The Other Son

Thank you NetGalley and Amazon UK for the eARC.
What an utterly lovely book this is, I loved it!
The story features 69-year old Alice and her two grown sons.  The story is told in each of their voices.
Alice has been unhappily married to Ken for 50 years and fantasized about leaving him.  She's also trying to bond with her successful banker son, his Russian wife and their small sons...unsuccessfully.  
Her other son is in France, basically lost to the family.  It's not easy to like Alice, her husband and her banker son's family, but I felt sorry for each one of them, it's like they couldn't get out of their own ways.  None of them are happy, but don't know why.  Her husband, on the other hand, is a bully and doesn't seem to have any redeeming qualities.
When Alice finally leaves him, sporting a big black eye, it feels to her like she's in an out of body experience and eventually reached a peace she would never have thought possible.
The family dynamics are sad, but beautifully and sensitively drawn, I could totally empathize with them and was very happy with the ending.  Nick Alexander writes such exquisite books!  Highly recommended.

I received a copy of The Other Son from Net Gallery in exchange for an honest review.
Alicias has been married for a long tome but her relationship just seems to be plodding
She has 2 sons, one a banker, and the other a person who runs all over the world to make a living.
When a crisis occurs in her marriage, She begins to realize that she hasn’t been happy all these years.
Can one of her sons help out and enable to find happiness
A good domestic thriller.

Another fantastic book from Nick Alexander. His characters always draw you in and are totally believable so much so that you feel that you know them.  He is a kern observer of human nature and this runs through all his books. The books are a treat to read and I always look forward to the next one.

I’d like to thank Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Other Son’ by Nick Alexander in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
After living with her abusive and bullying husband Ken for forty years, circumstances force Alice to make a decision and she packs her bag and leaves him.  Her older son Tim won’t take sides despite watching Ken beat his mother black and blue throughout his childhood years.  Alice is staying with her friend Dot and sleeping on her sofa, but she can’t stay there for much longer.  She doesn’t know where her younger son Matt is as he’s spent the last few years making a living whilst backpacking around the globe.  Could he be the one to help Alice start a new life?
‘The Other Son’ is a beautifully written story of a dysfunctional family and tackles the subject of abuse behind closed doors with sensitivity and compassion.  Due to being married to a man who only regards her as a skivvy fit for nothing more than ironing his shirts and making him cups of tea, it’s little wonder that some of his negativity has rubbed off on Alice.  It takes new scenery and meeting Matt’s friends that makes her realise that even at 69-years-old she can still achieve what she wants in life, to find the peace and quiet she never thought possible.  This is a lovely story with a perfect ending and I can definitely recommend it.

This novel reminds me of a Tolstoy quote.. loosely repeated, every unhappy family is unhappy in a different way. This book is a beautifully told story of one very  unhappy, dysfunctional family. Two sons, who are as unlike as fire and water, are the result of familial abuse. A heart wrenching story of acceptance and self realization, the author renders his characters with honesty and skill. I felt I knew them at the end of the novel. The mother was so well depicted and eventually enlightened as to her failings and negativity. She was constantly trying to make the unbearable bearable. Perhaps that’s what abusive relationships create. I am delighted I was offered the chance to read this wonderful story.

Loved this book. Beautifully written, with well drawn characters, I would have no hesitation in recommending.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me to read a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Really enjoyed reading this book. Story of Alice and Ken’s marriage is one that I am sure many readers will relate to. Yet another good book by Nick Alexander

Before we get into The Other Son by Nick Alexander, I want to warn readers [TRIGGER ALERT] that this book describes scenes of domestic violence that might be hard to read for some people.

Now that we got that out of the way, let’s get to what we came for. Our main character is Alice, a woman in her late 60s and with more than a fair share of regrets in life. Stuck in a marriage with a man she doesn’t love and disconnected from her now-grown children, Alice is finding it hard to continue to avoid her desolation.

I will start this review by admitting that I had to force myself to read through the first half of the book. During this part of the story, we get to know our main characters from the omnipresent perspective of our all-knowing narrator. And let me tell you, the sight ain’t pretty.

We meet Alice, who has lived almost her entire life avoiding conflict at a very high cost, her clueless husband, her emotionally isolated older son, and his insecure wife, who is traumatized by her own backstory. We also hear about a second son, who’s recurrently described as average and underachieving, but nowhere in sight.

