spirit as he navigates a year of ups and downs. Without the support of a family of
his own, Hendrik and his cronies form a group that often functions as a family. As I read this I
couldn’t help thinking about May Sarton’s As We Are Now. Originally published in 1973, W.
W. Norton reissued this short, but powerful narrative in 1992. The story is told from the point of
view of 76-year old Caroline Spencer as she reminisces about her life and current situation. A
former teacher, Caroline is now in a private nursing facility and is routinely subjected to rough
and abusive care, mitigated only when the staff takes a holiday and kind and gentle Anna fills in.
Sarton’s short book would be an excellent companion piece to Groen’s longer text since both
deal with issues of aging, loss, and trying to find connections.
Other Catastrophes
An Invisible Sign of My Own Aimee Bender
Charming Billy Alice Dermott
New York, NY: Dell Publishing, 1998.
The book opens as 47 people, many of them family members, attend the funeral meal after
Billy’s burial. The story that follows examines the facts, feelings, and failings of Billy’s life.
While there wasn’t a person who didn’t love Billy, everyone regretted his lifelong battle with
alcohol. Some attribute this to the death of his fiancée, Eva, the Irish girl while others see this as
an avoidable and tenacious genetic tendency.
Separation/ Divorce
The Time of Her Life Robb Forman Dew
Boston, MA: Little Brown and Company, 1984.
This is the story of Claudia and Avery Parks who have known each other, for better or worse,
since they were pre-school age. On the periphery of their self-absorbed and volatile marriage is
their lovely and talented 11 year old daughter, Jane who has become a student of their moods.
The book describes a period when Avery has left Claudia. What everyone believes is the “time
of Jane’s life” is, in fact, from the reader’s perspective, an emotionally laden and destructive time
for Jane. (Dew is excellent at writing about the shadings and sometimes contradictory aspects of
people’s emotions.)
of the Mueller family. Switching between the perspectives of the 83 year old father, Edmund,
and his daughter, Anne, we learn how each member of the Mueller family has coped with the
repeated and ultimately permanent defection of Fanny, Edmund’s wife and Anne and Paul’s
mother. Beyond recording the facts of family life, it describes the deeper texture of family life.
The Chinchilla Farm Judith Freeman
New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, 1989.
Leon, Verna Flake’s husband has left her for Pinky. He claims that if she hadn’t stopped
attending the Mormon Church things wouldn’t have gone wrong, an explanation that Verna
doesn’t buy. In the first section, “Utah,” Verna considers her home, her marriage, and her
family. The second, “California” describes her new life as she finds a job and apartment and
reconnects with an old friend and family members. In the third section, “Mexico,” Verna finds
herself taking Inez, her former sister-in-law, her niece, and a hitchhiker to Mexico so that Inez
can escape an abusive third husband. What seem like random events and memories come
together as Verna contemplates her past in order to build a foundation for the future.
Family Secrets
The following stories focus on family secrets and how they influence family dynamics.
My Life on Mars Alicia Metcalf Miller
New York, NY: Penguin Group, 2006.
Facing an empty nest and a two-timing husband at home, Eliza White is only too glad to help her
mother sort through the family house and pack for her move west. When Eliza’s mother is
hospitalized, the task falls to Eliza who discovers the secrets and sequences of her childhood life
as well as perspective on her own life.
Gods in Alabama Joshilyn Jackson
New York, NY: Warner Books, 2005.
Years ago when Lena’s mom went crazy, Lena and her mom came to live with Aunt Florence,
Uncle Bruster, and their daughter, Clarice. Now Lena is teaching in Chicago. She hasn’t been
to Alabama in ten years, part of the three prong deal she made with God to protect a secret. Now
that is deal is all going wrong and Lena, along with her African-American boyfriend, Burr, are
headed to a still bigoted little town in the South. Burr wants to meet Lena’s family before they
get married while Lena is trying to prevent secrets from being revealed.
When Family Works
My Korean Deli: Risking It All for a Convenience Store. Ben Ryder Howe
New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company, 2010.
In this memoir, Howe describes what transpires when he and his wife go in with his in-laws
buying a deli in New York City. The book details how Howe is forced to confront his own
identity, upbringing, and Puritan values as they intersect and frequently clash with his in-laws’
Korean background.
Fixing Family
The Alphabet Sisters Monica McInerney
New York, NY; Ballantine Books, 2005.
When Anna, Bett, and Carrie were girls, their grandmother had them sing under the name The
Alphabet Sisters. Now as adults, they are estranged from one another because Carrie married
Bett’s fiancé. Their parents have always been too busy running their motel and restaurant to pay
much attention to the girls. Consequently, their grandmother finds a way to reunite them
geographically in the hopes that physical proximity will help them grapple with their conflicts.
Moon Woman Pamela Duncan
New York, NY; Dial Press, 2002.
Ruth Ann has just picked up her pregnant 19 old daughter, Ashley, from the state run mental
health rehabilitation center. Ruth Ann’s mother, Marvelle, is losing it, and Ruth Ann’s sister,
Cassandra, is at wits’ end being her caretaker. The only solution Ruth Ann can see is for Ashley
and Marvelle to look after each other while she’s working at the factory. The reader is privy, not
only to the present day intergenerational family, but to Marvelle’s thoughts as well. Here, we
see some of the family history that has shaped the dynamics of the current family. Another
important element in this story is that Keith, the father of Ashley’s baby, is trying to be the kind
of man and father that his own father wasn’t. Sometimes a family cannot be fixed. The best
thing that can be done is to move beyond.
