Book Review: Tiny Americans
Book Summary:
In Tiny Americans, siblings Jamie, Lewis and Connor Thurber grow up watching their parents’ marriage crumble bit by bit. Their father tried and failed to stop drinking. Then he just up and left them.
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Left with their artist mother, the Thurber children are left to deal with their feelings of anger and abandonment. While their mother retreats into her artwork.
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The book grows with the children. They resent the parent who left and also the parent they were left with.
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Eventually they all leave and don’t look back.
Their father sobered up and started over, and now regrets leaving his children and misses them. He has no idea where they are. He wants so much to touch base with them.
The story follows them far into adulthood. And eventually back to first base. Where they all began.
My Review:
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This book is about families who drift apart and come back together and then drift apart again. As inevitable as the tides in the ocean.
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I always like reading bits and pieces about various characters, so I enjoyed this book.
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It’s interesting to me to see how the author fleshes out each character with their own unique personalities. To me that is the measure of how talented the author is.
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At times the book was sad and at times it was just life. And sometimes life is sad.
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About The Author:
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Devin Murphy grew up near Buffalo, NY in a family with Dutch roots. He holds a BA/MA from St. Bonaventure University, an MFA from Colorado State University, a PhD from the University of Nebraska—Lincoln, and is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Bradley University.
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He has worked various jobs in national parks around the country and once had a three–year stint at sea that led him to over fifty countries on all seven continents.
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His fiction has appeared in over 60 literary journals and anthologies, including The Missouri Review, Glimmer Train, The Chicago Tribune, New Stories from the Midwest, and Confrontation.
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He lives with his wife and children in Chicago.
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Brenda,
It is always a treat to read your posts. I appreciate your subject matter, correct spelling and grammar, and use of the correct words. Often, I just want to correct the posts of other bloggers and return them. Have a great day!
Kathy
I go back to reread my posts and find mistakes and I just shudder. I hate mistakes! Thanks for the feedback. I try my best.