As Tolstoy observed, "Each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way" — which has made for some great stories. Here's a selection of our favorites.
On the way to and from your holiday destination (perhaps especially in the presence of certain family members), listen to entertaining stories of families that put the “fun” in “dysfunctional.” Some are light-hearted domestic snafus, and some are deeply twisted dramas — whatever flavor you crave, it’s in this buffet.
(And hey — if you are perfectly happy with your family and just like a little schadenfreude, you’re welcome here, too.)
When their father dies suddenly, all four Foxman children are bound by his final request — to reunite in their childhood home and sit shiva for seven days. Confined together for the first time in decades, the siblings are forced to confront the dysfunctional nature of their relationships. If you’ve ever dreamed of skipping out on a religious service (being performed by a rabbi named Boner) to smoke a doobie with your brother, who is currently dating his psychiatrist, this is your kind of story. The narrator, Ramon De Ocampo, comes with the perfect blend of sarcasm and honesty. Alternating between hysterically funny and painfully raw, it will make you thankful that at least the Foxmans aren’t your family.
Jeannette Walls tells, in her own voice, the incredible true story of her childhood. Rex and Rose Mary Walls and their four children lived like nomads, moving among Southwest desert towns, camping in the mountains. Rex was a charismatic, brilliant man who, when sober, captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and above all, how to embrace life fearlessly. Rose Mary, who painted and wrote and couldn't stand the responsibility of providing for her family, called herself an "excitement addict." Cooking a meal that would be consumed in 15 minutes had no appeal when she could make a painting that might last forever.
Later, when the money ran out, or the romance of the wandering life faded, the Walls retreated to the dismal West Virginia mining town — and the family Rex Walls had done everything he could to escape. He drank. He stole the grocery money and disappeared for days. As the dysfunction of the family escalated, Jeannette and her brother and sisters had to fend for themselves, supporting one another as they weathered their parents' betrayals and, finally, found the resources and will to leave home.
Families look different to the people inside them. To son Will, his mother is the protector he’s always needed. Diagnosed with Asperger’s, epilepsy, and a host of other issues, he’s relied on his mother as the one who takes care of him, educates him, and keeps him safe from the world. To daughter Violet, her mother is a terrifying figure who has driven her to commit suicide on the installment plan, a cruel and controlling person that their older sister Rose ran away from in search of a better life. But whose version of Mother is real, the hero or the terror? Told through the alternating perspectives of Will and Violet, the narrator manages to capture the voices of both children without taking sides, letting the reader make up their own mind.
When she was only seven years old, Libby Day saw her mother and two sisters murdered in what they call the “Satan Sacrifice.” Her brother Ben did it — at least, that’s what she remembers. She’s blocked out most of that night. 25 years later, she’s still a lost soul, looking for a way to make quick cash to cover her mounting debts. When the Kill Club offers to pay her to help them find proof that Ben is innocent, Libby reluctantly agrees. As she seeks out the answers to the horrors of her past, she learns more about her family than she ever wanted to know — enough to make her the killer’s next target. Rebecca Lowman shines as the main narrator, but with great appearances by a talented cast that really draw you into the story. But don't get too comfortable; the story is bound to take a few turns that leave you clinging for dear life. Bonus: Dark Places is by Gillian Flynn, author of the runaway hit Gone Girl.
The Plumb siblings have always counted on The Nest, the trust fund their father promised them, to be delivered when the youngest child reaches middle age. They all have big plans for the money. Jack will be able to keep his struggling store afloat and pay off the loan he took behind his partner’s back. Bea will finally be able to finish her novel. And Melody will save her house and send her daughters to college. Then Leo, the oldest son, ruins everything. The Nest is gone — used to fix the damage done by his last drunken mistake. As the siblings re-examine what their lives will mean without The Nest, they’re forced to face what money has done to their family. Narrated with wit and raw emotion, Mia Barron perfectly captures each child's struggle to accept their new reality and find out what remains after dreams are destroyed.
The Nest author Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney says of Meg Wolitzer's sharply funny novel, "I recommend this book all the time because it’s so much fun. Adulterous parents acting like entitled children; wounded children acting like entitled children; everyone aggrieved at the other’s behavior while obstinately blind to their own flaws." 2015 Audie winner Xe Sands brings to life this story of Paul and Roz Mellow, who, in 1975, write a bestselling Joy of Sex-type book that mortifies their four school-aged children and ultimately changes the shape of the family forever. Thirty years later, as the now-dispersed family members argue over whether to reissue the book, we follow the complicated lives of each of the grown children and their conflicts in love, work, marriage, parenting, and, of course, sex — all shadowed by the indelible specter of their highly sexualized parents.
"I spent the first eighteen years of my life defined by this one fact: that I was raised with a chimpanzee," Rosemary tells us. "It's never going to be the first thing I share with someone. I tell you Fern was a chimp and already you aren't thinking of her as my sister. But until Fern's expulsion, I'd scarcely known a moment alone. She was my twin, my funhouse mirror, my whirlwind other half, and I loved her as a sister."
Rosemary was not yet six when Fern was removed from her family. Over the years, she's managed to block a lot of memories. She's smart, vulnerable, innocent, and culpable. With some guile, she guides us through the darkness, penetrating secrets and unearthing memories, leading us deeper into the mystery she has dangled before us from the start. Of Orlagh Cassidy, Salon's Laura Miller says, "A classic example of how a gifted narrator can enrich the audio version of a novel."
Dana is not James Witherspoon’s only daughter. Publicly, she’s not his daughter at all. Her father has a real family — a real wife, a real daughter — that Dana will never be a part of. She longs to reveal who she is to Chaurisse, the girl she knows is her sister. As the two girls become friends, Dana struggles to keep the truth hidden from the girl who has everything Dana has always wanted. With two strong female narrators, you'll feel like Dana and Chaurisse are both confiding in you, whispering their struggles in your ears. Those struggles threaten to tear two families apart — or bring two sisters together.
Listener favorite George Guidall narrates this 2001 National Book Award-winning masterpiece about a family breaking down in an age of easy fixes. After almost 50 years as a wife and mother, Enid Lambert is ready to have some fun. Unfortunately, her husband, Alfred, is losing his sanity to Parkinson's disease, and their children have long since flown the family nest to the catastrophes of their own lives. Desperate for some pleasure to look forward to, Enid has set her heart on an elusive goal: bringing her family together for one last Christmas at home.
Stretching from the Midwest at midcentury to the Wall Street and Eastern Europe of today, The Corrections brings an old-fashioned world of civic virtue and sexual inhibitions into violent collision with the era of home surveillance, hands-off parenting, do-it-yourself mental health care, and globalized greed.
