Editorial Content for Chorus
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Growing up on a Virginia farm that’s been part of their father’s family for generations, the seven Shaw children are perhaps closer than those of other siblings. Their mother has suffered from depression for as long as they’ve known her (though, given that this is the 1920s, they wouldn’t have the diagnostic language to describe her condition), and consequently they’ve come to rely on one another.
Particularly after their mother dies --- though whether by suicide or an accidental sleeping pill overdose is a debate that will rage among the children for decades --- oldest daughter Wendy becomes the de facto caretaker for the family, including not only her six younger siblings but also their father for the rest of his life.
"CHORUS reminds us of the length of life and its complexity, of the ways in which family relationships both change continually and, at their heart, remain steadfastly the same."
The untimely death of their mother is one of the defining moments of the siblings’ collective and individual life stories. The other is the unexpected pregnancy of one of the Shaw daughters when she’s still a young teenager. Together, these two events --- and the grief, confusion and self-doubt surrounding both of them, for everyone involved --- shape and define the choices they make for the next several decades.
Rebecca Kauffman, whose debut ANOTHER PLACE YOU’VE NEVER BEEN was longlisted for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize, structures her narrative with a creative and emotionally affecting chronology. We see the siblings as children, young adults and, in the long closing chapter, middle-aged adults gathering to celebrate Christmas. We even catch glimpses of the Shaw parents before they were parents, including a heartbreaking glimpse of their mother during what was perhaps the happiest interlude of her life. Chapters move forward and backward in time, from 1903 all the way to 1959. Given that timeline, it’s inevitable that some of the forces acting on the family are external --- such as World War II, which substantially affects the lives of more than one character.
Some chapters are longer and more episodic; others are short vignettes of as few as two pages. But each is well crafted and offers a glimpse of a moment, a revelation or an interaction that enriches and expands our understanding of this family that is both stunningly ordinary and shockingly extraordinary.
At the end of the book, middle child Jack, who has achieved a sort of equilibrium after years of battling alcohol addiction, gazes out over the peaceful hills near his family’s farm, considering how his family might be viewed by the outside world: “Even just one family, God help us, even just one,” he thinks, “is so much, it is so much.” CHORUS reminds us of the length of life and its complexity, of the ways in which family relationships both change continually and, at their heart, remain steadfastly the same.
Teaser
The seven Shaw siblings have long been haunted by two early and profoundly consequential events. Told in turns from the early 20th century through the 1950s, each sibling relays their own version of the memories that surround both their mother’s mysterious death and the circumstances of one sister’s scandalous teenage pregnancy. As they move into adulthood, the siblings assume new roles: caretaker to their aging father, addict, enabler, academic, decorated veteran, widow, and mothers and fathers to the next generation. Entangled in a family knot, the Shaw siblings face divorce, drama and death while haunted by a mother who was never truly there.
Promo
The seven Shaw siblings have long been haunted by two early and profoundly consequential events. Told in turns from the early 20th century through the 1950s, each sibling relays their own version of the memories that surround both their mother’s mysterious death and the circumstances of one sister’s scandalous teenage pregnancy. As they move into adulthood, the siblings assume new roles: caretaker to their aging father, addict, enabler, academic, decorated veteran, widow, and mothers and fathers to the next generation. Entangled in a family knot, the Shaw siblings face divorce, drama and death while haunted by a mother who was never truly there.
About the Book
For readers of Alice Munro, Elizabeth Strout and Claire Lombardo, CHORUS shepherds seven siblings through two life-altering events --- their mother's untimely death, and a shocking teenage pregnancy --- that ultimately follow them through their lives as individuals and as a family.
The seven Shaw siblings have long been haunted by two early and profoundly consequential events. Told in turns from the early 20th century through the 1950s, each sibling relays their own version of the memories that surround both their mother’s mysterious death and the circumstances of one sister’s scandalous teenage pregnancy. As they move into adulthood, the siblings assume new roles: caretaker to their aging father, addict, enabler, academic, decorated veteran, widow, and mothers and fathers to the next generation.
Entangled in a family knot, the Shaw siblings face divorce, drama and death while haunted by a mother who was never truly there. Through this lens, they all seek not only to understand how her death shaped their family, but also to illuminate the insoluble nature of the many familial experiences we all encounter --- the concept of home, the tenacity that is a family’s love, and the unexpected ways through which healing can occur.
CHORUS is a hopeful story of family, of loss and recovery, of complicated relationships forged between brothers and sisters as they move through life together, and of the unlikely forces that first drive them away and then ultimately back home.
Audiobook available, read by Elisabeth Rodgers
