SOUNDTRACK: hiatus
[READ: July 2021] The Imperfects
I saw this book at work–I didn’t think I’d be seeing as many interesting books at work with my new position, but here was one that I wanted to read!
The title was interesting and the concept was eye catching right from the start.
The story seems fairly simple. There is a grandmother–Helen Auerbach–and three grandchildren. The grandchildren are estranged from their mother, who is peripherally in contact, and their father, who thy have not seen in decades. They are also kind of estranged from each other because of some bad choices each of them has made. Incidentally all of the children are Millers, not Auerbachs from their estranged father.
The book opens in Vienna 1918 with a historical moment that weighs heavily on the rest of the story. I didn’t really like the writing style of that section–it was not what i was expecting and I hoped the rest of the story wouldn’t be written in that way (and it wasn’t, thankfully). But I enjoyed the way that moment ultimately tied into the story.
Then it moves to the present day. We meet Ashley, the eldest granddaughter. She is (unhappily) married with two children. Her children are overbooked (in gender-stereotyped activities) and her husband has recently done something illegal at work and is soon to be in serious trouble. She receives an email that Helen is dead. This messes with her day.
Next we meet Deborah (“not Debbie or Deb or Debra but a trisyllable Deb-or-ah”). Deborah is the estranged mother of the three kids (and Helen’s daughter). Deborah is about to lose another unsatisfying sexual partner.
Jake is the middle child. He left the east coast (the story is set in Philadelphia) for California. He is a scriptwriter and has had a movie made (which won a Spirit Award). But the movie premiere caused much of the friction that exists between he and his youngest sister. Since that movie, Jake has been working at Trader Joe’s and getting high regularly. His girlfriend Kristi is very supportive but is starting to cop on to his serious flaws. He freaks out when he gets the email about Helen.
Beck is the youngest child (not Rebecca or Becky or Becca, but a curt, efficient Beck). She is the only one who still lives in Philly. Indeed, she lived with Helen. They had lived together very happily until recently, when Helen seemed to go a little funny. She started yelling at Beck in German, accusing her of stealing her brooch. She actually kicked Beck out of the house the day before she died–the body was found by Helen’s neighbor.
Beck is in charge of the funeral and she ruefully invites her family members (which is why she sent them a short email about Helen’s death). We learn a bit more about why Beck is so angry with Jake about the film. We also learn that Ashley is the mediator, which gets on Beck’s nerves, and we learn that Deborah is just as flighty as the day she left them.
When the will is read, things come into focus. Helen unexpectedly leaves her house to Deborah (despite the fact that she never lived there and just where is Beck supposed to go now?) The rest of the stuff is split three ways except that Beck gets the brooch that Helen had been talking about. The family knew all about the brooch. It was costume jewelry–why was it singled out? No one can tell. Until Beck wears it to work and her coworker tells her that it might not be costume after all.
The jewel, it turns out, might just be the 137 carat Florentine Diamond–a hugely important historical artifact that went missing from the Austrian empire a century ago.
So now, can Beck keep this news from her family (unlikely). Can the rest of the family keep it from anyone else? Even more unlikely. Especially when they try to get the gem properly verified. because even gemologists get a little crazy when they see a potentially vast fortune before them.
The story travels around the country. Jake tries to see if he can write a movie based on this experience–and Kristi tries to decide if she should trust him with the knowledge that she’s pregnant. It travels to Ashley’s family where her husband is about to find out what the courts hold for him. And it moves to Austria where Beck and the family travel to see if any of the historical digging they have done has uncovered anything that legitimately ties them to the diamond–if it is indeed the real thing.
There’s a lot of funny moment and some genuine excitement. Even the historical research proves fascinating as we learn a bit about the (actual) history that inspired the story. And the twist at the end is inevitable and yet works perfectly. I really enjoyed this and am going to have to track down her other book The Bookshop of Yesterdays.
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