FAMILY HISTORY

This is a well-made novel of domestic trauma in the Jane Hamilton mode, carefully thought out and sensitively reported. Rachel and Ned Jensen live in a small town in New England. He's put his hope of fame as a New York painter on hold while they raise a family, consisting for 14 years of one beloved daughter. Just as Kate begins to show alarming signs of teenaged disaffection, a baby brother's arrival complicates matters, and things go from enviable to appalling in a dizzying but convincing plummet. Alyssa Bresnahan does a wonderful job with the voices, especially with the strained, tremulous pain and tension that wrack these very nice people. B.G. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 03]