The Condition

By: Jennifer Haigh

Narrated by: Jennifer Van Dyck

The Condition tells the story of the McKotches, a proper New England family that comes apart during one fateful summer. The year is 1976, and the family - Frank McKotch, an eminent scientist; his pedigreed wife, Paulette; and their three beautiful children - has embarked on its annual vacation at the Captain's House, the grand old family retreat on Cape Cod.

One day on the beach, Frank is struck by an image he cannot forget: his 13-year-old daughter, Gwen, strangely infantile in her child-sized bikini, standing a full head shorter than her younger cousin Charlotte. At that moment, he knows a truth that he can never again unknow: something is terribly wrong with his only daughter. The McKotch family will never be the same.

Twenty years after Gwen's diagnosis with Turner's syndrome, a genetic condition that has prevented her from maturing, trapping her forever in the body of a child, all five family members are still dealing with the fallout. Each believes himself crippled by some secret pathology; each feels responsible for the family's demise. Frank and Paulette are acrimoniously divorced. Billy, the eldest son, is dutiful but distant, a handsome Manhattan cardiologist with a life built on compromise. His brother, Scott, awakens from a pot-addled adolescence to a soul-killing job, a regrettable marriage, and a vinyl-sided tract house in the suburbs.

Gwen is silent and emotionally aloof, a bright, accomplished woman who spurns any interaction with those around her. She makes peace with the hermetic life she's constructed until, well into her 30s, she falls in love for the first time. And suddenly, once again, the family's world is tilted on its axis.

Compassionate yet unflinchingly honest, witty and almost painfully astute, The Condition explores the power of family mythologies - the self-delusions, denials, and inescapable truths that forever bind fathers and mothers and siblings.

©2008 Jennifer Haigh (P)2008 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"Filled with genuine insight and touching lyricism." ( Kirkus Reviews)

And then it ended!!!!

I was enthralled from the first word.. an amazingly honest and poignant story. The characters were painfully true, with all their day to day worries and insecurities. A family that unravels drifts apart and then comes together again in the most fragile way.

A story we can all relate to on some level.

Good Contemporary Fiction

I agree with the person above, contemporary literature can take many forms, it doesn't have to be just the bestseller thrillers. This book does a great job with some real "Today" issues, while being entertaining, touching and ironic and downright funny in parts. Loved it!

By the way, the previous reviewer may enjoy books by Don Delillo, Richard Russo, the book "Return to Wando Passo," and the book "The Abstinence Teacher" if they are looking for good, "alternative" contemporary choices. There's lots of others, check out Oprah's list. I haven't been disappointed yet.

Poor recommendation....

Like another reviewer, I chose this book based on the Audible recommendation, and I, too, was very disappointed. The author continually presented situations where the characters could make a choice and change their lives, but instead they consistently made bad choices. There were so many opportunities to give the characters some depth; it's too bad the author kept her characters so one-dimensional.

We each have to live our own truth

If you like stories about self-acceptance and families, you will like this book. It is an interesrteing story that reminded me that we each have to be true to ourselves, no matter is it means certain relationships run the risk of being forfeited.

Awesome read

I didn't want this book to end. And really, it could have gone on for another 14 hours. The writer must have been reading my mind as this was a perfect listen.

Full of insight and delicate nuance, this book took hold of my attention from the start. There is a vast range of terrific characters with understandable frailties, described and defined with stunning clarity. There are commonplace situations that this writer infuses with depth and dimension, finding wondrous realizations in everyday life and elevating the ordinary to a spiritual level.

The narrator was one of the best I have heard. Ironic when appropriate, but not heavy on drama or thick with accents.

I may have to listen again.

I will add one thing. It seems that I have recently read a fair number of audiobooks that, while very good, are not contemporary. This must be the fourth book in a row that takes place in the 1990's and early 2000s. Are all the recent books confined to the violent thriller bestseller genre? Since thrillers are not my preference there appears to be a lack of current fiction with a "family and relationships" theme. Introspective books that explore emotional perspectives seem to be missing from audible's selections lately.

One of the best...

I loved this book. The genre of "flawed family dynamics" can be really good or really bad...and this was a really good one. The characters of the family were well developed and believable, and the addition of a daughter with an unusual medical condition was accurately described with empathy. I could have listened to this one straight through, if my life hadn't interfered...

An interesting, realistic and intreaging book

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. The story is unpredictable, full of twists and turns you never expect. The story is a totally realistic account of the characters' lives.

What did you like best about this story?

I like how it is not a story told by a narrator only or one specific person but you get each character's perception of his and the other's lives.

What does Jennifer Van Dyck bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Passion and clarity on each character. I would have got confused when there was so much switching between characters.

If you could take any character from The Condition out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Scott. He seems to be underestimated throughout the book and is living in a way that everyone expects of him.. with a mediocre life and as an underachiever. He is the character that reflects the most on his life, realizes more profoundly how he has affected his future and that the other characters are not to blame for his failures. He is the one that tries the hardest to be more and he gives up more to be better and help his family. He tries the hardest to be the most emotionally stable.

Any additional comments?

I can't wait to listen to it again :)

Love can be UNconditional

This book was good, and I found the family story interesting, but it got a bit long in places in my opinion. It also jumped around a bit frenetically from character to character. I did learn about a syndrome that was new to my base of medical knowledge, and in an affecting way.
The narrator was fabulous; I have listened to so many audiobooks and Jennifer Van Dyck, who read this, was absolutely smooth and beautiful as a narrator. I will definitely be on the lookout for more books read by her!
The end of this story ties it all together well, and made me smile.

Interesting family saga

I hated the loud musical interludes and that the reader had all the women with the same whiny voice. Other than that an interesting story with an abrupt end.

honest, sharp story, plus new info, too

Fascinating, lively meditations on love, gender, what sex means; all rolled up with info on a sexual genetic defect, into an engrossing saga of the individuals in a messy family over some thirty years. At first you think that "the condition" is merely a genetic problem that the little girl suffers from, and gradually you begin to see that each of the characters has their own "condition," with which they each struggle. And, though the novel is a story of problems, it doesn't feel dark. There is some cheer. People do evolve. Transformations are made. And the narrator is excellent. A note, though, for anyone wanting to use this audiobook in a noisy environment, as I attempted to: the narrator uses a breathy voice that is pleasant for listening but which does not carry well in competition with noise. Save this good book for a quiet place.