Pain of Dysfunctional Family

For me, a good book is a book which holds a key to your inner soul. The moment you read it, it will unlock your soul, release all the emotions that you’d been trying to suppress. The more you get to know the characters, the more you wish to understand them. Without knowing it, you start to laugh along with them, cry along with them, smile along with them, sigh along with them… If they did something wonderful, you wish that you can give them a big hug and give then a pad on the shoulder; if they were feeling down or going through the toughest moments in their life, you wish that you can lend them your shoulder for them to cry on, give them an assuring hug, squeeze their hands and tell them that everything is going to be ok.

Not every author can do that. I’d read some very boring and mundane books. I couldn’t connect myself with the characters and they were like total strangers to me. The descriptions were not detailed, powerful and vivid enough. Some could even make me sleep.

After reading Alice Hoffman’s Skylight Confessions, I have to admit that this is a very good book. The story revolves around Arlyn Singer, her son and daughter – Sam and Blanca, and later her grandson, Will.

At the first few pages, I was very disturbed by Arlyn’s actions and choices. This story started with a funeral dinner held for Arlyn’s father. That night, when she was standing outside of her house, she whispered a bargain:

‘The first man who walks down the street will be my one love and I will be true to him as long as he’s true to me’

Later, John Moody showed up in front of her house and asked her for direction as he was lost. After some events, they ended up marrying each other. But it was not a happy marriage. He wasn’t always there for her and most of the times, he didn’t talk to her. Her son, Sam was not as normal as the other children of his age. He always thought of all the bad stuffs and in order to get rid of them, he would stab his fingers with a straight pin. Later we’d get to know about Blanca. By the time her character was introduced, something bad had happened to the family and it’d affected them very badly. Sam had become a drug addict and only Blanca remained as a sweet angel. Meridith, a girl who had a past which she couldn't let go, became their overeducated nanny and played an important and significant role in the two children's life.

As the story began to unfold, sad events happened and each one of them hit the characters very badly and affected them in many ways. Seeing how the characters suffered, I had a strong urge to cry out loud. I tried to fight back those tears but it didn’t work. I even broke down a few times. I know it sounds rather ridiculous but I couldn’t stop it. Everyone makes mistakes. The lucky ones had the chance to correct their mistakes but some had to live with their mistakes and suffered the consequences of their mistakes.

Just like what is written on the jacket of the book, Skylight Confessions is a shimmering, powerfully gripping story of fateful dependence and family history. The story lingered on my mind for a long time and I’d learned some important lessons of life, family and love through the characters. Although this book can be a little depressing and achingly moving, but it is good and we can see hopes at the end of the story.

A tearjerker, this is definitely a wonderful book and it’ll be a loss if I didn’t buy it at the first place. After this book, there is no doubt that I’ll look up for more Alice Hoffman’s books.