The book opens with middle-aged Kate deciding “I would never sleep with my husband,
Rodney, again” (1). In making that decision, she is compelled to examine who she has become
and why. In the process she is forced to reevaluate her childhood as the only child of a
tyrannical and selfish mother and spineless father. As a result of that reevaluation, Kate leaves
not only Rodney, but her mother and father as well.
Phases of Family Life
Some family stories focus on a particular phase of family life. For example, literature is replete
with the coming of age, or identity-seeking phase of adolescence. The following are good
examples:
The Center of Everything Laura Moriarty
New York, NY: Hyperion, 2003.
This novel follows the life of intellectually gifted Evelyn Bucknell from 4th grade to just before
she leaves for college. Evelyn’s never married mom, Tina, has managed to hold things together
without help—not from Evelyn’s father, not from her own father who condemns her immorality,
or from state assistance. When Tina herself finds herself without a partner and pregnant again,
their circumstances are further reduced. When Sam is born, he is a special needs child with both
physical and mental impairments that necessitate Tina seeking help. This coming of age story
also touches on issues of religion, religious and social tolerance, and adolescent love.
Alice Bliss Laura Harrington
New York, NY: Penguin Group, 2011.
Rachel, the 52 year old narrator of the novella, is the mother of five adult children. One of her
sons, Joe, is living with her this particular summer. Joe’s twin brother, Michael, is returning
from India where he has taught for two years. Michael is no longer Joe’s identical twin; India
has changed him emotionally and physically. During Michael’s homecoming, Rachel decides
that she wants her children to know her, not as just as a mother whose children were whisked
away from her, but as a complex adult woman—one who is partially to blame for the break up of
their ideal childhood home.
Around the Next Corner Elizabeth Wrenn
New York, NY: New American Library, 2006.
Deena, a late forties year old mother of three children (one away at college and two in high
school) and wife of a busy physician, believes she has become invisible. She has made choices
that she felt were good choices at the time—to marry, to be a stay-at-home mom for her children,
to volunteer—but like some women at midlife, she wonders where “she” went in the mix. When
she decides to raise a puppy to become a K-9 Eyes for the Blind, she finds new purpose in her
life making her more visible to herself and others.
“Drawing Names” from Shiloh and Other Stories Bobbie Ann Mason
In Shiloh and Other Stories, Bobbie Ann Mason, New York, NY: Harper & Row, 1982.
This short story describes Christmas Day as four adult daughters come to their parents’ home to
celebrate. Two of the daughters are married with children (although one reveals to her sister that
she and her husband are separated), the youngest daughter has brought home the man she is
living with, and Carolyn, divorced several years ago, has invited her new boyfriend. In the
course of several pages, Mason touches on aspects of aging parents, changing family values, and
sibling rivalry and allegiance.
A Wider Lens on Family Life
Writing about family poses a unique problem for authors. Family is not a one-shot event. In
fact, the influence and importance of family is cumulative. Some writers have focused on the
longitudinal, shifting aspects of family life. Moreover, several authors have come back to a
particular family over several books.
The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother James McBride
New York, NY: Penguin Group 1996.
When asked Ruth McBride Hunter always claimed she’s a “light skinned black.” However, her
son, James McBride decided to dig deeper. In this moving memoir, McBride uncovers the girl
his mother was before she came to New York City, before she married his father, and before she
was his mother. Alternating between McBride’s perspective and his mother’s, the book pays
homage to a woman whose family escaped from Europe, who was raised as an Orthodox Jew in
the South and who subsequently fled to New York City to escape an abusive family situation.
After getting involved in a dubious lifestyle in her new city, the man who would become her first
husband extricated her. Ruth converted to Christianity and raised her eight children in the
church. When James’ dad dies, Ruth remarries and she has 4 more children with her second
husband. This book reveals how issues of race, religion, and identity are complex and
sometimes contradictory.
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant Anne Tyler
New York, NY: Berkeley Books, 1983.
This book shifts perspectives as the story of the Tull family unfolds over more than 40 years
from the glimpses of the time Beck courted Pearl to their family life with their three children,
Cody, Ezra, and Jenny. More significantly it describes what happens when Beck leaves his wife
and what influence that might have on the three kids as kids and as adults. Because the story
shifts perspectives, we gain multiple perspectives on events.
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(In addition, a short passage
useful for class discussion is when Luke, Cody’s boy decides to hitchhike to Baltimore to see
Ezra. He gets three rides: from a trucker who lost a baby to SIDS; from a divorced father
traveling with his 3 year old son who is looking up women who he used to like and who liked
him; and a middle-aged mother whose teenage daughter is driving her nuts.)
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life.
Family and Other Accidents Shari Goldhagen
New York, NY: Broadway Books, 2006.
When first their father and then their mother dies, 25 year old Jack becomes the legal guardian of
his 15 year old brother, Connor. Initially concentrating on Connor’s adolescence, this novel
respects the fluidity of family life as it dips into their lives at key junctures of their lives for the
next 25 years. We see them fumble through relationships including their own and try to create
and maintain families of their own.
When Madeline Was Young Jane Hamilton
New York, NY: Doubleday, 2006.
Told from the perspective of Mac Maciver, this novel unfolds to tell the unique story of the
Maciver family. When Mac’s dad’s first wife, Madeline, suffers brain damage after a bicycle
accident, she is cared for by a series of nurses. One, Julia, became the second Mrs. Maciver.
Because at that earlier time there were limited humane options, Madeline continued to live with
them and becomes the big sister of their eventual children, Mac and Louise. Intertwined with
this storyline is Mac’s relationship with his cousin, Buddy over the years. Here we are reminded
that it’s not just the nuclear family that shapes us.
