I just finished The Summer We Fell Apart…moments ago.   It was truly wonderful in a “you pretty much have to love flawed characters”  kind of way.   It was interesting to read about a mother of four children who is so self absorbed and selfish that the care and feeding of her own children was left to her oldest daughter, Kate.  It is the one year anniversary of my own mother’s death and I think of how her entire life was devoted to me and my two brothers and my sister.  She loved us so much and cared for us so much and was so concerned about our needs…quite a contrast.   The flaws within this family are serious and life threatening.  Is this what happens when you have a mother and a father who just don’t care?   The parents in this book are so caught up in themselves and their roles as  second rate writer and second rate actress that their many affairs and  on and off interest in the lives of their children are truly  responsible for shaping  the personalities of their children even as they become adults.  Whew!!!  The book is wonderfully divided into the family’s early days and then chapters that profile each adult child.  The ending is thought provoking and satisfying.  A really interesting first book by this author.