Kris D'Agostino

In The Antiques, by Kris D’Agostino, a storm comparable to Superstorm Sandy bears down on the mid-Atlantic coast, just as the storms within the lives of the Westfall family gather steam and hit. One sex addicted sibling is trying to complete a sale of his most recent start up that will make or break him. One sibling must balance a child’s probable autism, her superstar client’s demands, and her husband’s suspected infidelity. The third sibling is still living in his parents’ basement. As the storm hits, their father dies, and they must work together to decide whether they ever have been, or can continue to be, a family. The characters are well drawn, and the narrative moves along briskly. My biggest complaint is that there are no characters I truly liked, or with whom I could relate. But perhaps that’s what makes the Westfall family like one’s own family. *I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*… (mer)

The Westfalls seem inconvenienced but mostly unbothered by the hurricane acting as the backdrop for Kris D'Agostino's The Antiques. The weather is as normalized as are stormy interactions between family members. The book begins as the Westfall children are notified that their father nears death and so they leave their personal miseries at their “adult” homes to go back to their childhood home.

When patriarch George lives, his wife Ana is irritated by him and his children feel cheated out of some measure of love and approval. Of course in death, George becomes a wonderful husband and father, except when he’s not, but mostly he enjoys the privilege of the dead. So there they all are, under a hurricane warning, and their family business literally and figuratively under water thanks to a foundational crack. Oh, yeah, they have to sell a Magritte painting, which has become iconic in their imagination in all the various ways it elevates their view of the family. The reader wouldn’t expect much of these people IRL. Sometimes life sucks and all you can do about it is snipe at your siblings.

The Westfalls may present an outmoded family structure for most North Americans. When starlet Melody Montrose crashes the memorial, she provides a lovely source of light. She is so comfortable among the Westfalls that she may as well be family. Her willingness to put up with sex-addicted techie, Josef, stalker and furniture maker, Armie, and flustered mother and publicist, Charlie, helps the reader to put up with them as well. Wild Hollywood stars are known for making everything better.

I do not like the characters–pretty much ever. Their transformative arcs are so minuscule that I wonder if they can even be counted as such. But by the end of the book, I accept them, and their minute inner journeys, as family.

I feel better knowing that, while hurricanes linger, tornadoes come and go. Let’s hope for the Westfalls, the storm won’t last too long.

While listening to voice actor Amy McFadden, I heard Samantha Bee, which seems appropriate as The Antiques is a comedic novel. Dark comedy? Dramady? In any event, the comedic delivery is helpful because otherwise the book could be too dark. I didn’t pick up the French and Greek accents straight away and maybe never fully appreciated them. I also felt like the voicing for Ana made her less sympathetic than she would be based on text alone. Even so, I listen to a crapton of audiobooks and like McFadden’s voicing better than most. It’s nice to have someone who can convey emotion and still enunciate.

I received a complementary copy for review.
For the full review: http://reblnation.com/book-review-the-antiques/… (mer)