The book dedicates a lot of time describing each character’s emotional state and the experiences that influenced it. The main characters are so “in their head” and unaware of the needs of those that surround them (or even how to relate to them) that you quickly lose sympathy for all of them, even Alice. I would be remiss to not mention that these characters’ tragic flaws are not without reason. Still, their deep-seated resentment for life and for each other is painful to read.  They all seem so unhappy yet passive to their circumstances. Everything about this family is just sad.

“The tears are flowing freely now and Alice lowers her head into her hands and lets herself sob. She’s been busy, that’s the thing. She’s been very, very busy for a very long time — busy avoiding conflict. She’s spent her life not mentioning things, not noticing things. She’s had to become an expert at not thinking about things, and not having emotional responses, just to survive.”  Excerpt from The Other Son by Nick Alexander
 
For a while there, I had no idea where this book was going. I kept thinking, is this one of these books where the author describes a period in time and, while beautifully and insightfully written, the story is just a flat line?

Then we meet him, the other son, and it all starts coming together. And, it’s worth it! This story’s unraveling is quick, but also delicate, meaningful and mesmerizing. Nick Alexander definitely delivers.

The Other Son is a story of learning to leave the table where happiness is no longer being served (a bit of an adaptation of Nina Simone’s wise advice) and letting love flourish. This book is not for everyone, but if you would like to read about an antihero who finds her courage and recovers her humanity, this might be the book for you.

The Other Son is compelling not because of grand moments but because of the way Alexander examines the mundane elements of life. A move by a friend causes Alice to question her decisions and her marriage, as well as her relationships with her two sons. It’s a book about taking stock of one’s life and taking agency.

Another good read by nick Alexander! Full of the complexities and dynamics of family life!
Alice the brow beaten, physically abused wife of ken has two very different sons Matt and Tim unfortunately the family are not a close open engaged family.
The book is told in parts, but the over riding feel is that what we are subjected to/ witness as children has far reaching effects upon us throughout life. The sensitive topic of domestic abuse is portrayed in a delicate but realistic manner as is coming to terms with homosexuality.
Alice finally breaks free from the controlling bullying ken and in doing so sets herself free, and reacquaints herself with son Matt and his basic lifestyle and becomes far more in tune with her feelings and emotions! 
Thank you net galley for this early read x

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher.  I really enjoyed this book as I have done with all the other books this author has written.  Well worth a read.

What a fascinating read. The story follows Alice who is in the midst of deciding whether to leave her husband after a life time of abuse. I found I was sympathetic towards her until she is shown in a different light by the thoughts of her daughter in law and son who struggle with her behaviour. The reflection of her character by someone else, showing something different. The next part is the views from her other son, the sone living in France who couldn’t be more different to his brother. 
An absolutely fascinating book with amazing characters and a great story

Had mixed feeling regarding this one .I will definitely read more from this author.
For complete review please visit my site melodyofbooks.com

I received this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) through NetGalley. It was originally published I UK in 2015, 12/17/19 is US release
This is a story about a dysfunctional family. It takes place in London area.
The characters are Alice her husband of 50 years Ken, they are in their late 60’s almost 70’s. Their son Tim and his wife Natalya, and their other son Matt.
This book did a bit of timeline jumping, it was broken up into parts, Part 1 was about Alice and her marriage to Ken and her view on her relationship with her children. Part 2 was from Natalya and Tim’s view on their life and their relationship with Alice and Ken. Part 3 is a bridging section between what happens to Alice after Part 2 that leads to Part 4. The first part of Part 4 is from Tim’s point of view of his life, and the final part is from Alice’s view of Tim’s life and making some revelations about her own.
There is some touchy topic, abuse, drinking, prostitution, human trafficking.
I really enjoyed this book, I know that it has lots of triggers and may not be appropriate for everyone. I found the characters to be very realistic, even if they were not all likable. As a domestic abuse survivor myself I was really able to relate to Alice, Tim and Matt and understand their motivations for the choices they made. But I realize it is a heavy topic. It was a really well written book and compelling characters to me.

Thank you NetGalley for my copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review. 

I would like to start out my review of this book with a simple oh my god. This book is seriously fantastic. Now, let's break it down: 

First things first, the characters. The Other Son is very much a character-driven novel. That isn't to say that it is lacking a plot, because that is very much not the case. But the characters are the real focus here. The story centres around Alice, her husband Ken, and her two sons Tim and Matt. The story starts out from Alice's perspective, in the third person, and then it shifts so that we get to see what others think of Alice. We are given insight into Alice's thought process as she does or says something, and then later get to see what other characters make of Alice's behaviour. Perhaps this sounds a bit complex, but the way that the author does this is seamless. It comes across as natural; it is really well done. As I was reading this book I started to ask myself if I have seen this done before, and I don't think I have. Or if I have, it wasn't memorable. 

