In this intimate novel, Lynn Steger Strong uses a holiday gathering by a family that has just lost its matriarch as the foundation for an exploration of modern family life. What's amazing about Steger is how adept she is at capturing the little variances of humanity inherent in life and family, through blood or just extended ties. The actions of the children as they sit, dressed up at the family's holiday table are given as much description and focus as the story of a drug addict mother trying to keep her child. This novel does speak to large, "life" issues, but it focuses on the love, hope, anger, tragedy, and joy of everyday existence, too.

When the three siblings at the center of this novel gather with their families for the holidays, aggressions and micro-aggressions occur amidst a bigger issue with sibling Alice and her work as a social worker for Quinn, a recovering addict, and her daughter.

To be honest, not much really happens in this novel. I loved the nuances of everyday life and the heightened family dynamics involved when a family gets together, but it still wasn't enough to completely sustain my interest. It picked up near the end, and the narrative was better for it. I enjoyed Strong's amazing talent with language, description, and details, I just with the plot had a little more meat for her to sink her talented teeth into. This was still a great book, just not a five-star for me.