Helpful Score: 6
After reading Haigh's earlier book, Bakers Towers, I was expecting another good book. NOT! This books was terrible. It was a family saga, and the family was just so totally dysfunctional it was almost unbelievable The main character was Gwen, who suffers from Turner's syndrome. She was in her 30's for most of the book, but with this disorder, she would always have the body of an 11 or 12 year old. She never developed into "womanhood." From the parents, to the two brothers, there wasn't one character that I liked. I felt sorry for Gwen. She should have been born into a "nicer" family. Thankfully, it was a library book, so I didn't waste a credit. I had to force myself to finish it. For those waiting for this book-------well it is your choice and your credit and time. I would read something else.
Helpful Score: 4
i hated this book - found it to be SO boring. couldn't get into it at all and ultimately gave up on it - something that I never do. total bore.
Helpful Score: 2
TERRIBLE! Extremely boring and really seemed to be about absolutely nothing. I really tried to get through it but ended up giving up, skimmed to get to the end. Depressing. Everyone in this book is unhappy and dysfunctional to the point of being ridiculous. A complete waste of time. I really wanted to like it but absolutely did not.
Helpful Score: 2
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the intricate details of a totally dysfunctional family. Jennifer Haigh's fictional account of a girl diagnosed with Turner's syndrome and the unraveling of a proper New England family is well written with characters the reader may not always like. The reader is allowed access into the lives of each member of the McKotch family as they quickly tear away from the matriarch when they reach adulthood, and live their lives differently than what was expected or predicted of them.
Helpful Score: 2
The McKotch family is torn apart when forced to acknowledge that their daughter Gwen has Turners syndrome. Each family member deals (or avoids dealing) in a different way, and Gwen's illness becomes an excuse for their dysfunctional family dynamics. When Gwen falls in love for the first time, a plot hatched by the matriarch of the family threatens to tear apart their already fragile remaining ties.
The Condition is not so much the story of an illness as it is a portrait of a family. Each of Jennifer Haigh's characters are unique and complicated, and she does an excellent job of portraying the insecurities and misguided love inherent in a family.
The Condition is not so much the story of an illness as it is a portrait of a family. Each of Jennifer Haigh's characters are unique and complicated, and she does an excellent job of portraying the insecurities and misguided love inherent in a family.