The characters in this novel feel so real. I feel that I could sit in a room with each and every one of them (although I certainly wouldn't like all of them) and have a conversation. They each have their own unique voice; I never had to re-read a line to try to figure out who was talking (a pet peeve). This is all so essential in a character-focused work, because it is what keeps the reader interested. 

That being said, the storyline is intense and emotional. It isn't fast-paced, but I was riveted all the same. Expect to laugh, then cry, then laugh, then perhaps cry some more. You may even cheer at points (I know I did). However, please don't read this review and then expect an action-packed thriller. The reason that the plot is so intense is because of the characters. The well-developed, phenomenally realistic characters. I apologise if I'm repeating myself, but I am honestly so excited by how much I loved this book.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

A woman lives in an abusive marriage and becomes negative and bitter.  She makes a decision and is reconnected with her youngest son.  After meeting his friends and getting to know to know both him and them, she makes positive changes in her life and finds peace.  

I love the plot twist at the end.  Great characters.

I took a little while to get into this story, I think due to the main character Alice being in her late 60s and so at a different stage in her life to me (having grown up children, attending funerals for her friends etc.) but once I did I really enjoyed it!

The book follows Alice as she finds herself stuck her marriage with a husband who, if she is being honest with herself, she doesn’t love (and isn’t sure she ever did). This is worsened by the fact that she is becoming more and more disconnected from her two grown up sons.

The story is almost split up into three sections, a focus on Alice, a focus on her eldest son and finally a focus on “The Other Son”.

Alice’s eldest son is a high achiever, with two beautiful boys and a “trophy wife”, however, as is the case in this book, not all is well. He is struggling with the need to be enough and his wife Natalya is struggling with her own demons from the past. At first I found Natalya to be annoying and I really disliked her, however the more I read the more I began to understand her and felt more towards her. I would really like to read more about this character!

The final section was my favourite and where the story all begins to make sense and come into it’s own. Matt is “the other son” who all through the book is referred to as being the failure of the family and he is aware this is how they see them so has made a conscious effort to distance himself from them. However, when he hears that his mum has finally left his dad he feels it his duty to step up and help her (with a little encouragement from those around him). 

Although, as I said I struggled to get into this book, once I did I really enjoyed it and I think it is a really beautiful story of family. The characters are so well written and for a time I wasn't sure if there was going to be a story line or if it was more just going to focus on a time in the characters life (I mean this in the best possible way!). 

Trigger warning: the book describes scenes of domestic violence, drinking, prostitution, human trafficking.

Family relationships can be quite complicated, especially when domestic abuse is involved.  Is it ever too late to heal relationships torn by abuse?  This well written  book is thought provoking, heart wrenching and ultimately satisfying.

This was an interesting book to read.  It is about Alice and her marriage to Ken.  It is also about Alice and her two sons.  Tim, who was a successful banker and Matt who traveled all over the world and she called him, the other son.  I was so sorry for the way the boys had to grow up and as an adult, we saw the flashbacks of the memories that he had lived through as a child.  His brother, Matt had built a new life on another continent and he was happy.  He inspired a lot of people where he was living and he was happy.  When his mother came to visit, the book started turning around.  We saw her changing her viewpoint on different things.  I cried when Marr finally got what he had always wanted and had given up on, his mother's approval, and she gave it to him when she told him how as he was younger she had felt disappointment in him bus since coming there to his new life, she saw everything and was so proud of him.
The book gave us a glimmer of something and I am hoping there will be a book that takes us on a journey starting with the glimmer.  I received an ARC from NetGalley and when I read what the book was about, I thought so many people, including me, would understand this book because so many have lived through some of what they did.  We have choices, carry on as we learned or blaze a new trail.  That is my kind of book.

Oh snap! Looks whose coming to dinner! It's Alice or is it her son's and their partners...
You know life is funny and sometimes it brings us not what we need but what we deserve!
Many marriages are spent hoping not living for the best.
Many are spent with the kids in mind as top priority.
Many are spent wasting their lives away for the sake of others involved.
This is one such case in which everything is not as it seems.
In fact, Alice is leading quite a life and the sons well they have their own story(ies) to tell.
I mean after all everyone has a story.
Matt you go boy! Ken needs to rot in the place down under. Alice - woOO girl you got some issues but I'm thrilled they are finally being addressed because it's no joke.
Nuff Said!
Go and get yourself a copy stat!
Enjoy!