It's nice to read a good, non-cheesy family saga every once in a while. The Condition by Jennifer Haigh falls into that category. I'd been wanting to read this since last summer, when I saw it on some list of good summer books set on Cape Cod, and I finally got around to it.
Although it begins and ends on Cape Cod, it actually covers various parts of the country as it follows one family of three siblings from childhood to middle age. The focal character is daughter Gwen, who has Turner's syndrome, a condition that keeps her stuck in the body of a young girl even as she ages. Hence it's "the condition" of the title (as well as a potential topic for one of TLC's rare medical condition documentaries). Throughout the book, the author links Gwen's condition to the conditions of the other family members, like her parents dealing with the "condition" of growing older, etc. It's done a little obviously- the author uses the word condition over and over- but it works well enough and adds a nice theme to the book.
Although it begins and ends on Cape Cod, it actually covers various parts of the country as it follows one family of three siblings from childhood to middle age. The focal character is daughter Gwen, who has Turner's syndrome, a condition that keeps her stuck in the body of a young girl even as she ages. Hence it's "the condition" of the title (as well as a potential topic for one of TLC's rare medical condition documentaries). Throughout the book, the author links Gwen's condition to the conditions of the other family members, like her parents dealing with the "condition" of growing older, etc. It's done a little obviously- the author uses the word condition over and over- but it works well enough and adds a nice theme to the book.
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