First published 2012
Patrick Melrose stands at the center of a family falling apart. His wife Mary has disappeared into the demands of new motherhood, leaving him feeling abandoned and resentful. His own mother has turned her back on the family, giving away their ancestral home to a dubious New Age spiritual foundation. Meanwhile, his young son Robert observes everything with unsettling clarity, absorbing adult conflicts he should never witness. The Melroses once commanded wealth and status, but those days have crumbled into memory. Now Patrick navigates a landscape of marital strain, family betrayal, and the weight of decisions that will determine whether this damaged lineage can survive. As his mother's involvement with assisted suicide deepens and his marriage fractures under pressure, Patrick must confront whether the next generation can break free from the destructive patterns that have defined his family for so long. The arrival of new life brings unexpected moments of grace, suggesting that even the most broken families might find their way toward healing.
Genres: literary-fiction, contemporary, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-drama, generational-trauma
278 pages · Paperback · Picador USA
Content warnings: mental-illness