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A review by ridgewaygirl
Brother & Sister Enter the Forest by Richard Mirabella
5.0
It was outrageous, to be criticized by him, after she'd stood by him all these years, after she had held his blood in her hands, trying to press it back into his body. "It's all about what happened to you. You never asked me what it was like for me."
The old anger returned. He should know how much anger she'd kept inside her, afraid to send it in his direction, worried he couldn't handle it. Always worried about his feelings.
A long time ago, Willa and Justin were good friends. Willa looked up to her older brother and depended on him in a broken household, with a dead father and a mother trying to keep them going, with no room for nurturing. But in high school, they splintered apart. Through the years they've drifted apart, Justin into addiction and dealing with the aftermath of a brain injury, Willa working to create a quiet, secure life for herself, but when Justin knocks on her door asking for a place to stay, she cautiously lets him in. What follows is a novel about how hard it is to rebuild a broken relationship and how family has the power to both nurture and destroy. Both Willa and Justin were deeply marked by their childhood, Justin in obvious ways, but Willa just as deeply.
This is a novel about ordinary people, which is the kind of novel it turns out I really like. Mirabella takes a deep and careful look at two damaged people and asks if they will be ok and if they can be a part of each other's lives. He is willing to sit in uncomfortable places with his characters and he avoids all easy answers. I loved how he explores how even when you want the best for a family member and go to great lengths to help them, that your efforts might still be inadequate, and that even someone who has messed up again and again is deserving of care and love. Mirabella writes so well about difficult family relationships and I'm very eager to see what he writes next.
The old anger returned. He should know how much anger she'd kept inside her, afraid to send it in his direction, worried he couldn't handle it. Always worried about his feelings.
A long time ago, Willa and Justin were good friends. Willa looked up to her older brother and depended on him in a broken household, with a dead father and a mother trying to keep them going, with no room for nurturing. But in high school, they splintered apart. Through the years they've drifted apart, Justin into addiction and dealing with the aftermath of a brain injury, Willa working to create a quiet, secure life for herself, but when Justin knocks on her door asking for a place to stay, she cautiously lets him in. What follows is a novel about how hard it is to rebuild a broken relationship and how family has the power to both nurture and destroy. Both Willa and Justin were deeply marked by their childhood, Justin in obvious ways, but Willa just as deeply.
This is a novel about ordinary people, which is the kind of novel it turns out I really like. Mirabella takes a deep and careful look at two damaged people and asks if they will be ok and if they can be a part of each other's lives. He is willing to sit in uncomfortable places with his characters and he avoids all easy answers. I loved how he explores how even when you want the best for a family member and go to great lengths to help them, that your efforts might still be inadequate, and that even someone who has messed up again and again is deserving of care and love. Mirabella writes so well about difficult family relationships and I'm very eager to see what he writes next.