Genre Fiction
![Sierra Godfrey - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B09NP57NT3.jpg)
A Very Typical Family: A Novel
"Atmospheric and uplifting...for fans of Marian Keyes and Emily Giffin." ―Booklist, STARRED review
A heartfelt, hilarious beach read 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 is an uplifting family drama that will have you reveling in the power of second chances.
"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." ―KJ Dell'Antonia, New York Times bestselling author of Reese's Book Club pick The Chicken Sisters
A heartfelt, hilarious beach read 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 is an uplifting family drama that will have you reveling in the power of second chances.
"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." ―KJ Dell'Antonia, New York Times bestselling author of Reese's Book Club pick The Chicken Sisters
Editorial Reviews
"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
"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
"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
"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
"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
"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
"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
Readers Top Reviews
Dfreeman
The Walker family in Sierra Godfrey’s debut novel, A Very Typical Family, are the victims of “One False Step.” That step you take with assurance, but the instant your foot hits the ground, you know with cold, spine-tingling certainty that it was a bad move. A move with repercussions that will adversely affect your life from that moment on. For the Walkers, that false step was That Night At The House. Two of the three siblings went to prison. The third, Natalie, isolated herself on the other side of the country. The family was broken. Then fifteen years later, their mother dies and leaves them her house. The three of them must collect their inheritance together. Somehow, they have to do the impossible, overcome that false step and all its repercussions. If this sounds sad and heavy, it isn’t. Sierra Godfrey deftly reweaves the threads from this tragic backstory into a relatable, enjoyable novel that keeps you glued to the pages to the very satisfying end. Even though the book deals with issues of pain, regret, and remorse it is a remarkably happy story that will leave you with a smile. I don’t know how the author did this, but I’m eager to see her do it again!
delo007LoJoSoDfre
A veritable summer read, nothing too taxing. The family dynamics illustrate the pitfalls of making assumptions about another person's thoughts and intentions. There are depictions of relationship violence and manipulation.
delo007LoJoSoD
It very enjoyable and fast pace … I enjoyed the past present and future … I would recommend this book
Doctor MossMeliss
I have to admit this is not really my kind of book. I was attracted to it because it is set not just in the town where I live, but in the neighborhood where I live, the lower westside of Santa Cruz, California. The plot centers on a broken family. Natalie Walker is the main character. When Natalie was a teenager, her older brother (Jake) and sister (Lynn) hosted a heavy drug party at their family house, when their mother was away. Things went bad when Natalie returned home that night, against her brother and sister’s orders. Natalie ended up calling 911 in a panic, and then things got REALLY bad. Jake and Lynn ended up charged in their friend Carlos’s death by OD. They went to prison for manslaughter, and Natalie was given an indefinite sentence of ostracism and guilt. Natalie, Jake, and Lynn all have separate lives now. But that night haunts every facet of Natalie’s life. Nothing else — her career, her romantic life, her sense of home — will ever be right until she finds some resolution to that broken family. Even her mother does not want to see her. The trigger is her mother’s death. In her will, Natalie’s mother has left the family house, a seven bedroom Victorian a block from the ocean in Santa Cruz, to Jake, Lynn, and Natalie on the condition that they all get together at the house and meet to claim it with the lawyer administering the will. Natalie has a raft of problems to resolve — she’s leaving a difficult job situation in Boston, in a career she doesn’t really like all that much, a boyfriend who has gotten the job promotion she was hoping for, and a generally unfulfilling life. Once she reaches Santa Cruz to help fulfill the conditions of the will, her cat even goes missing. As does her brother Jake. Lynn shows up at the house, and the stress between Natalie and Lynn begins to ramp down, with the help of Lynn’s young son, Kit. Really Kit is the emotional catalyst for everything that happens from then on in the story. Jake has obviously had problems. After all, he spent time in prison, and even though he now has a burgeoning, successful career as a marine biologist in Santa Cruz, he’s got scars. Lynn is worse. A bad marriage, an angry, abusive husband, a danger to both her and Kit. That’s the mess. From there, it is a see-saw of feel good, feel bad, feel good, feel bad, . . . story, with Natalie simultaneously trying to find Jake so that the terms of the will can be satisfied, repair her relationship with Jake and Lynn, resolve her relationship with her boyfriend in Boston, and deal with that not-so-great job situation there as well (where, just to top it off, her boyfriend will now be her boss). And find her missing cat! And there’s also Asier Casillas (Dr. Casillas), a researcher at Jake’s marine biology lab, a spark of new romantic interest, and, together with Santa C...
Erin MDoctor Moss
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was recommended through a book club. The story was easy to follow and kept me engaged. My big complaint would be that the end seemed a bit rushed as compared to the rest. Would definitely suggest as a quick and easy read.
