Unavailable
Unavailable
Unavailable
Ebook121 pages1 hour
The Way the Family Got Away
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
In Michael Kimball's chilling first novel, The Way the Family Got Away, two siblings, a girl aged three and boy aged seven, try to comprehend the death of their infant brother. The story takes place on the road, as their family runs from their grief on a long and painful journey to their grandfather's house, slowly selling off all of their worldly possessions as they go. The children develop careful coping mechanisms to escape the grief and instability of their lives. The girl finds a new family in her dolls and plays out her own pain in the lives she creates for them; the boy makes a meticulous inventory of their trip, cataloging the names of the towns they drive through, the things they leave behind in each of them. Writing through the eyes and language of the children, Kimball tries to make sense of loss, love, and death in this poetic and profound work.
Unavailable
Author
Michael Kimball
Michael Kimball is the author of The Way the Family Got Away, How Much of Us There Was and Dear Everybody, and his novels have been translated into a dozen languages. His work has been featured on NPR's All Things Considered and in the Guardian, Vice, Bomb and New York Tyrant. He is also a documentary filmmaker. http://michael-kimball.com/index.html
Read more from Michael Kimball
Big Ray: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Portals Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Way the Family Got Away
Related ebooks
Hey Dad! Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Memories from a Me-Ma: A Big Sky Collection of Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Roads of Life: A Memoir of Family, Montana, and Enjoying the Journey` Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUncertain Fear Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGrandfather By Another Name: Heartwarming Stories About What We Call Our Grandfathers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBRUSHSTROKES OF LIFE: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy Walk with God: To and From the Farm Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrom Dawn to Dusk: a Hard Row to Hoe: One Man’s Story of Surviving the Great Depression, Dust Bowl and More. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMore Than an Ordinary Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMemoir of a Little Leaguer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGrowing up in the Delta: The Choices You Have to Make to Get Where You Want to Go Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStill Too Sexy: Surviving Right Said Fred Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings"Orphans" with Parents: Lifes Struggles Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJust a Country Boy from Kansas: My Life Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLi’l Red Riding Through the Hood Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBrian and Arthur's Modern Family: Births, Marriages, Deaths and Eveything in Between Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFUNNY THINGS HAPPENED: FROM BRIGHTON TO BOCA Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSpiritual Honey: Restoring the Spirit Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJesus, This is My Story: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Untold Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Gringo Caper Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy Journey from Plainville to Pensacola: The Russell Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Mother's Tears Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBeen There....Done That: The Life and Travels of Charles H Rice Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJennie Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGod Gave Me What I Needed Not What I Wanted Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings22 Pirates Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy Dear and Happy Foods Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSimple Pleasures: A Love Letter to My Grandchildren Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBorn in a Meadow: Memories of World Travels, Jazz, Sports, Business, and Laughs Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
General Fiction For You
Meditations: Complete and Unabridged Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Alchemist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anonymous Sex Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The King James Version of the Bible Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Alchemist: A Graphic Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5War and Peace Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fellowship Of The Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Life of Pi: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Unhoneymooners Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beyond Good and Evil Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Priory of the Orange Tree Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Sister's Keeper: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Outsider: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nettle & Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silmarillion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Body Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Canterbury Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Second Life of Mirielle West: A Haunting Historical Novel Perfect for Book Clubs Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Cabin at the End of the World: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The City of Dreaming Books Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Iliad of Homer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ulysses: With linked Table of Contents Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beartown: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Way the Family Got Away
Rating: 3.3333344444444446 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
9 ratings1 review
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This book is about a family who are making their way from Mineola, Texas to Bompa's house in Gaylord in their car, trading their clothes and other possessions for petrol as they go. The family are a mother, father, brother and sister. We learn early on that the family have recently suffered the death of the youngest baby son from yellow fever, and have decided to move away for a fresh start at Bompa's house, shedding all reminders of their past life as they go. In their profound grief, they take the body of the youngest son with them when they leave Mineola, digging it out of the grave and keeping it in the boot of the car during their journey.The bereavement has a severe effect on the family, and the children seem to feel that they themselves are being stripped away as they lose more and more of their toys and clothes to other children. The mother trades away her wedding dress and wedding rings, while the father gives away his wallet and the contents of the glove box. They are empty, and seem to be trying to get rid of their grief by getting rid of every physical possession that made them what they were before. They hope for a new baby to make the family complete again.The unusual thing about this book is the narration. Each chapter is told in turns by the little boy and the little girl, both of whom have distinctive ways of understanding what is happening to them, and they relate events in ways that make you think carefully about what is actually happening, and are quite heartbreaking at times. The little girl for instance, uses her 'doll-family' to act out how she'd like her 'people-family' to be - her voice in particular gives the book an individuality and a warmth, but at the end of the day, this is a story about tragedy and loss that is worth reading for the children's perspectives on their journey.