4.5 stars. I really enjoyed this book for its uniqueness and its lyrical writing, but explaining what it's about is a challenge. Harriet Wolf is the protagonist, but no longer living except in her grand-daughter Tilton's consciousness and memory (as Wee-ette, her toddler name for her Grandma). Harriet was born sickly ("unfit") and as such was whisked away to the Maryland School for Feeble Minded Children. Her mother was told she had died though her father knew the truth. There she survives and manages to grow up and at age 13 meets Eppitt Clapp in the laundry where they both work. He may or may not be "feeble-minded" also, but was one child too many for his family to feed and care for. They are soul mates and make a "pact" of marriage in their naivete and innocence of the world. Though they are not always physically present to each other throughout the rest of the story they are always linked by their pact. Within a year or so, Harriet is discovered to be a "genius" (which really means she is intelligent, aware and can think for herself) and she is finally acknowledged by her father, though not returned to her mother until a clerical error on the part of the school lets her know she exists. Part of this story comes to us from Harriet herself, in what seems to be a journal, and part of it comes from her descendants: her daughter Eleanor who has just suffered a heart attack and is feeling reflective; and Eleanor's 2 daughters: Ruthie who is at midlife crisis point and has had no contact with Eleanor since she ran away at 16, and Tilton, who Eleanor has kept close to home, almost repeating the concept of "feeble-mindedness" and has saddled her with allergies and illnesses that have kept her out of the world for 23 years. With Eleanor hospitalized for the heart attack, Tilton must think about navigating the outside, and Ruthie decides to come home to help. Meanwhile, in the Harriet narrative, she and Eppitt have a cycle of separating and reuniting and all manner of strange, fairy-tale-ish adventures which ultimately Harriet writes about in her famous 6-book-series about Daisy and Weldon, which have become beloved best-sellers the world over. She has poured all her heart into these fanciful fictional tales which are really about her and Eppitt, though not even her own children know he exists. Eleanor, not a fan of the books because they have shadowed her life and shaped her identity as "Harriet Wolf's daughter" explains: "My mother ferreted through reality for parts to weld together to tell her untrue stories which always struck me as careless and selfish." (9) Adding to the pressure and intrigue, there is a supposed 7th book that Harriet wrote before her death, but it has never been found. Eleanor has her own story she tells -- starting at bedtime when her daughters are little, which is the vindictive tale of how her husband George left them all soon after a plane fell from the sky and crashed right in front of their car on a ride home from a potluck supper. He fell in love with a woman widowed in the crash and learned life is too short to be unhappy. She tells them: "The family was torn apart and it couldn't be put back together again. The end." (27) These are the kinds of wonders the book is full of. Richard Russo's blurb calls it "on the knife-edge between hilarity and heartbreak" and in this it reminds me of A Confederacy of Dunces. Those who like a linear tale will not like this so well as it telescopes in and out between the past and present as well as varying points of view (Harriet, Eleanor, Ruth, Tilton) but each of the pieces comes together smoothly like a complex puzzle and then the whole is revealed. ("Wee-ette, the new ending is beginning!" Tilton exalts.) In it there is reconciliation and revelation and restoration. The story has a fairy-tale quality and tone to it, and this along with the funny, sharp, original characters make the tragic aspects bearable and even enjoyable. It is a wonder of writing, peppered with some historical facts, but wholly creative in its telling and outcome. ( )

I just love books about books. The End. ( )

The story is told from four different points-of-view. First there is author Harriet, with a surreal childhood, then her daughter Eleanor, who is up type and controlling, then Eleanor's two adult daughters: unhappy Ruth and naive Tilton. The problem with having multiple narrators is that there is almost always one that the reader enjoys more than the others. Then they are constantly wishing we could get back to that story. ( )

A wonderful book about mothers and daughters, their complicated relationships and how easy it is to misunderstand each other. Three generation of women, Harriet, who has died had written a series of six best selling books, there is a rumor that a seventh exists. Professors, scholars and book, aficionados the world over are anxiously waiting for it to surface.

Eleanor her daughter who has made many mistakes, holding tight to her daughter Tilton after letting Ruth run away at sixteen. Interesting characters all the story is told by each character in alternating chapters. It is Harriet's story that I loved the most, of course her story is from the missing seventh book. Even the side characters are diverse and add much to the story. Some of these characters and places throughout the novel actually existed.

I could tell, how much the author loved these characters and it helped me love them too. Flawed for sure but all hoping for something better. Loved Tilton and her unique perspective of the world and her family. By books end I felt as if I had melted and I am very glad I read this book.

ARC from publisher.A wonderful book about mothers and daughters, their complicated relationships and how easy it is to misunderstand each other. Three generation of women, Harriet, who has died had written a series of six best selling books, there is a rumor that a seventh exists. Professors, scholars and book, aficionados the world over are anxiously waiting for it to surface.

Eleanor her daughter who has made many mistakes, holding tight to her daughter Tilton after letting Ruth run away at sixteen. Interesting characters all the story is told by each character in alternating chapters. It is Harriet's story that I loved the most, of course her story is from the missing seventh book. Even the side characters are diverse and add much to the story. Some of these characters and places throughout the novel actually existed.

I could tell, how much the author loved these characters and it helped me love them too. Flawed for sure but all hoping for something better. Loved Tilton and her unique perspective of the world and her family. By books end I felt as if I had melted and I am very glad I read this book.

ARC from publisher. ( )

This is the story of a family – told by four of the women of the family, crossing three generations. Harriet is the first generation – and has an interesting and moving story to tell. She lives a most unusual life, from being a genius raised in a home for feeble minded children to riding a motorcycle in a circus to becoming a world famous author. Her life and writings are a major influence on the lives of her descendants – her daughter and two granddaughters. As the book starts, we learn that the members Harriet’s family are all experiencing some kind of crisis in their lives. Her daughter has suffered a mild heart attack, one granddaughter is going through the pains of a marriage in trouble, the other granddaughter is coming to terms with the idea that her mother may have been forcing her to live life in a manner she didn’t need to. As the book progresses, we learn Harriet’s story, and also follow the lives of the other three. The telling of the stories of these four women makes a great book. It is a book about a family in crisis – yet it isn’t a sad book. The four characters are presented with enough detail so that the reader really gets to know them, and can make connections to them. The author has done a great job developing these women. Some of them you really like, some you really don’t like – but they all stir feelings in the reader. (My book club was given advance copies of this book to read, discuss, and review.) ( )