Books on Tap read Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak at Champion Brewery on December 6. Hornak, a journalist, got the germ of the plot from a friend who underwent a voluntary 30 day quarantine after treating Ebola patients in Sierra Leone. In her novel, it’s older daughter Olivia who forces her family into a week’s quarantine over Christmas when she returns from treating the fictional Haag virus. Her sister Phoebe resents the parties she’s missing with posh new fiance George; Emma is thrilled to have everyone back at the estate she’s inherited despite her hidden health problem and father Andrew’s love child is about to make himself known. A soapy holiday drama, the story nevertheless reminds us of our own family dynamics and was a quick read for the busy end of the year.
Hornak’s characterizations are pretty thin but her dialog and descriptions spot-on. She describes the family estate so well that it becomes a (cold, cluttered) character itself and it’s easy to imagine a movie adaptation. While the family members were one-dimensional, they all seemed to have grown at the tidy conclusion. Giving each character his or her own chapter kept any one’s grievances from becoming overbearing. The various subplots and coincidences, like the “gay intrigue” were a bit much, but generally we all liked this big-hearted family story.
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Read Alikes:
A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
“The Dead” by James Joyce
Get Out
Books on Tap Information:
- January 3 The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
- February 7 Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson
- March 7 The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See
- April 4 Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
- May 2 The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez
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