‘Packer’s golden touch makes us care that much more deeply for this memorable tribe’ Elle

‘Psychologically astute … this is a novel with something to teach about forgiving the people we love’ Newsday

‘Packer's portrayal of one family's breakdown is tragic and utterly engrossing’ O, The Oprah Magazine

‘Absorbing … celebrates family even as it catalogues its damages’ People Magazine

'Packer is an expert American realist at every level, from the interior monologue to the bird’s-eye view' Vulture

‘A big heavily plotted family saga to dive into and savour: deftly written, at times, funny, and always psychologically astute’ NPR

‘A superb storyteller … Packer’s dissection of domestic life reminds me of her elders in the field Anne Tyler and Louise Erdrich’ San Francisco Chronicle

‘In shimmering prose and with exceptional wisdom, Ann Packer examines the life of a California family … revealing the ways in which the past casts both shadow and light on the present … a provocative, dazzling novel from a world-class fiction writer’ Christina Baker Kline, author of The Exiles

‘Beautiful … shows us how much of our adult identity has been fully formed in childhood … [Packer's] mastery of story make us identify with and deeply care for her characters’ Abraham Verghese, author of The Covenant of Water

‘Packer flawlessly executes the most daring, difficult and exhilarating feat in the novelist's repertoire: to re-create the history of an era and a place through the history of one family … pulling it off with mastery, authority and all the passionate artistry that lovers of her work have come to expect’ Michael Chabon, author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

‘Tender, absorbing … painfully captures the tumult of selves within a family’ Catherine Newman, author of Sandwich