The old adage, “you can’t judge a book by its cover,” may be true, but I was entranced by the intricacy of the cover, and it was a bit metaphorical for this story of a complicated, dysfunctional family. Three sisters, Eileen, Claire, and Murphy live in a small town in rural Oregon with their perpetually stressed-out mom, and have only the dimmest memories of their father who died before Murphy was born. Their mom works long hours to provide for the family and pay down a huge medical debt incurred with their dad’s illness, and she becomes more and more emotionally distant from the girls as they grow older. Each sister is facing a tough sequence of events, but none knows what the other sisters are actually going through. The tight, protective sisterly bond they used to share in years past has been completely shattered by the flawed way the sisters handle their individual challenges.
Eileen, the oldest, stumbles on a dark family secret and deals with the news by keeping it a secret, and drinking (a lot). She’s always been a talented artist, but her soul is being sucked dry by her inability to process this secret and her creativity withers away. Claire, meanwhile, has lofty plans of attending an Ivy League college and escaping the confines of her homophobic town. She follows a social media personality that espouses the concept of “excellers” and “settlers.” Claire considers herself an exceller, and effectively shuts herself off from her family, whom she thinks are all settlers: they settle for less, while she rises above. Murphy is a magician-in-training who loves attention, but feels abandoned by her family. To top it all off, she forgets to care for her pet turtle and it dies right before Christmas, which just amplifies her sadness. She has a theory that she is just the spare tire of the family…forgotten, unseen, and unheard.
None of the girls is expecting a warm or cheerful winter holiday, but what they really don’t expect is the cryptic news Eileen gets from a local law firm that they had an uncle (their dead father’s brother) in a seaside town in Oregon. Not only that, he very recently died and bequeathed his estate to the girls, each sister to receive a third of the estate upon their 18th birthday. What follows is a stormy trip, weatherwise and relationship-wise. The house turns out to be a mansion, and a bit spooky at that, but the tale never really gets to a nail-biting pitch.
Ormsbee writes in a 3rd person omniscient point of view, with chapters dedicated to each sisters’ thoughts and experiences, interspersed with chapters detailing the past, and it can be a bit tiring bopping back and forth between them all. However, readers can also glean from each chapter why each sister feels and acts the way she does, and it gives an opportunity for more understanding and empathy. Even though the somewhat ominous cover alluded to the story as being a thriller or gothic horror piece, it is neither. Rather, the mystery in this sister-tale is more about assumptions, relationships, and family secrets. It would appeal to those who enjoy reading about complicated family dynamics, with a nice twist or two in the telling. The reader who is anticipating a dark and suspenseful murder mystery might be aggravated by the slow pace and micro-detail of every interaction. We should be grateful that Ormsbee had this unknown uncle lurking in the background because without his posthumous nudging, these sisters (and their mom) would have apparently gone down their own destructive paths and flamed out, which would have made for a depressing read. As it is, the themes of redemption and resolution may be what redeem this story as a whole.
I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.
M. DeBuse-Losh
