A Piece of Normal

By: Maddie Dawson

Narrated by: Amy McFadden

Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

“Quite wonderful... Like Anne Tyler, Shelton seems to possess a nearly boundless capacity for empathy. She has the ability to make us love her characters for their faults, not in spite of them.” (Connecticut Post)

Warmhearted, insightful, funny, and poignant, best-selling author Maddie Dawson takes the unfathomable ways of love and family, and celebrates [the joys of] the ordinary craziness of being human.

“You know what people really need? Somebody who will listen hard and then find a way to tell them, ‘It’s not all your fault. It’s going to work out fine. Don’t give up.’” So advice columnist ‘Dear Lily’ Brown deeply believes.

But Lily could write a letter to herself, asking what to do about an ex-husband who still wants her dating advice, how to redecorate the family home she’s kept exactly the same since her parents died tragically young, and how to move on with her strangely becalmed life…And oh, yes, what to do when your wild-child estranged sister storms back into town, blowing your nicely arranged life into disarray.

“As her protagonist tries to learn that she cannot and does not have to control everyone around her and tries to enjoy the "fun" of a dysfunctional family life, Dawson delves into family relationships with humor and empathy, making this a pleasurable read.” (Booklist)

“Shelton’s greatest talent is a gift for juxtaposing comedy and tragedy to the pulsing beat of the modern-day mating dance.” (BookPage)

©2006 Sandi Kahn Shelton (P)2019 Audible, Inc.

Never shut the door on your family's story.

Lots of reminders of how not to act so there are few regrets. Family is ALWAYS Family.

Started strong. Loses its appeal 3/4 of the way through

Was entertaining enough until about 3/4 of the way through. With two hours left I had to skip through to end. I love this narrator and she kept me listening for longer than I would have otherwise.

Very Enjoyable Story

I enjoyed this book very much! It’s funny and heartwarming. At first it’s lighthearted but then later you realize that the story has more depth than you expected. The narrator did a great job as well.

A very frustrating story

I wanted to like it, but no reprieve even til the end. Frustrating plot lines with characters that brow beat the lead character repeatedly and the lead character constantly being self deprecating,The over the top Texas accent facade of the sister was painful to hear. I really love this author's other works, but this book left me emotionally drained and sad and I feel like it was not as advertised based on description, title, and book artwork.

it's cute

this story was light hearted and cute. not life changing but sweet nonetheless. it was fine

Not great

So many times I wanted to stop this audio book and exchange it but I chose to hang in there, well, because those 4 & 5 star reviews had to come from somewhere, right?!? The story itself was nothing to get excited about. All throughout the book I would forget who many of the characters were because they showed up here and there and they played such little roles and the book could’ve done without them. The narrator, oh goodness. I swear there are only about a dozen periods in the whole book because the way she reads is everything sounds as if there is a comma at the end. This doesn’t happen as much when she is “in character” so I don’t know why it’s like that the rest of the time. It is annoying to say the least. The other teeth clenching thing she does is she annunciates certain words way too strongly (bed abounds like bad, dead sounds like dad, barrette is BARRRRette etc.). If you aren’t picky then go for it! I just wasn’t impressed by any of it.

You will hate the characters

I truly hated Teddy and Dana. They were stupid and careless and gross. The sister would be disturbed if she wasn’t so boring and predictable. I don’t understand Lilly’s want to have a relationship with the boring mess. Can’t even finish it.