Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
A wise and lyrical debut about a new widower mending a fractured relationship with his daughter and reconciling the difficult truths of a long marriage.
"The Dependents is a big book, one that grapples with important questions through generations...Dion's intelligence and ambition truly shine through sentence after sentence." --Kate Walbert, National Book Award finalist and author of A Short History of Women
After the sudden death of his wife, Maida, Gene is haunted by the prospect that their marriage of fifty years was not all it appeared to be. Alongside Ed and Gayle Donnelly, friends since college days, he attempts to resurrect happy memories of the times the two couples shared, raising their children together in a small New Hampshire town and vacationing every summer at the Donnellys' lake house. But when a lingering suspicion seizes his mind, it threatens to upend everything Gene though he knew.
Meanwhile his daughter, Dary, challenges not only his happy version of the past but also his view of Maida. As a long-standing rift between them deepens, Gene at last begins to understand how unknown his daughter is to him--and perhaps how unknown his wife was to him as well. The thrilling and unsettling new feelings he develops for a caretaker while still grieving his late wife further incite his emotional upheaval.
Katharine Dion's assured debut moves seamlessly between Gene's present-day journey through grief and the long history of a marriage and a friendship. Rich and wonderfully alive, The Dependents is the best and most moving kind of drama, an intimate glance into the expanse of family life and the way we must all eventually reckon with the discrepancy between what we want to believe and what we know to be true.
Synopsis
One of TIME magazine's best summer reads, a "wise" (Entertainment Weekly) and "resplendent" (O, The Oprah Magazine) debut that follows a new widower confronting the truth about his long marriage
One of the best books of the summer: TIME, Entertainment Weekly, O: The Oprah Magazine, Real Simple, Brit + Co.
"A fine debut, full of intelligent writing . . . This book pleases on many levels." --Jeffrey Eugenides
After the sudden death of his wife, Maida, Gene is haunted by the fear that their marriage was not all it appeared to be. Alongside Ed and Gayle Donnelly, friends since college days, he tries to resurrect happy memories of the times the two couples shared, raising their children in a small New Hampshire town and vacationing together at a lake house every summer. Meanwhile, his daughter, Dary, challenges not only his happy version of the past but also his view of Maida. As a long-standing rift between them deepens, Gene starts to understand how unknown his daughter is to him--and how enigmatic his wife was as well. And a lingering suspicion seizes his mind that could upend everything he thought he knew.
Katharine Dion's assured debut moves seamlessly between Gene's present-day journey and the long history of a marriage and friendship. Rich and wonderfully alive, The Dependents is the most moving kind of drama, an intimate glance into the expanse of family life and the way we must all eventually bridge the chasm between what we want to believe and what we know to be true.