by: Adam Rapp
Goodreads description:
The Corrections meets We Need to Talk About Kevin in this harrowing multigenerational saga about a family harboring a serial killer in their midst, from the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award finalist playwright Adam Rapp.
As late summer 1951 descends on Elmira, New York, Myra Larkin, thirteen, the oldest child of a large Catholic family, meets a young man she believes to be Mickey Mantle. He chats her up at a local diner and gives her a ride home. The matter consumes her until later that night, when a triple homicide occurs just down the street, opening a specter of violence that will haunt the Larkins for half a century.
As the siblings leave home and fan across the country, each pursues a shard of the American dream. Myra serves as a prison nurse while raising her son, Ronan. Her middle sisters, Lexy and Fiona, find themselves on opposite sides of class and power. Alec, once an altar boy, is banished from the house and drifts into oblivion. As he becomes an increasingly alienated loner, his mother begins to receive postcards full of ominous portent. What they reveal, and what they require, will shatter a family and lead to devastating reckoning.
Through one family’s pursuit of the American dream, Wolf at the Table explores our consistent proximity to violence and its effects over time. Pulitzer Prize finalist Adam Rapp writes with gorgeous acuity, cutting to the heart of each character as he reveals the devastating reality beneath the veneer of good society.
Helen says: 🤓🤓🤓🤓
This was the best book of the month! My favorite genre is contemporary fiction about very screwed up families…Man, are these people super screwed up too! The description was memorable and incredibly well written. I couldn’t put this book down and think it will be a sleeper hit for 2024….This one will be polarizing to readers because it is very dark in parts, but I, personally, really liked it…warts and all.
Holly says: 🤓🤓🤓🤓 1/4
Definitely my favorite book of the month! Let me preface by saying…Boy, am I grateful for my mainly normal siblings (they will understand the “normal” reference)! Just when you think you have read about the most dysfunctional family ever, Wolf at the Table comes along. It is dark, yes, but the writing is fantastic, the tale is very original, and I just couldn’t put it down! Fantastic!
Helen and Holly Hit the Books 