The best novels about vulnerable protagonists with family secrets

Steinbeck can string words together like no one else. He is one of my favorite writers and this is my favorite Steinbeck book. I read it for the first time in high school and then again a few years ago. When I was studying Marketing and Economics at the University of Arkansas, I had to take electives outside of my major. I took all of mine in English Lit. In one course I was the only one in the class who was not an English major. My professor was so impressed that anyone would take his course “for fun” that I was graded on my own private curve. (Not to be confused with My Own Private Idaho). When we studied Steinbeck, of course, the assigned book was Grapes of Wrath. During the discussion the professor learned I was one of only three in the class who had read East of Eden. I think that was the day my grade became an “A” in his class. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I only read the book because I loved the movie starring James Dean. 

Thank you, Mr. Steinbeck for one of the few “A”s on my college transcript.

I cheated a little here; this one isn’t a novel, it is instead, a short story (or perhaps a novella). I couldn’t put it down and stayed up into the wee hours reading it in a single sitting. Granted, it is a short story, but this is still an unusual feat for me. 

What an unforgettable ending.

If you haven’t experienced classic Southern Gothic, this is a wonderful introduction to the genre...follow it with Flannery O’Connor’s “Wise Blood” and you will be hooked. If your high school English teacher did not introduce you to William Faulkner, A Rose For Emily is a great place to start – or “As I Lay Dying.” 

Faulkner’s characters are among some of the most memorable in American literature.

I put this book on my TBR list back in 2015 when I was doing research on child abuse for A Sparrow Falls, and there it stayed for years. I am sorry I waited so long. 

During my research I ran across a YouTube video of an interview with Allison. Knowing this is a semi-autobiographical novel about child sexual abuse, I was intrigued by the loving way she spoke about her family, primarily because, in writing my book I took the view that people are rarely one-dimensionally evil, not even abusers.

Using the language of poor white southerners, Allison unflinchingly writes about generations of cyclical poverty, dysfunctional family relationships, incest, and indomitable women who marry too young and age too quickly. 

Here is another book I added to my TBR list while researching my book—and another that sat there for years. But the similarities don’t end there. This is a coming-of-age story about clannish poor whites in the rural south. In both books the protagonist is a child growing up in a dysfunctional family. Again, I found a YouTube interview in which the author spoke of the love he has for his grandparents who were unconventional in their behavior.

It is my view that children from dysfunctional families often think their lives are normal.

This was my first Liane Moriarty book - but not my last. A fun read with plenty of humor and a little mystery. The ‘Munro Baby Mystery’ to be exact.

This is a multiple-storyline book, and I found all the stories interesting. The author created many wonderful characters and brought each one to life beautifully.

I suspect many readers figure out the mystery/secret pretty early. For me, that didn't lessen the fun of reading on to see if I was right. I thought it odd when the secret is revealed about 3/4 of the way through the book. I wondered why the author was spending so much time tying up loose ends...then boom! I didn't see that coming.

I recommend this if you want an easy read filled with wonderful multi-generational characters.