The Kari AnnAlysis

Anna, Portia and Emery; all from the same blood line, all with very different lives. In Drinking Closer to Home, their mother is sick. She had a heart attack and now, they’re not sure she will make it. When things like this happen, you think back to the good times, the bad and the oh so memorable. This book takes you on a trip from the time these three were youngsters, through their college years and brings you back to today, all sharing little fragments of their lives and how their mother influenced them, or the lack thereof and how they got to where they are today.

This is one of those books when you are reading it, you are not quite sure if it is someones life or if it is fiction because it is so believable. It’s one that you hope is not real, because you feel bad for the family for being so dysfunctional, but you also feel bad that your life seems so modest and plain and easy compared to theirs.

Jessica Anya Blau did a terrific job of story telling in this novel. The chapters jumped back and forth on the timeline, starting with Day 1 in the hospital. Then you went back to when the kids were young, then back to day two. Each time you went back in history, it was a few years later, the kids a few years older. When you went back to the present, you were a day further along. A lot of times, when authors jump around, it’s hard to know where you are, but Blau did an amazing job of keeping it all straight and did a great job of using the timeline to tell the major parts of this family’s story.

Now, I’m not going to lie, about 50 pages in, I was ready to pack this book up. I made a vow this year to not feel obligated to finish a book if I didn’t like it. I was afraid this was going to be my first casualty, but then, little Emery, aka Noble Citizen came in and I fell in love and couldn’t put the book down.

I will warn you, this isn’t your fairy tale family story. There is pain, filth, drugs, alcohol, sex and lives that go so far down the spiral, you hope they aren’t real. But, this is one of the most real, believable books I’ve read in a long time, even though it’s fiction.

I will definitely look for more books by Blau and give Drinking Closer to Home 5 bookmarks.

ISBN: 978-0061984020
Published: January 18, 2011
Author Website
Kari got this book from NetGalley

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