This story of adoption operates on the premise that adopted children have an adopted family and a birth family (the other family). The protagonist is adopted shortly after birth into a family which raised her. As an adult, she has a daughter who, in an all-too-common tale, comes down with severe peanut allergies. The lack of progress of treatment lead the duo to an allergist who practices “holistic” approaches to treatment, such as meditation and acupuncture. These approaches are adjuncts to traditional exposure therapy and not replacement – so no need to worry about medical orthodoxy.
To aid her daughter, the main character then submits her DNA to be sequenced. She finds an aunt who also lives in Chicago, the setting of this tale. This aunt welcomes her in as family and thus provides this book’s namesake. This book oozes with the theme of the importance of a healthy family as relationships with the protagonist’s mother, estranged husband, and birth family are renegotiated. (The aunt is even in the process of fostering and adopting her own child!)
Nyhan, the author, is clearly skilled enough to keep the plot moving; she is likewise skilled enough to provide us with compelling characters in a modern setting. Contemporary understandings of love, marriage, and even homosexuality are addressed by the author. She has the chance to also address race more in depth but sadly seems to take a pass at that. I’m also disappointed that the interplay of gender and family is not explored in more detail. Almost all of the major characters are female. I sense that the nature of the male role in a family is being redefined in American culture today, and some exploration of that would have shown some intellectual precariousness on behalf of the author. Although dealing with these topics would have required more pages and more plot development, such motifs would have moved this book from a status of good to great.
Overall, Nyhan provides us with a fun tale to read and with a few plot twists to keep the pages turning. She even portrays social media as she develops online posts as part and parcel of the action. I’d just like to see more dynamics at work here to move the author’s next book to the next level. She clearly has a talent for keeping the plot moving and for keeping characters developing. I’d just like to extend her skill into other recesses of American consciousness.
The Other Family: A Novel
by Loretta Nyhan
Copyright (c) 2020
Lake Union Publishing
ISBN13 9781542006439
Page Count: 288
Genre: Fiction
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