You never know the insides of a normal person

Synopsis

A family torn apart by their father’s infidelity are forced to confront the past thirty years later. As Natalie’s younger sister, Amanda, prepares for marriage and impending motherhood, her plea for the family to reunite uncovers pent-up tension and animosity. Can they forget the past and become a family again? 

Natalie’s life begins to unravel as their father starts to creep back into their lives and family tensions resurface, affecting her relationship with her boyfriend, Rob. Will the couple find their way back to each other, and can a family that has been torn apart ever heal their wounds? 

Can you ever walk away from someone you love, or do some fires never die out?

My review

Thirty years ago, Natalie’s father walked away from his family, as his infidelity has reached its peak. In the present, Natalie is finding herself ambushed by her younger sister Amanda to reconcile with their father. Amanda always kept in touch with their father, while Natalie cannot let go of the past.  And with Amanda’s wedding around the corner, and Amada finding herself pregnant, Natalie seems not able to escape her father.
Even her brother Paul betrays her by reaching out to their father…
But Natalie is not inclined at all to forgive him, and tensions arise between the family members. This also affects her relationship with Rob, her amazing boyfriend.
Can all wounds be healed over time? Or are some actions unforgivable? And is all truly lost for Natalie and Rob? 

This story took some time to grow on me. Not because it’s badly written or it doesn’t appear to go somewhere, but because initially it was difficult to properly understand and know Natalie.
Her first actions aren’t understandable at all, and I found it difficult to somehow sympathize with her.
Obviously that is the purpose of the author, as slowly we get to know about Natalie’s past and her present issues. 

The more is revealed the more I could understand her reluctance of being in touch with her father. I admired how as a young girl herself, she did everything she could for her mother and her siblings, how she was the one always taking matter in hands. And while her father was not in the run for the award for best father of the year. 

While it may seem a hard decision, not wanting to have her father back in her life, I saw where she was coming from, and I respected her decision. But it frustrated me that her siblings couldn’t just respect it too.
I found Amanda very selfish, she seems never to be content, it is always about her and noting is ever her fault. And everything seems to go so easy for her.
Even if Paul takes Natalie’s feelings more in account, he also seems to be pushing her to do things she truly doesn’t want to do. 

So is it really a surprise that Natalie at one point had enough? For me, no.  

Although, it took me a very long time to understand why she would break things off with Rob. They were together for such a long time, and nothing special had happened. So why throw away the best thing you have? 

But people don’t always reason logically, as this book clearly shows. And when it’s all too much, you make decisions that normally you wouldn’t make.
How would you act if you find yourself cornered?  

In books, often broken families somehow find a way back together. But in real life that is not always the case. Sometimes taking a step back is the best thing you can do, for your own peace of mind and happiness. 

While Natalie has endured many things in the past, and is only now trying to come to terms with it all, this book is also filled with hope and love. Because no matter how some things may be broken, literally and figuratively, there is always hope to fix these broken things. And it’s in the highest need that we realize what is worth fixing. 

Despite the maybe a little rough start for me, once I was in the flow of the story, I found myself submerged in Natalie’s life. There were many, many heart – breaking moments, but the book was also filled with happier moments, that made me smile. 

The author managed to describe the fragility of a family, how one event can change the course of a whole life and how that one event still affects someone even after many years have passed. Family is not made of people of your own choosing, and even if related by blood, members can be totally different. And while you obviously love them, it’s perfectly okay to chose your own happiness over theirs. 

But most important of this story is the message that despite the lemons that life throws at you, for the right person, you are perfectly enough, even with your imperfections and strange thoughts and that things will be all right after all. If that isn’t a hopeful message…