Family Pictures

Family Pictures by Jane Green
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When West Coast Eve meets East Coast Grace, a friendship begins until Eve spies a photo of Grace's father sitting in the middle of a table surrounded by other family photos. To Eve's horror she recognizes the man as her own father, who is married to her mother Sylvie. Things are already shaky as Eve is hiding an eating disorder. Lives and homes of both families unravel as untruths and secrets are uncovered.

It was a wee bit predictable as you could see all the circumstances come to a head and blow up around them. Most of the POVs are from the women but Maggie's youngest son, Buck, has a very small chapter. The very emotional chapters are when Eve, who can not control the downward spiral of eating and purging, is near death and her mother Sylvie knows she can not help her. There's also a series of rather lucky circumstances that lead both women in rebuilding their lives - very convenient.

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House of Secrets

The three Cooper sisters have hidden a secret for 15 years, since childhood. If such a secret was exposed, it could change their lives and their fathers - but the time has come for truths to be revealed.

Bailee, 27, has always been a mother hen to her two younger sisters Gina and Piper. She learned early as her mother suffered from depression and mental illness and her father worked constantly. She never learned to make friends since the family moved around the country often and her few playmates were frightened by her mother's outbursts. There were periods in her life that are fuzzy and Bailee is afraid to examine them more closely. When the Cooper sisters' father calls them to return to their childhood home, layers and layers of memories become clear, with frightening results. Can Bailee learn to free herself from guilt and learn to move forward without constant fear?

According to the author of the book, Tracie Peterson, the surgeon general and statistics say mental illness affects approximately one in five people. This book brings to light some of the issues that friends and families dealt with due to a loved one's illness.