From the Wall Street Journal, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Seattle Times:

Reviews of “The Condition” by Jennifer Haigh.

Seattle Times: The place and the season are familiar: the beaches of Cape Cod during summer. Also familiar is the cast of characters: an upscale, dysfunctional family. However, the similarity with typical summer fluff ends there. Jennifer Haigh’s new novel, “The Condition,” is a serious work of fiction and, surprisingly, a page-turner as well. Haigh (“Baker Towers”) has previously won both the PEN/L.L. Winship Award and the PEN/Hemingway Award, and this novel showcases her considerable talent.

Wall Street Journal: The condition that gives the novel its title is Turner Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that prevents females from physically maturing. The discovery of Gwen’s plight ultimately fractures the family: Paulette’s protective instinct leads her to try to carry on as though nothing has changed, putting her in direct conflict with Frank, who desperately searches for new developments in medical research that might aid Gwen.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: … The central question of the story — how a child whose genetic condition keeps her physically immature can finally be allowed to grow up — is compelling. So is the personal growth of the McKotch family members as they confront it.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 5th, 2008 at 5:05 am and is filed under books, families, genetics, personal stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.