Review: The Frederick Sisters Are Living the Dream

The Frederick Sisters Are Living the Dream by Jeannie Zusy
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

2.5 Stars

I understand that the author based this book on her experiences with her brother. My younger sister, my husband, and I had similar issues with a loved one (my mother), and we didn't have any money, so I think I see things from a slightly different perspective. It's either that, or I am just a cold-hearted bitch. Many issues could have been handled differently, but again I am seeing this from a different perspective. We had legal guardianship of my mother, and I had a steely heart. (enough about my life, I'm just letting you know that a lot of others have gone through similar things but had different outcomes.

Where anyone found humor in this book, I just can't tell you because I found absolutely none.

This book is filled with things that may set sensitive people or people being caregivers off. This seemed like more of a book about slow suicide than anything else, and the fact that the younger sister could not make consistent caregiver decisions.

My mom did not have developmental problems (she was a drinker), but in the end, she was no different than Ginny (Gin-Gin ).

Yes, this is a book about sisterly/caregiver relationships, but it took nearly the entire book for me to get the feeling that anyone was giving honest reactions. Yes, I realize that this is fiction, but for me, it just hit too close to home.
There were a couple of interesting twists at the end, but for some reason, this book didn't seem finished (If you know what I mean) to me.

All in all a good read but a mostly depressing one and no humor to be found.

*ARC supplied by the publisher Atria Books, the author, and NetGalley.

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Synopsis: "Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine meets Early Morning Riser with a dash of Where’d You Go, Bernadette in this very funny, occasionally romantic, and surprisingly moving novel about how one woman’s life is turned upside down when she becomes caregiver to her sister with special needs.

Every family has its fault lines, and when Maggie gets a call from the ER in Maryland where her older sister lives, the cracks start to appear. Ginny, her sugar-loving and diabetic older sister with intellectual disabilities, has overdosed on strawberry Jell-O.

Maggie knows Ginny really can’t live on her own, so she brings her sister and her occasionally vicious dog to live near her in upstate New York. Their other sister, Betsy, is against the idea but as a professional surfer, she is conveniently thousands of miles away.

Thus, Maggie’s life as a caretaker begins. It will take all of her dark humor and patience, already spread thin after a divorce, raising two boys, freelancing, and starting a dating life, to deal with Ginny’s diapers, sugar addiction, porn habit, and refusal to cooperate. Add two devoted but feuding immigrant aides and an ex-husband who just won’t go away, and you’ve got a story that will leave you laughing through your tears as you wonder who is actually taking care of whom."