A review by ericfheiman
The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings

3.0

I probably never would have picked this book up if it hadn't been assigned in my current writing class. So what a pleasant surprise to have liked it so much. Hemmings' real accomplishment here is juggling so well the balance of humor and pathos that surrounds the grief of losing a loved one. The book is mightily infused with a genuine humanity. I really came to love all the main characters, despite (because!) their obvious flaws and hangups—even the deceased Joanie, who, on paper, deserves very little of our sympathy whatsoever. But credit goes also to the story itself, which had so many opportunities to descend into cheap sentimentality and instead stayed tough, engaging, and true. The last scene reminded me a little of the end of Nanni Moretti's film, "The Son's Room"—a moving, reassuring, but completely genuine and unflinching expression of dealing with grief.