In reading some of the blurbs about this book in the first few pages and on the back cover, one is led to believe that it is an inspiring story about the power of love and the strong bonds of family. I enjoyed this book very much, but I didn't find anything terribly redemptive or inspiring about it. Aside from about the first 50 and the last 20 pages of this 450 page book, it is a sad tale of the Mulvaney family's downward spiral after something terrible happens to daughter Marianne. What I enjoyed most about the book was the author's incredible talents as a storyteller; as one review put it, it seems as though the pages we read are mirrors of real life that the author's prose so perfectly captures.