Three Star Review: Among the Ten Thousand Things by Julia Pierpont

ARC

Publisher: Random House

Released: July 7, 2015

Genre: LIterary Fiction, Family Life

Length: 336 pages

Format: eBook, Hardcover, Audio

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Synopsis

Jack Shanley is a well-known New York artist, charming and vain, who doesn’t mean to plunge his family into crisis. His wife, Deb, gladly left behind a difficult career as a dancer to raise the two children she adores. In the ensuing years, she has mostly avoided coming face-to-face with the weaknesses of the man she married. But then an anonymously sent package arrives in the mail: a cardboard box containing sheaves of printed emails chronicling Jack’s secret life. The package is addressed to Deb, but it’s delivered into the wrong hands: her children’s. With this vertiginous opening begins a debut that is by turns funny, wise, and indescribably moving. As the Shanleys spin apart into separate orbits, leaving New York in an attempt to regain their bearings, fifteen-year-old Simon feels the allure of adult freedoms for the first time, while eleven-year-old Kay wanders precariously into a grown-up world she can’t possibly understand. Writing with extraordinary precision, humor, and beauty, Julia Pierpont has crafted a timeless, hugely enjoyable novel about the bonds of family life—their brittleness, and their resilience.

Review by Lissa

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review, thanks to Penguins First To Read Program.

This is such a sad story. Deb is a mother, former dancer, now instructor. She's married to Jack aka Jerk. Her children Kay and Simon find a box of stuff sent by Jack's mistress. Stuff, that no child should read.

Deb doesn't know what to do. But I wouldn't stay with someone like that. Instant divorce. The way Jack acts is crazy to me, like he did nothing wrong. I wanted to slap him myself.

There are four parts in the story. It was interesting how the author created this story. It's not my favorite and I can't understand stand Deb. But this was creative and thought-provoking. This is the first from Pierpoint, it will be cool to see how she grows as an author.

#AmongTenThousandThings #JuliaPierpont #LiteraryFiction #FamilyLIfe