Normal Family Trilogy

"One son walked out the door never to return as another son walked in." So begins the second volume in this trilogy as we pick up this outlandish family saga in the 1970s, recounted through a series of interwoven chapters featuring the many colorful characters. The story opens with a family tragedy as we see how far the Pendergasts have fallen from their days of fame and fortune. Through a series of flashbacks, we learn what became of Henry, Albert, Eve, Ned, Lucy, and the servants. We observe them facing an endless parade of obstacles, mostly overcome through humor and perseverance. Much of the novel focuses on the Asperger's brother, Albert. Albert is intellectually brilliant but emotionally stunted, which presents unique parenting challenges for his mother. With her death, Albert is cast off into the world on his own, until he reaches the point where his siblings must try and rescue him. The once-idolized father Ned is a drunk living in squalor as he tears through a succession of women. As the narrative unfolds, Henry suspects he came back from the Second World War a rapist. Henry is tasked with caring for his blind father, which he does admirably despite the emotional toll of past betrayals. Henry has succeeded in raising his own normal family, breaking the multi-generational cycle of paternal neglect and abuse. He struggles to play along with the fictional version Ned has created of his life, stewing in resentment as he faces many new disturbing revelations. The writing intertwines humor with pain throughout. In the end, a tragic betrayal reshapes everything that came before in leaving the reader stunned and eager for more.

This exciting conclusion to the Normal Family Trilogy opens on a remote Maine island, with a hurricane looming, as Henry Pendergast and family gather to celebrate his 80th birthday. Henry and his sister Lucy have overcome many hurdles over the years. Each has broken free to create a healthy adult life, in a remarkable display of perseverance. All the Lies We Live brings together Henry, Lucy, Chloé, their distant cousin Sasha, plus Henry's former therapist Jim Williams. We see that Chloé is a tragic character, who needs help to find love again. Love arrives toward the end of her life in the most unexpected of places, with the appearance of the charming local lobsterman, Wilbur Warren. Henry and his grandson, Lakshmi, share a special love that harkens back to the innocence of Henry as a child and his relationship with his grandfather, George. A hurricane threatens to ruin Henry's island celebration, as well as his relationship with Lakshmi. Will there be yet more family tragedy at novel's end, as seen in the first two volumes? Or will Henry overcome the setbacks that have wounded him for much of his life and achieve his own dreams? The concluding volume of the trilogy is funny, sad, and filled with the beautiful scenery of a remote island off the coast of Maine. The theme throughout is redemption through love. Nature is a constant backdrop and serves as the central metaphor for the trilogy: that all life is a series of beginnings and endings, a perfectly architected cycle, as seen in the trilogy's own structure. The three volumes of The Normal Family Trilogy in sequence are: Normal Family, No One Ran to the Altar, and All the Lies We Live. They cover in order: youth, adulthood, and old age.