A Member of the Family

by Susan Merrell

Book Overview

In this heartbreaking novel, a young Long Island couple must confront a horrifying reality: their emotionally disturbed and violent six-year-old son--adopted as a Romanian orphan at 18 months old--is... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060192801
• ISBN13: 9780060192808
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Length: 350 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.4" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

the hardest choices

The characters in this book were so real to me. I will never see the choices I make about family so simply again. The way one person affects a family, the way one family affects a town, this story was beautifully woven and so moving. You won't be able to put it down.

Responsibility's Unexplored Length

In "A Member of the Family," Susan Merrell asksquestions too difficult to be normally exposed to society -- moralquestions that tug on the very strings of human interaction. Through exquisite subplots, livid and constantly developing references to the many characters' painful pasts, and, mainly, the daily challenges of all 4 members of the Latham family, the value of human realtionships is examined and compared to that of responsibility. In no way is this the story of only 4 characters; this story thoroughly covers the unique town of Sag Harbor from "locals" to "city people", from rich to poor, from content to unhappy to dead. While the town itself is brought to color, seemingly random people are brilliantly created to interact and grow among each other and their respective pasts, leading up to a brilliant conclusion in which Susan Merell attacks the weight of responsibility. Not only is there responsibility in how to deal with their adopted son, Michael, but there is responsibility even in accepting that there is a problem, in Chris Latham's responsibility for the past, in Deborah Latham's reasoning of why she choses to befriend certain people, and, prehaps most vividly, in the horrific relationship between Michael and his sister, Caroline. Susan Merell therefore tests responsibility to unforseen levels, and, regardless of your agreement with character's reasoning, every character acts in interesting, unique, yet well thought out ways. This novel is gauranteed to pose questions most people never thought about (mainly yet not only about the possible reversibility of the adoption process), and, therefore, further educate the reader on the very nature of human interactions and relationships. This is the best book I have read in quite some time, and I could not recommend it more.

A Haunting Tale about One Family's Struggle to Survive!

Susan Merrell's "A Member of the Family" is a haunting, special and superbly written novel about an adoption gone wrong and a family's struggle to survive it. Written in a comfortable and illustrative style (like Gutterson's "Snow Falling on Cedars" or "East of the Mountains"), the details of this book takes you into the personal and troubled lives of Chris and Deborah Latham and their struggle to deal with their adopted son Michael. Michael is not quite ready to fit into their family. Merrell shows her extraordinary skill in her depiction of small town life, and the details of the everyday relationships of the people who live there.This story causes you to ask yourself - - what would you do if you were in the same circumstance? Be prepared to stay up late! It's a great read that you can't put down until the last page!

I couldn't put it down!

I loved this book. The author paints such a detailed picture of this little town and all the people in it that you feel you know each one personally. She makes us think about ourselves, our committments to others, and what we might do in this same situation. Brace yourself. And don't expect to go to bed until you've finished the last page.

Moral Family Crisis in a Small Town

"A Member of the Family" graphically explores an almost unutterable question: What if you don't want your five-year-old? In this case, the young boy is an adopted Romanian orphan named Michael, welcomed into the seemingly perfect Latham family, a dynamic trio of smart, well-educated father, mother and daughter who lives in Sag Harbor, NY. Michael -- it becomes increasingly apparant -- has attachment disorder, and the brutal manifestations of this are tearing apart the Lathams.Susan Merrell manages to be everywhere at once in this compelling novel. She captures the daily intimacy within a family, the difficulties universal to parenthood, and the moral and ethical conflicts surrounding adoption. She also creates a breathtakingly detailed small town life, managing all the many graceful threads that stitch together a community. The reader will recognize the subtle social protocols and rules if she or he has ever been part of a tight (or seasonal) community. Michael's story becomes more than one family's crisis; the whole town contributes.With neither maudlin sentimentality nor moral preachiness, Merrell stirs up a ghostly subject which grips the reader completely until the final page.