A Nearly Normal Family

By: M. T. Edvardsson, Rachel Wilson-Broyles - translator

Narrated by: Emily Watson, Georgia Maguire, Richard Armitage

Now a Netflix Limited Series

New York Times Book Review recommends M.T. Edvardsson’s A Nearly Normal Family and lauds it as a “page-turner” that forces the reader to confront “the compromises we make with ourselves to be the people we believe our beloveds expect”. (NYTimes Book Review Summer Reading Issue)

M.T. Edvardsson’s A Nearly Normal Family is a gripping legal thriller that forces the listener to consider: How far would you go to protect the ones you love? In this twisted narrative of love and murder, a horrific crime makes a seemingly normal family question everything they thought they knew about their life - and one another.

Eighteen-year-old Stella Sandell stands accused of the brutal murder of a man almost 15 years her senior. She is an ordinary teenager from an upstanding local family. What reason could she have to know a shady businessman, let alone to kill him?

Stella’s father, a pastor, and mother, a criminal defense attorney, find their moral compasses tested as they defend their daughter, while struggling to understand why she is a suspect. Told in an unusual three-part structure, A Nearly Normal Family asks the questions: How well do you know your own children? How far would you go to protect them?

©2019, 2019 Text copyright M. T. Edvardsson, Translation copyright Rachel Wilson-Broyles (P)2019 Macmillan Digital Audio

Riveting

I could not put it down. Great characters. Great story. Great writing. Excellent performances. Audiobooks at their best.

good story

takes a while to get moving but overall a good listen. dont usually listen to books this long but it was worth the credit.

Slow

Slow and boring. Redundant and just not that interesting. Kept thinking it would get better. It did not.

finally

Couldn't stop listening. Have been bored with so many, this one was good. Goose bumps at the end!

SO GOOD!!

Drove all across Texas the last 2 weeks and didn’t mind at all!! This was an awesome story from the very beginning!!

I usually don't give reviews but.....

This was a really great story. It was told from 3 different point of views and each one was narrated by a different person also, so they really made you see each person perspective and filled in details that weren't fleshed out or made you understand why the other person was feeling the way they were. I think this will be one of the ones I give another listen to later on. Well worth the credit!!

Are you sure you want to know who did it?

A 'nearly normal' mystery turns over every rock and searches every closet looking for the answer. But in this story of a 'nearly normal' family, Stella's parents aren't sure they really want to know who killed the local murder victim.

This is far from a conventional murder mystery. It will be tediously unsatisfying to any reader who wants detectives and prosecutors plunging pell-mell from one dramatic situation to another, chasing one plot twist after another. Especially as some of the characters are plainly resisting acknowledging many of the facts of the case.

Instead, the measured pace of this story gives the characters plenty of time for long philosophic thoughts about their place in the world, their role in the family and what they owe to family vs. society.

The writing is relatively good. The characters are clearly developed and their actions remain consistent to who they are. They are just in no hurry to move on to the next thing.

Expectations of this story will have everything to do with how it is enjoyed, or not. It is designed for a more introspective reader who is interested in human character and questions of what constitutes morality, and who is not in a hurry to get to the solution. Or a book club that would rather dissect the deeper issues of right and wrong than consider the technical merits of the evidence.

Adjust expectations accordingly, and readers who are sympathetic to this style of story-telling will enjoy this book.

Wow …..is about all I can say

Don’t hesitate to read this one. I hate books that are too easy to figure out. Nothing is worse than when I figure out the whole thing half way through and my thoughts get confirmed in the end. This is not one of those books. Just wait and see for yourself. I also want to make sure that anyone worrying they might not like it because it has been translated into English has nothing to worry about. There is nothing at all lost in translation. There’s not the slightest hint that it was originally written in a language other than English.
Be prepared to finish it in a day or two at most because you won’t be able to put it down.

Different format

With 3 narrators telling their POV as the story unfolded gave one a personal viewpoint which pulled one in and truly developed the characters and the scenes.

It kept me wanting to finish to find out the twists

Riveting

Thrilling story about love, family and friendship. What would you do to protect those you live?