A Modern Family

Translated beautifully by Rosie Hedger, A Modern Family is both everything and nothing at the same time. If I was trying to explain to you what happens I would simply say that an extended family - parents, children and their respective families - all go on holiday to celebrate the father's birthday. Whilst there, Mom and Dad drop somewhat of a bombshell upon the children - they are getting divorced. From here on in the story is about the aftermath. About what happens to a family when the very thing that seems to be holding it together falls apart.But that description is very basic and doesn't even begin to do the book justice. I listened to the audio book of A Modern Family with my sister on route to our own holiday. Ironic, I know. No fear of this trip ending in a parental divorce though but it was a really interesting experience listening to the book together and talking about some of the things that happened both during the book and after. So many times we heard a particular sentence or paragraph and we just turned to each other and smiled, thinking, and often saying, yep - that's us.Helga Flatland has pulled an absolute blinder in creating a story in which nothing thrilling, shocking, suspenseful or mysterious happens, and yet as readers (or listeners) we were completely drawn in. This is such a clear and very accurate portrayal of family life that you feel as though you are a voyeur or, say, someone in your own home, watching one of those delightful fly on the wall 'real-life' docu-soaps that are all the rage. Only with a more genuine script. One that actually resembles real life rather than some falsified drama in order to bolster viewing figures.The characters in the story - the children Liv, Ellen, and Håkon, and their parents - are so well fleshed out, so full of the quirks and hang ups that we recognised in everyone around us, that they felt very, very real. There is such keen psychological insight in this book that you find yourself becoming invested in their lives as though they were your own friends or family. Liv, the eldest child, feels the pressure of having to be successful and of her husband, Olaf's, infidelity, even if it is only of the mind and not yet of body. Ellen feels the pressure of wanting so desperately to have a child with her partner and yet never being able to make it happen, but does this mean that her relationship has to fail? Younger brother Håkon feels no such pressure, determining that he will sow his oats as far and wide as possible and that a monogamous relationship is very old fashioned, but is his view tainted by his parent's separation or something deeper rooted.It is really hard to describe why, but I think that readers will recognise a little of themselves in each of the characters, or find something to relate to, and in doing so will want to read more. Speaking for myself, that strain of the sibling relationship, the way in which family only really pulls together when there is a crisis was very familiar. I instantly recognised the sense of separation that occurs when the parental bond has come unstuck and how easy it is to drift into very separate lives, only remembering to send good wishes on birthdays and at Christmas. Not every family tree has strong branches. Some bend, others break, and this is reflected in what happens between the three siblings. There is that sense that something still exists between them, and all is not lost, even if their dealings with one another become more fractious and strained as the months pass.Beautifully written, full of stunning narrative, colourful imagery and very well fleshed out and perfectly drawn characters, there was something about this book which just felt right to me. So much that I identified with, some much that left me with a wry smile upon my face that I can do little more than applaud the author. She has managed to capture modern family life to a tee and, from me, this book comes highly recommended.

The first English translation of a book by ‘Norway’s Anne Tyler’. I would not agree with that description for various reasons. Anne T is terrific, for example, on sense of place. There’s little of that here, despite the fact that family homes and summer cabins are important to the characters; plus it would have been interesting to have more of a sense of their wider surroundings. But I did enjoy this story of grown-up sibling relationships and rivalries, told in turn from the sisters’ and brother’s viewpoints, following the shock announcement that their 70-something parents are getting divorced.

The media could not be loaded.  This is very much a contemporary story of family built around three generations. The opening is set in Rome and then in the Italian countryside where the family members are preparing to celebrate Sverre’s 70th birthday. He is the patriarch of the family. His wife Torill and the matriarch is preparing the festive food, spurning any help. Their three children are present – Liv with Olav, Ellen with Simen and Håkon who has not brought a partner.The storyline is very much a study of acquired positions and roles that each individual takes (and is unconsciously given) within a family unit – the critical one, someone who is different, adaptive, controlling or acquiescent. Each family member has a critical position in maintaining the family status quo. The two partners (the newbies in the family as it were) have to find their own role in the enmeshed and practised dynamics. Every family in the world is a unique construct and it is fascinating to be an onlooker as this family breaks, changes, adapts and has to reform.The bombshell in Italy is dropped that Sverre and Torill – the aged parents – are making a life changing decision. They have had time to decide and manage how they wish to present their fait accompli to the wider family members, and a shock to everyone else present.The ripple effect of their announcement, which seeps through the souls of their children and grandchildren follows the well-trodden path of a typical shock-response – each individual starts to evaluate what being in a couple relationship means. Olav and Liv have two children and Liv is the oldest sibling and hers is the role to keep everything together; their eldest child has a very specific reaction to the news. Ellen and Simen (Ellen is the middle child) are struggling with fertility problems which continue to exert phenomenal pressure on the couple relationship as they come to terms with the parents’ news. And baby of the family is Håkon, who was born with a hole in his heart and has therefore always had a ‘special’ place in the family. He is quite happily, it seems, doing his own thing when it comes to societal norms and couple relationships.The author unpicks the fall out from the news with precision and intelligence. She examines how the family members grapple with how they are expected to behave and what this fracturing means, reflecting on what family actually means. The author has quite an intense and dense writing style which invites the reader to thoroughly engage with the words and savour the sentence construction. Words have clearly been carefully put together (credit also to the translator for making the style extremely readable in English). As a reader one can almost feel like a voyeur… looking in on this family grappling to understand the fall out and finding ways to look into the future.The author has been dubbed the Norwegian Anne Tyler and in this portrayal of family there is hint of Ingmar Bergman. An arresting and interesting read. Setting isn't particularly strong.