Summer Brother
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- $5.99
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
LONGLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE 2021
Summer Brother is an honest, tender account of brotherly love between a disabled boy and his abled brother, which will resonate with readers of Rain Man.
“Dutch author Jaap Robben’s second novel shows us the shedding of innocence. Summer Brother, translated by David Doherty, shakes out over a hot summer, during that potent lull when characters so splendidly boil, burst and bloom…Summer Brother grapples with the consequences of carelessness and the abuse of power and trust, even if the violation is unintentional…Robben is wonderful at drawing characters with just a few deliberate strokes…Like a photographer shooting a portrait, Robben captures his subjects in Summer Brother in a focused close-up.” —New York Times
Thirteen-year-old Brian lives in a trailer on a forgotten patch of land with his divorced and uncaring father. His older brother Lucien, physically and mentally disabled, has been institutionalized for years. While Lucien’s home is undergoing renovations, he is sent to live with his father and younger brother for the summer. Their detached father leaves Brian to care for Lucien’s special needs. But how do you look after someone when you don’t know what they need? How do you make the right choices when you still have so much to discover? Summer Brother is an honest, tender account of brotherly love, which will resonate with readers of Rain Man.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A teenager's life is upended by the unexpected return home of his disabled brother in this unsettling novel from Dutch writer Robben (You Have Me to Love). Brian Chevalier, 13, lives in a ramshackle trailer with his underemployed father, Maurice. His older brother, Lucien, who has unspecified congenital disability, has been living in a group home, until Maurice accepts a subsidy to take care of Lucien and saddles Brian with all the work while he leaves for long, unexplained chunks of time. With the help of neighbor Emile, squeamish and impatient Brian tries his best. He also risks Lucien's safety, tying him to a bed so he can leave to visit Selma, a 19-year-old resident of Lucien's home, who encourages Brian to sexually experiment with her. As Maurice's shady, threatening landlords pressure him to pay off debts and Brian's new school year approaches, Brian and Lucien's concerned mother, from whom Maurice is estranged, brings the tenuous situation to a head. Flashbacks explain the disintegration of Brian's family and his conflicted feelings about his brother, though the distressing treatment of the disabled characters feels oddly gratuitous. Robben's tragic tale of generational dysfunction muddies the waters to inscrutable effect.
