Gilbert’s prose deftly captures the complexities of the family’s fraught relationships, forging relatable friction that brings their underlying dynamics into the spotlight. Grace, forced to cope not just with a terminally ill husband but also with regret at having allowed herself to live a limited life, treads the dangerous waters of rebellion against what she views as her husband’s unreasonable decisions, while each son’s perspective paints a different side of a domineering, rigid father, insistent that his children learn to manage their own lives, even as he refuses to be sent to “a house of the dying” when his health becomes too challenging to manage at home.
Reunion by the Lake favors the slow burn of family discord over more defined climactic scenes, and readers may wonder at the childhood incidents that led to the family’s fractured relationships as adults. Still, their frayed bonds are engrossing, marked by complex mindscapes and intricate layers of mistrust, bitterness, and self-pity that lend the narrative a tremulous feel. Though eruption feels just around the corner in nearly every scene, Gilbert chooses to end the story on a more positive note, leaving readers with a hopeful antidote in contrast to the novel’s smoldering beginnings.
Takeaway: Family dysfunction takes center stage when a dying father discloses his will.
Comparable Titles: Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney’s The Nest, Jami Attenberg’s The Middlesteins.
Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A
