This novel really captured my attention because the subject matter is one that I am, unfortunately, very familiar with and the author has done an excellent job creating the character, Josephine. Josephine is the matriarch of the Hurtst family and suffers with Narcissistic Personality Disorder. In the most extreme cases, like the mother in this book, people with NPD don't have any self awareness because, at their core, they have no authentic selves. They put energy into creating and maintaining a

This novel really captured my attention because the subject matter is one that I am, unfortunately, very familiar with and the author has done an excellent job creating the character, Josephine. Josephine is the matriarch of the Hurtst family and suffers with Narcissistic Personality Disorder. In the most extreme cases, like the mother in this book, people with NPD don't have any self awareness because, at their core, they have no authentic selves. They put energy into creating and maintaining an inflated self that requires constant upkeep and effort. They may seem high functioning but all that matters to Josephine, and all NPD sufferers, is whether others believe that their "achievements" are real. Family is important because they help support their delusions of grandeur and they don't know how to truly love. They have an emotional hunger. The more a family member feeds into the narcissists needs the better they feel about themselves. They will pit family members against each other to see who "loves" the narcissist more than the other. If you cross them or don't feed into their hunger, they will turn on a dime to tear you down because they, like Josephine, are the most important person in their world.



I know all of this because my own mother is a narcissist and Josephine was written textbook perfect. It felt like I was reading about my own mother at times. The advice Edie gives Violet about how to deal with a narcissist is absolutely spot-on! It took me a few years to learn that advice. Too bad I didn't have this book when I was working with my own therapist learning how to deal with and set boundaries with my mom. I now go with the fill her up with what she needs every now and again and have firm boundaries that my mother hates. I was never able to set boundaries before therapy and once I learned, she wasn't happy. My mom was never physical with me but she got really pissed when I started setting those lines in the sand. Just like Josephine, she lashed out and accused me of not loving her. But hey...that's a narcissist! I read half of the book in one long sitting and had to take a break because it was getting too familiar and uncomfortable. Then I came back a few days later to finish the book. I also love reading about different psychological issues and again, this book sucked me in from the first sentence. The author has written a biography about her borderline mother, and it's obvious in her writing that Karen knows her "crazy mom stuff". Written from 2 points of view, Violet and Will, the reader gets to see the three dimensional character the author has created. The books started out with a scene with a supposed psychopath who was on her way to a psych ward for what turns out to be a huge fight that ended in violence at home. Violet is the middle child in the Hurst family and rebels against anything "Josephine". She is using psychedelic drugs and fasting to open her mind, however, I think she is really using them as an escape from her crazy family. The other narrator is Will the youngest and I would say is the most warped and psychologically harmed by his mother member of the family. Josephine has him wrapped around her pinky and she gets her narcissistic hunger/love/needs filled mostly by him. At times this was extremely disturbing to read as a mother to 2 sons. At a young age, Will was convinced by his mother that he has a seizure disorder and needed to be home schooled. However, having Will home at all hours of the day gave Josephine the time to get complete control over him. She even could control when he would seize. Rose is the oldest sister but she had left home a year before when she turned 18. Josephine twisted that into a story that Rose "ran away" from home with some mystery boyfriend and even had the police involved. There is a father in the picture but he is a recovering alcoholic and Josephine blames most of her problems on him and he sits back and takes it, never once fighting back.



During the time that Violet is in the psych ward, she learns what her mother is and is shocked at first that it's her mother that's crazy and not her. All of her live, Violet was made to feel that she was the problem child but in reality it was how Josephine framed everything that made Violet look like she had problems when they were nothing but normal teen behaviors of learning their individuality. Josephine didn't like that because if anyone gained their own individuality then she would have less control over them so she schemed to turn things around on Violet.



While Violet is away, Will is at home alone with his mother where things are spinning out of control and Josephine is going into damage control because more details about Rose and her disappearance from the family are emerging. No one in the Hurst family has actually heard from Rose since she left a year ago. Will found a pregnancy calendar that belonged to Rose and started to ask questions. Josephine didn't like the questions and even resorted to mild violence and completely ignoring Will. Unable to understand why she was treating him that way, Will did everything he could do to get his mother "to love him again" and in doing this Josephine again got her narcissistic hunger filled again.



As the story goes, more and more details come out about Rose. Violet even starts receiving letters from her and decides to go to live with her when she is discharged from the hospital. There is a huge climax that, personally, I didn't see coming because I was paying too much attention to the mother and what comes out proves that Josephine is just absolutely evil and has no feelings for anyone. She only cares about herself and how the world looks at her. Read the book if you want more details about this craziness.



I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes to delve into fractured minds because this author's writing is some of the best I've seen in awhile. I have read many reviewers say that they were glad that this wasn't their mom or even Josephine was written way over the top, but I promise you that this is how narcissists behave. Josephine is a 10 on a scale of 1-10 and I know an 8 or 9 level narcissist and trust me, this is absolutely how they act and it is terrible. They also will NEVER change. EVER! This book caught me like a giant fish hook and didn't let go. I will be reading more of this author. 5 stars!