Helpful Score: 6
After reading Haigh's earlier book, Bakers Towers, I was expecting another good book. NOT! This books was terrible. It was a family saga, and the family was just so totally dysfunctional it was almost unbelievable The main character was Gwen, who suffers from Turner's syndrome. She was in her 30's for most of the book, but with this disorder, she would always have the body of an 11 or 12 year old. She never developed into "womanhood." From the parents, to the two brothers, there wasn't one character that I liked. I felt sorry for Gwen. She should have been born into a "nicer" family. Thankfully, it was a library book, so I didn't waste a credit. I had to force myself to finish it. For those waiting for this book-------well it is your choice and your credit and time. I would read something else.
Helpful Score: 4
i hated this book - found it to be SO boring. couldn't get into it at all and ultimately gave up on it - something that I never do. total bore.
Helpful Score: 2
TERRIBLE! Extremely boring and really seemed to be about absolutely nothing. I really tried to get through it but ended up giving up, skimmed to get to the end. Depressing. Everyone in this book is unhappy and dysfunctional to the point of being ridiculous. A complete waste of time. I really wanted to like it but absolutely did not.
Helpful Score: 2
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the intricate details of a totally dysfunctional family. Jennifer Haigh's fictional account of a girl diagnosed with Turner's syndrome and the unraveling of a proper New England family is well written with characters the reader may not always like. The reader is allowed access into the lives of each member of the McKotch family as they quickly tear away from the matriarch when they reach adulthood, and live their lives differently than what was expected or predicted of them.
Helpful Score: 2
The McKotch family is torn apart when forced to acknowledge that their daughter Gwen has Turners syndrome. Each family member deals (or avoids dealing) in a different way, and Gwen's illness becomes an excuse for their dysfunctional family dynamics. When Gwen falls in love for the first time, a plot hatched by the matriarch of the family threatens to tear apart their already fragile remaining ties.
The Condition is not so much the story of an illness as it is a portrait of a family. Each of Jennifer Haigh's characters are unique and complicated, and she does an excellent job of portraying the insecurities and misguided love inherent in a family.
The Condition is not so much the story of an illness as it is a portrait of a family. Each of Jennifer Haigh's characters are unique and complicated, and she does an excellent job of portraying the insecurities and misguided love inherent in a family.
Helpful Score: 1
Struggled through almost to the middle before I abandoned it.
Thought the "condition" was to be about Turner's Syndrome, but it concentrated on everybody's else problems so heavily, that I lost sight of what the book was about.
Thought the "condition" was to be about Turner's Syndrome, but it concentrated on everybody's else problems so heavily, that I lost sight of what the book was about.
Helpful Score: 1
This is the second novel by Jennifer Haigh that I've read and I'm a fan. Her characters (in this case a family that fell apart in the 70s, now living dysfunctional lives in the 90s) are quirky enough to be entertaining, but grounded enough to be believable.
"The Condition" refers to Turner's Syndrome, which the only daughter of the family has. As an adult, she is child-sized, undeveloped physically, and in many ways, undeveloped emotionally. Her two brothers feel their lives have been warped by their parents' reactions to her condition and the subsequent demise of their marriage.
This may sound like heavy subject matter, and in some ways it is, but Haigh manages to keep it fresh and riveting.
"The Condition" refers to Turner's Syndrome, which the only daughter of the family has. As an adult, she is child-sized, undeveloped physically, and in many ways, undeveloped emotionally. Her two brothers feel their lives have been warped by their parents' reactions to her condition and the subsequent demise of their marriage.
This may sound like heavy subject matter, and in some ways it is, but Haigh manages to keep it fresh and riveting.
Helpful Score: 1
I thought this book was very thought provoking. It was very different from other books I have read and really makes you think about life and family relationships.
I liked this book. I picked it up used and then after reading a few negative reviews here (linked to the hardback copy, the paperback seems to have more positive reviews) I started it planning to quit it as soon as it bored me. But it never did. I enjoyed the characters and the family dynamic. It was well worth the read and the information on Turners Syndrome was very interested.
LOVED this book - she is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors!
The Condition refers to Turner Syndrome, which is the medical condition of the daughter in the family. The family is initially comprised of a couple with their two sons and one daughter. Their flaws as individuals and as a family are eventually revealed in a stunning conclusion. This book is very well written. Her previous two books are Mrs. Kimble and Baker Towers, both of which are also very good. Check it out at the library if you don't want to buy it. I hope you will and that you will enjoy it as much as I did.
I had a hard time getting through this book. I kept waiting for it to get better. I enjoyed her other books much more.
