Fabulous Fiction Firsts #521 "Grief is a curious thing, when it happens unexpectedly. It is a Band-aid being ripped away, taking the top layer off a family. And the underbelly of a household is never pretty, ours no exception." ~ Jodi Picoult

Thu, 04/02/2015 - 9:50pm by muffy

Staten Island native Eddie Joyce (Harvard, Georgetown Law) sets his debut Small Mercies in familiar territory.

Ten years after their youngest son Bobby, a firefighter perished during 9/11, the Amendolas, an Italian-Irish American family is trying to come to terms with their loss. Mother Gail, a recently retired-schoolteacher starts her day by checking on Bobby's room as if she might find him there. Father Michael, a former firefighter himself is watchful and devoted but suffers quietly from guilt and missed opportunities. Older brother Peter, ambitious and brash, escapes to Manhattan and is living the good life of a corporate attorney. Franky, the middle child forever the misfit, still cannot hold a job or his liquor. Tina, Bobby's widow, is finally ready to look towards the future.

As the family gathers together for Bobby Jr.'s birthday party, they must each find a way to accept a new man in Tina's life while reconciling their feelings for their lost loved one. "Presented through multiple points of view, Small Mercies explores the conflicts and deep attachments that exist within families. Heart-wrenching and profoundly relatable, Joyce's debut is a love letter to Staten Island and a deeply affecting portrait of an American family."

For other well-observed portraits of the American family, we suggest Alice McDermott's After This; Stewart O'Nan's Wish Your Were Here; Jami Attenberg's The Middlesteins; and Richard Russo's Empire Falls.