Reviews for The White Family

The average rating for The White Family based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-12-16 00:00:00 Sherri Lamar This is what otherwise might be known as a kitchen sink drama and it deals with a 'normal' family and humdrum everyday life as subject matter. All of this then might make this book seem ordinary and unremarkable - on the contrary though, the characterisation and narrative are superb and this book is a mini-masterpiece that concentrates on the banality and pains of everyday life. Maggie Gee is indeed an exquisite writer and no wonder this book was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction way back in 2002. The Whites are a regular, slightly more than nuclear family with mum, dad and three grown up children - Darren, Shirley and Dirk. Dad Alfred is a park-keeper in the wider London suburbs, mum May is a traditional if not stereotypical fretful and worrisome loving mother, son Darren is a successful career guy, daughter Shirley is compliant and infertile and youngest son Dirk is damaged, broken and worryingly vulnerable and insecure. Dad and youngest son are also institutionally racist in a multi-coloured and modern Britain. Gee weaves a plot where father White falls ill and the web of family life then begins to collapse and unfold, sometimes causing reflection and positive change but also causing disaster and tragedy where the family offspring live at odds with their family roots and social class as well as with each other. What is remarkable is Gee's deft characterisation where every family member is grounded and understood regardless of their stance in life. With each one feels empathy but with Alfred and Dirk (father and youngest son) one probably feels a more extreme sympathy as each battles with a sense of duty, misguided ambition and ultimately deep rooted and dangerous issues with anger and hurt. The tone of the book manages to be very contemporary and demonstrates everyday family issues and complexities which are heightened due to modern tensions and modern times. All characters suffer from a lessened sense of happiness where they weigh up their lot in life with a sense of resignation and silent acceptance. I have loved Gee's writing throughout this book almost to the point where I would consider this work to be like a modern Dickens-esque story - a family drama cum wry social commentary of the Millennium age that sketches how London, Britain and their inhabitants live now. The tone is exact and understandable. I can't wait to pick up another book by this writer. Recommended to all who appreciate very high-quality British contemporary fiction and simply fabulous it is too.

Review # 2 was written on 2010-09-17 00:00:00 Pranav Pareek Alfred White is nearing the end of his 50 year career as a park keeper in a fictional London neighborhood in which he has lived for his entire life. He and his wife May have three children: Darren, a famed but restless journalist with a quick temper; Shirley, who has irked her parents by marrying a black African and dating a black Briton of Jamaican descent after her husband's death; and Dirk, the youngest sibling, whose small size and smaller ambitions mark him as a failure compared to his brother. The neighborhood, once populated by white working class Britons, has now become home to immigrants from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and other parts of Europe. Alfred loathes these newcomers, even the noisy yellow "foreign" birds that have taken over the park, as they are not truly British, but he generally keeps his emotions and feelings in check. However Dirk, who worships his father and fully embraces his beliefs, views all nonwhites as threats, blames them for his personal failures, and hates them with a seething fury. The White family is thrown into crisis when Alfred collapses while on duty. The family rallies around his sickbed, but deep wounds that have festered for years are brought into the open, which creates almost unbearable stress within each member. Dirk is the most deeply affected of all, as his grief over his father's illness is compounded by the realization that none of the rest of his family understands or cares about him. Fueled by rage, fear and hopelessness, he seeks to exact revenge on those whom he hates the most, the 'coloureds' that have made his life a living hell. The White Family is a spectacular novel about a white working class family in a multicultural London that no longer seems to accept or appreciate them. The characters are richly portrayed, and this reader felt sympathy for even the most dislikable characters. I could hardly put this book down after the first 50 pages, and I won't soon forget these characters or Gee's wonderful narrative. Other than a slightly disappointing last few pages this book was nearly perfect, and this is easily one of my favorite novels of the year.