Author: Rebecca Hardiman
Genre: General Fiction
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication Date: March, 2, 2021
Book Description: A hilarious and heartfelt debut novel following three generations of a boisterous family whose simmering tensions boil over when a home aide enters the picture, becoming the calamitous force that will either undo or remake this family—perfect for fans of Where’d You Go, Bernadette and Evvie Drake Starts Over.
When Kevin Gogarty’s irrepressible eighty-three-year-old mother, Millie, is caught shoplifting yet again, he has no choice but to hire a caretaker to keep an eye on her. Kevin, recently unemployed, is already at his wits’ end tending to a full house while his wife travels to exotic locales for work, leaving him solo with his sulky, misbehaved teenaged daughter, Aideen, whose troubles escalate when she befriends the campus rebel at her new boarding school.
Into the Gogarty fray steps Sylvia, Millie’s upbeat home aide, who appears at first to be their saving grace—until she catapults the Gogarty clan into their greatest crisis yet.
With charm, humor, and pathos to spare, Good Eggs is a delightful study in self-determination; the notion that it’s never too late to start living; and the unique redemption that family, despite its maddening flaws, can offer.
Review: 3 Stars
Review: When I read the synopsis of this book I had so many high hopes that I would read this delightful story that would have me smiling and laughing the entire time. While the author gave us these moments they were so far and between that you had to learn to savor them.
Millie is eighty-three and her family is starting to question whether she can stay by herself any longer. When she is caught shoplifting her son Kevin is forced to get her home help. Kevin is out of work and caring for his four children including Aideen who is having major behavioral issues. This starts the premise for this story.
Told in multiple points of view this debut author weaves together a tale that at times was fresh, but also felt had been done before in the overall arc. We have fallibility in all three characters, which I found redeeming, and the author gives us a solid ending that will leave you at peace with this family story.
The book is fine, but with so many similar titles out in the last few years, I am not sure this will be a standout in this canon of books.
Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Obsessed Bookaholic 