Review of the Day Bug Hollow by Michelle Huneven

Huneven’s book is a novel about the Samuelson family in Altadena, California..

In the first chapter, you meet Ellis, the son. He has just finished high school and has left the house to spend the summer with his girlfriend, Julia, in Bug Hollow — a counterculture intentional community in Northern California. He has committed to attending the University of Mississippi on a baseball scholarship in the fall. By the time the chapter ends, Ellis has unexpectedly drowned while swimming, Julia realizes she is pregnant with his child, and Julia decides to allow Ellis’ parents to adopt the baby.

If this sounds like a lot for a first chapter, it is. Future chapters jump forward in time. The action takes place in Los Angeles, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Oaxaca, Mexico. There are multiple relationships, affairs, pregnancies. And a bunch of other things happen.

At least in my opinion, this book is a collection of short stories, but, for marketing purposes, it was called a novel on the cover. If you read each chapter on a different day as a self-contained story you will probably find the novel less confusing than I did. I do not know if the multiple affairs will turn you off.

One thing Huneven’s book did was make me think about other stories about families I liked. They include:

The Brothers K by David James Duncan. Baseball, seventh day adventists, the sixties, and some very impressive letters sent through the mail.

American Pastoral by Philip Roth. A father living the dream life has his life radically changed after his daughter commits a violent political act.

One Hundred Years of Solitude, The Accidental Tourist, The Poisonwood Bible, Killers of the Flower Moon, The Liars’ Club,Oedipus Rex, Medea, Transcendent Kingdom, Shuggie Bain, Lucy by the Sea, Beloved, Enemies a Love Story

QOTD: What book about a family would you add?

kindle and libro.fm audiobook. 274 pgs. 3 July.