The story of Kate Morrison is told in two alternating parts. As she recounts her past, it becomes about an orphaned group of siblings that are forced to grow up in different ways, reacting to trauma and taking on different roles that are vacated. As the oldest brother becomes the parental figure, and the siblings slide into different roles, we also get Kate’s present day circumstances where she is having issues with her significant other, who feels disconnected from her and has never met her family, despite it being a year into the relationship and wanting to know her better.

We get the story of each sibling and see how Kate becomes the way she is. Her job, her relating to other people. But we also see how the people we eventually meet (with the tension of will Kate bring her SO with her home or not) become who they are. How Kate views them and how they are coloured by her past, and this clicks into place all the nuances of her personhood and life.

There is a haunting line in it, where Kate says that her two brothers were defined and cemented by a single action. One pulled away. The other did not. And the context around that and the consequences of it, is probably the single best writing I’ve consumed with coming-of-age stories showing how a single moment can define a life. Not just for those individuals, as mentioned, Kate also is inadvertently giving away her own position on these events. It is quintessential small town life.

The only issue I had with this book, and why it’s not 5 stars, is the pacing, though it alternates quite well, could have been better. It has middle book syndrome and the present day circumstances only become pertinent later on, and don’t feel like that stand alone for quite some time.