A Very Typical Family: A Novel

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Description

When Natalie sent her siblings to prison, she never imagined reuniting with them 15 years later to claim a dubious inheritance For fans of Emma Straub and Jennifer Weiner, comes a heartfelt, darkly funny novel about learning to love (and forgive) your family...even when they accidentally put you behind bars. All families are messy. Some are disasters. Natalie Walker is the reason her older brother and sister went to prison over 15 years ago. She fled California shortly after that fateful night and hasn't spoken to anyone in her family since. Now, on the same day her boyfriend steals her dream job out from under her, Natalie receives a letter from a lawyer saying her estranged mother has died and left the family's historic Santa Cruz house to her. Sort of. The only way for Natalie and her siblings to inherit is for all three adult children to come back and claim it-together. Natalie drives cross-country to Santa Cruz with her willful cat in tow expecting to sign some papers, see siblings Lynn and Jake briefly, and get back to sorting out her life in Boston. But Jake, now an award-winning ornithologist, is missing. And Lynn, working as an undertaker in New York City, shows up with a teenage son. While Natalie and her nephew look for Jake-meeting a very handsome marine biologist who immediately captures her heart-she unpacks the guilt she has held onto for so many years, wondering how (or if) she can salvage a relationship with her siblings after all this time. Written with delightfully dark humor and characters you can't help but cheer for, A Very Typical Family will have you reveling in the power of family and second chances. No one can change the past, but every day is an opportunity to choose your future.

Reviews

"At times light-hearted, at times gut wrenching, A Very Typical Family is a touching exploration of what it means to forgive others and forgive ourselves. With a quirky protagonist and affecting characters, Godfrey has crafted a moving, memorable novel." -- Syed M. Masood, author of The Bad Muslim Discount
"By turns mordantly funny and deeply moving, A Very Typical Family is an emotional gut punch of a story about the often-fraught relationships we have with the people we loved first and fiercest: our siblings. Godfrey's redemption-seeking narrator is one of the most endearing eccentrics to grace the page since Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and The Cactus. If you like characters who march to their own beats--and who doesn't--you'll love this rich and compelling story." -- Ashley Winstead, author of The Boyfriend Candidate
"I loved this. I couldn't put it down. Engrossing, satisfying. The minute I turned the last page I messaged three friends to tell them they had to grab it. It's that good!" -- KJ Dell'Antonia, New York Times bestselling author of The Chicken Sisters
"With wit and a big heart, A Very Typical Family gracefully tackles one messy family's rocky path back to one another. Godfrey has crafted a trio of siblings that readers will fall for on their journey of finding the courage to reach across the distances we create. Clever, sharply written, and at once darkly funny and tender, Godfrey's debut captures what it means to come home in every sense." -- Holly James, author of Nothing But the Truth

Author Bio

SIERRA GODFREY is a tech editor by day who loves writing stories about complex relationships. She lives in the foggy wastelands of the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, sons, and a bevy of animals, all of which seemed like a good idea at the time