Everything I Never Told You

On Thursday, August 13^th, the Fixed on Fiction book group met to discuss Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng. Below is a summary of the novel courtesy of Goodreads:

Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet . . . So begins this debut novel about a mixed-race family living in 1970s Ohio and the tragedy that will either be their undoing or their salvation. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee; their middle daughter, a girl who inherited her mother’s bright blue eyes and her father’s jet-black hair. Her parents are determined that Lydia will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue—in Marilyn’s case that her daughter become a doctor rather than a homemaker, in James’s case that Lydia be popular at school, a girl with a busy social life and the center of every party. When Lydia’s body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together tumbles into chaos, forcing them to confront the long-kept secrets that have been slowly pulling them apart.

Overall Everything I Never Told You was very well received by our group with seven thumbs-up votes and one thumbs-down. Here are some of the initial comments readers made when explaining their votes:

• Extremely well-written and it reminded me of Alice Munro. If Alice Munro wrote a novel, it would feel like this given the spare writing and structure of the book. It was sad…but each character’s motivations were easy to identify with…very believable.
• I didn’t like it at first because I was impatient with the characters, but I thought Ng did an excellent job at portraying isolation. I also enjoyed that it was part mystery…and somehow the descriptions of Lydia’s death (or right before she died) felt like a positive thing.
• I enjoyed that Ng took a lot of time and space to tell us who these characters were. I loved the mystery component. But what I liked best of all was the fact that this story described a totally different experience from how I grew up.
• I read for entertainment and this was entertaining…but it also had depth. I liked the implication that we don’t realize just how much our parents affect us, and how you think you know people but you don’t. This family didn’t know each other at all.
• This was a thumbs down for me but I think that’s just a matter of personal taste. Things that other people loved- I found grating. Everyone was miserable and self-absorbed but they wouldn’t do anything about it. James was a bad father. He bullied Nath, pressured Lydia, and ignored Hannah. I did like Hannah and Jack but they had small roles.

On Marilyn and James as parents:

• They were horrible parents! How can you just do nothing but nurture your misery for years?
• They weren’t bad people, they were just inept.
• Most parents aren’t good parents. What training do we have as parents?
• We have to remember this was a long time ago, Marilyn was breaking the mold to even aspire to become a doctor. Those were the days that when a couple got pregnant, they got married.

On the lack of communication:

• We have to remember that during that time, it was an absolute disgrace to see a therapist or a psychologist.
• How could James and Marilyn not discuss her disappearance? When she was gone that long?
• This is an unhealthy relationship, but it can be realistic. A lot of couples don’t talk and communicate with one another.

These are just a few highlights from our discussion. If you have additional thoughts to share on Everything I Never Told You, please feel free to add them in the comments section below!