Fault Lines by Nancy Huston

Fault Lines

Nancy Huston

Snapshots of life of four generations of the same family, seen through 6-year-old eyes. Concentration is needed as the book starts in 2004 and works back to 1945 via 1962 and 1982, so I found myself continually flicking back to check what was what- but it's well worth any effort. Particularly recommended for reading groups interested in the nature versus nurture debate; NOT recommended for those who prefer to take a rosy view of children.

Extract
'She grew up in Canada,' says Mom, 'and she never talks about the first years of her life but the fact is that they were spent in Germany. Listen, darling, it's important to me to find out as much as I can about this. It's for your sake, too, you know? I mean how can we build a future together if we don't know the truth about our past, right?'
'For Christ's sake, Sadie, the kid is six years old.'
Parallels
  • We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lional Shriver
  • Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Buy this book Borrow this book
Violence
Explicit sexual content