Her Silent Husband

Visceral Look At The Underbelly Of Trying To Keep Up. This is one of those books that is largely depressing and frustrating - 75% or so of the book is all about a couple's fights, the wife/ mother's struggles with her kids, or the aunt's own demons. But even through here, while depressing, it is also very real - and that fact alone should be celebrated at times. Yes, many of us read to escape reality. But sometimes you need to see “reality” in fiction to get a degree of catharsis about your own situation, and this is one of those books that could actually help there. The flip in the last quarter or so is a bit abrupt, particularly given the characterizations to that point, and the almost Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King style check-in-with-every-major-character multiple epilogues was a bit hit or miss, but otherwise this was a solid story, one that discusses a lot of important concepts like male depression, a man's drive to provide for his family, a wife/ mother's drive to do the best by her kids, suicide, drug addiction (heroin specifically is particularly well done here), and a teenage boy's struggles to do the right thing even when “the right thing” isn't so crystal clear. Very much recommended.