Little Monsters

Product Information

David is a more minor character, despite his intense and long-held connections to both Ken and Abby. What do you think of him, especially as another third point in a relationship triangle in which Ken and Abby find themselves★ Do you think he and Abby will end up together in the end, or will they have a less conventional arrangement★ Smart, funny and beautifully written. Brodeur is a brilliant dissector of family relationships, a lyricist of the natural world, and an astute observer of our inner turmoils Monica Ali The siblings are diametrically opposed in personality and temperament. The conservative Ken is a successful real estate developer with political aspirations who “married into an old Boston Brahmin family” and “already had social status and access to money.” The bohemian, single Abby is a “graduate of RISD, 1999” and had been “making art on Cape Cod ever since.” In preparing her father’s birthday present, Abby reflects on her family. She “couldn’t pinpoint a date, but over the last few years, the distance between the three of them had turned into something more palpable, a liquid congealing into a solid. Ken was nursing old grievances, their father’s fuse was growing ever shorter, and Abby felt herself pulling away from them both.” This reading group guide for Little Monsters includes an introduction, discussion questions, ideas for enhancing your book club, and a Q&A with author Adrienne Brodeur. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book.

The prose is fluid and smooth. The characters are bitter, troubled, and flawed. And the plot is a captivating tale about life, loss, heartache, guilt, love, secrets, revelations, acceptance, familial drama, friendship, hope, mental illness, forgiveness, and introspection. David Walliams said, “I hope this book will be the perfect treat for little ones this Halloween and beyond.”

Smart, funny and beautifully written. Brodeur is a brilliant dissector of family relationships, a lyricist of the natural world, and an astute observer of our inner turmoils' MONICA ALI

In a small town like Broken Falls, everyone knows everyone. So it doesn't take long for suspicions to be pointed at the person they know least of all: Kacey. And she begins to realize trust isn't something that should just be given. Published and if you enjoy secrets, family dynamics and our authors love and familiarity for Cape Cod you may enjoy this!* Why do you think Brodeur titled the novel Little Monsters, yet the name of Abby’s painting is the singular “Little Monster”★When I first received an unsolicited copy of Little Monsters to review, my immediate assumption is that it would turn out to be an elevated beach read. The cover – a Cape Cod beach setting – and the description of a complicated family with secrets to share reminded me of many others with similar plotting that always appear in the early months of summer. Little Monsters is a tender, engaging tale that sweeps you away to the idyllic Cape Cod during 2016 and into the lives of the Gardner family, especially siblings Ken and Abby, as the preparations for their father’s upcoming seventieth birthday party will have them finally confronting all the jealousy, resentment, pain, scars, long-buried secrets, and despicable behaviours that have tied them together since childhood. I was very excited to read this book, as I loved the author’s memoir “Wild Game” (which I gave five stars to). The synopsis of this book sounded interesting as I love reading about family dysfunction. The cover of the book is also beautiful. However, I’m left very underwhelmed after having just finished reading this. Adrienne Brodeur knows her way around a family drama. . . Brodeur weaves a story dense with stinging secrets and simmering resentments, rooted in another context that she knows well: the manicured towns and wild fringes of Cape Cod. . . Set against the island’s rippling dune grasses and scrub pines, [the] narrative is as elegantly rendered as it is compulsively readable.” — Vogue

Almost 70yo brilliant oceanographer Adam is struggling to feel relevant in his job and life. He has (mostly) raised his two children Ken and Abby as a single parent after his wife died young. His “little monsters” (his words) are now adults — Ken is a successful businessman / wannabe politician and Abby is an artist. Kacey’s new life is eerily charming compared with the wild highs and lows of the old one she lived with her volatile mother. And everyone is so nice in Broken Falls—she’s even been welcomed into a tight new circle of friends. Bailey and Jade invite her to do everything with them.Maybe we were meant to find each other today. Maybe we’re the Not Okay Girls, and we’re supposed to save each other.” Evil isn’t a spirit or a monster or a ghost. It lives inside regular people, and it doesn’t know the difference between night and day.