Family values Book

When the Wallace family arrives in Concord, Massachusetts, their paradise seems secure. Dean is a young, handsome executive; his wife, Sandy, is the perfect housewife and mother. Their new home is more than comfortable: their five children and Sandy's mother, Lilly, all have bedrooms of their own. They embody the American dream. But beneath the bright surface, the Wallaces are losing their grasp on this dream. Instead of offering harmonious family dinners together and idyllic vacations, their family life begins to deteriorate. Kyle, the eldest child, envies his siblings the privileges he never had. Golden boy Blane resents his role as perfect student and obedient son. Tom, the black sheep, finds it increasingly difficult to control his violent rage, while the youngest children, Hal and Tina, are simply bewildered. And Lilly's presence not only disrupts daily life, but forces Sandy to question who she is and confront the childhood she thought she knew. Amid so much upheaval, Sandy and Dean find themselves growing further apart, as they struggle to keep their hope for the family alive. In chillingly detailed scenes that span eighteen years of ordinary life, Lawrence David shows how denial and repression cause long-buried resentments to erupt in emotional and even physical violence.