Dark Family Drama

WE ALL LOVE THE BEAUTIFUL GIRLS by Joanne Proulx is not anything like the usual genre fiction I read, but I do enjoy stories about the complexity of relationships. Although, in this case, the characters made their own lives far more complex than necessary, mostly due to their own ugly, selfish decisions. Within these pages, you'll find betrayal between friends over money and women, marital issues and bitterness...lots and lots of bitterness.

Mia and Michael are screwed over financially by a lifelong friend, their son gets drunk over a girl and disappears into the snow. Boy wants girl who is with another boy. Girl wants boy who wants other girl. Parents are too busy fighting with each other to pay attention to the horrible crap their teens are doing. Lots of talk about love, but no one is loving. Almost every character seems to get off on doing something which is sure to hurt another person, literally and figuratively.

So why read this story, with all the horrible behavior? The author does a fantastic job of bringing several  real-life issues front and center: the struggles of someone disabled, white collar crime, division of classes, and sexual assault. Proulx highlights the way life seems to pile on multiple problems at the same time and the various ways people make everything worse for themselves by giving in to their anger.

The novel rotates through the POVs of Finn's family, but ends with the POV of someone who has been a part of all their lives. By the end, I remained very disgusted with Mia and Michael making a big deal about their relationships with other people, when they lacked the ability to see beyond their own family life.

Readers who enjoy suspense and drama might enjoy this dark family entanglement.

As always,
AstraDaemon