This Theme in Reads: Family

Got my hands on Sharp Objects, written by Gillian Flynn, at the beginning of the summer and was immediately interested as soon as I read the description on the back. Camille Preaker, a journalist from Chicago, is assigned the task of returning to her hometown to report on the kidnapping of two little girls. Faced with past demons, she is forced to reconcile her family relationships and personal struggles. 

Perhaps it's common for us to feel that our family dynamics are like no other, and find ourselves comparing our family to others that we think to be better. But, families, like people,  are complicated and act ugly to each other, but that isn't necessarily because our families deviated from perfection. Of course, there are variances to this with more unstable and toxic families like that portrayed in Sharp Objects. Every once in a while, I reflect on my upbringing and obsess over how those interactions shaped me. I get frustrated and go on a thought train of blaming my parents and being disappointed in myself for the personality traits that I find to be shortcomings. Once I get into that mindset, I have to remind myself that there is always time to grow into the person I want to be, and even though I may not have reacted in healthy ways before I cannot change the essential core traits of my personality.

I found myself really fascinated with Camille, her mother Adora, and most particularly with her half-sister Amma. Their character and relationship they have with each other are most highlighted in their reactions to conversations and town drama. For example, Amma, on the surface, appears one-dimensionally when first introduced, but through her character development, you realize she is very complex and deeply shaped by her mother-daughter relationship and by the shadow of a ghost. Their relationships challenge you to reflect on your childhood and see how the generational parental influences have shaped you. 

This book is very dark, but I also find it to be a fascinating fictional study on family relationships, which appealed to me more than the mystery Camille reported. Currently, I haven't watched any of the HBO show, but I am curious to contrast how their family dynamic unfolds on screen. Stay tuned for more posts about Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects!