The Condition: A Novel (P.S.)
The Condition: A Novel (P.S.) book cover

The Condition: A Novel (P.S.)

Paperback – June 30, 2009

by
Price
$11.69
Format
Paperback
Pages
416
Publisher
Harper Perennial
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-0060755799
Dimensions
5.31 x 0.94 x 8 inches
Weight
10.6 ounces

Description

“[Haigh] looks unflinchingly at family ties―the kind that limit and the kind that can actually liberate. The Condition is a satisfying feat of literary choreography.” — Wall Street Journal “THE CONDITION is something rare. . . . Ms. Haigh has a great gift for telling interwoven family stories and doing justice to all the different perspectives they present. . . . A remarkable accomplishment.” — Janet Maslin, New York Times Book Review “Haigh’s characters are layered and authentic. Moreover, one would have to have a heart of stone not to care for them and follow their small sagas. . . . Haigh is such a gifted chronicler of the human condition.” — Chris Bohjalian, Washington Post Book World “Jennifer Haigh illuminates the dark tangle of desire and deed that is the family, that crucible we so often yearn to flee yet keep coming back to again and again. THE CONDITION is unsentimental, compelling, and moving, and I urge you to read it!” — Andre Dubus III, New York Times bestselling author of the National Book Award finalist House of Sand and Fog “The ailment at the center of this remarkable novel is the human condition itself. Jennifer Haigh has written a sprawling, emotionally gripping account of one family’s troubled history, enlivened by her formidable intelligence and deep insight into her characters’ hearts and minds.” — Tom Perrotta, New York Times bestselling author of Little Children and Election “[A] rich, enjoyable third novel. . . . Haigh sets many balls in motion . . . [and] the McKotch clan evolves believably, and satisfyingly.” — People (People Pick) “Poignant. . . . A strong nod to the healing power of love.” — Publishers Weekly “Filled with genuine insight and touching lyricism.” — Kirkus Reviews JENNIFER HAIGH is the author of the short-story collection News from Heaven and six bestselling and critically acclaimed novels, including Mrs. Kimble, Faith and Heat and Light, which was named a Best Book of 2016 by the New York Times, The Washington Post , the Wall Street Journal and NPR.xa0Her books have won the PEN/Hemingway Award, the Massachusetts Book Award and the PEN New England Award in Fiction, and have been translated widely.xa0She lives in New England.

Features & Highlights

  • In the summer of 1976, during their annual retreat on Cape Cod, the McKotch family came apart. Now, twenty years after daughter Gwen was diagnosed with Turner's syndrome—a rare genetic condition that keeps her trapped forever in the body of a child—eminent scientist Frank McKotch is divorced from his pedigreed wife, Paulette. Eldest son Billy, a successful cardiologist, lives a life built on secrets and compromise. His brother Scott awakened from a pot-addled adolescence to a soul-killing job and a regrettable marriage. And Gwen—bright and accomplished but hermetic and emotionally aloof—spurns all social interaction until, well into her thirties, she falls in love for the first time. With compassion and almost painful astuteness,
  • The Condition
  • explores the power of family mythologies—the self-delusions, denials, and inescapable truths that forever bind fathers and mothers and siblings.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
30%
(164)
★★★★
25%
(137)
★★★
15%
(82)
★★
7%
(38)
★
23%
(125)

Most Helpful Reviews

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Sloppy editing, but the story was interesting enough to keep me going

A good editor would've trimmed this by a third. We heard the same stories retold just a couple of pages later (and not from different points of view or with different insights), we read conflicting accounts and characterizations (again, this would make sense if they came from different characters or points of view). But the lazy editing plus the one-dimensional characters made it somewhat disappointing. There were efforts to bring the characters alive, but they were thin efforts. For example, late in the book you get some hints as to why Paulette was interesting and attractive, but in her late middle age you hardly see any of what makes her an attractive person. Why would anybody want to be with her? I recognize that in real life people's multiple dimensions are easily overlooked, but in a book you have a chance to create a more nuanced character sketch.
3 people found this helpful
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The Condition gets it right-- almost.

As a woman with Turner's Syndrome (although physically less obviously affected by it than many), I was fascinated to read Jennifer Haigh's book, The Condition. The book is well written, the characters believable; and the author does get most of the details right, both medical and emotional. What surprised me however was the description of Turner's as being "untreatable". This is not entirely accurate. Turner's Syndrome is not really *curable*, of course; and factors such as short height and infertility are, so far as I know, mostly beyond current medical ability to change. However, hormone replacement therapy can and does effectively treat the lack of secondary sex characteristics associated with puberty; the Turner's individual who takes her estrogen will get her period, develop breasts, and is NOT "trapped in a girl's body".
3 people found this helpful
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Sorely Disappointing

I'm just going to rip into this book...

I got this book, because it looked interesting. Reading about Turner Syndrome (something I knew nothing about) and how it affects a family appealed to me.

I was up to page 100 before anything was mentioned about the disease. It's been a quick read, but it just talks about a family and what they are all about. So far nothing is jumping out at me.

Page 123. Still nothing. Scott seems to be getting the most attention in this book and it's not really all that interesting.

Page 169. Chapter 4 starts here. I hadn't realized it until then, but each chapter has about 4 sub-chapters. They are laid out like a normal chapter, but without a number. This turned me off (even more than I already was).

Ooh here we go. We are finally talking about Gwen and how her condition affects her and her family. Four (4) pages later, we are done with the explanation. Nice.

I finished this book, because by then I was invested in it. Sadly.

This is a story about a family. A family like yours and mine. With our quirky relatives and secrets we all keep in death. It was an easy read, but really, who cares? I feel I could have gone to my neighbors and gotten a good story just as easily.

There is NOTHING in this book that makes it different from anyone else's life. The Turner Syndrome isn't discussed with any detail. We aren't even told how Gwen dealt with it during her school years. It's just brushed over. We are told about her running away to a man on an island that she barely knows. Show me a woman that hasn't done that at least once in her life. We all fall for the mysterious man at some point. Nothing special there. The brothers each have their secrets, (Show me a family that doesn't) and the parents are divorced, but still speak to each other at time. Just your regular American family.

Woop-de-doo

Sorely disappointed.
3 people found this helpful
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Cannot believe people gave this boring novel five stars

If you have trouble sleeping at night then this is the book for you! Cannot believe people gave this boring novel five stars.
The only saving grace was that it was purchased at a deep discount. This author seems to delight in writing extreme details
concerning the hourly affairs of a very uninteresting family. Does anyone really care about these people? The only somewhat
interesting character was Gwen, and it took almost half the book to first get to her in detail. Don't waste your time or money!!
2 people found this helpful
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Captivating but mostly skims the surface

I enjoyed The Condition. It held my interest. But when I finished, and asked myself what it illuminated, I found myself with a confused, rather empty feeling. So much happens, and to so many characters. Part of the problem is that too much of what transpires could be soap opera material, but an even larger problem is that we get only so far with each character and some major event in their life and then we move on. We move on too quickly, and then when we become involved in the new character and new plot, we move on again. I liked the characters enough to want more, which is a good thing, but did not feel that I got more, which is a disappointment.
2 people found this helpful
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Tedious reading

There is a lot of well researched material in this book. But I had difficulty liking any of the characters. I slogged through this book.
2 people found this helpful
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I am stunned. This was brilliant.

This is not by any means an objective review. I was diagnosed with Turners at the age of 11. Gwen's life parallels mine in so many ways its spooky. I was diagnosed at same age in about the same year. I am quiet like Gwen. I am from Connecticut. I met my husband out of the blue and moved away to get married. I am very independent like Gwen and don't like help unless it's absolutely neccessary.
I was not sure I was going to like this book at first. Gwen was not in the beginning much (other reviewers are wrong. Gwen is in the book much more than some have said) I couldn't stand Paulette(Gwen's Mother). I would say to reader's with TS to be patient because Gwen's story unfolds slowly. I loved the ending. I loved how the story was not just about Gwen or Turner's Syndrome. I love how Gwen's life was ultimately defined by her and not by having Turners.
Jennifer Haigh did her homework and studied not just the medical aspects of Turners but the people affected by it. She nailed it. Bless you Jennifer Haigh!
2 people found this helpful
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Interesting but not enough about "the condition"!

This is a book about a family that is slightly dysfunctional—that is to say, a normal family. One of the main characters is Gwen, who has the genetic disease Turner's Syndrome, which keeps her in the body of a pre adolescent.

First, the good: many books with a character like Gwen would have gone for the comedy/drama thing, where she would have been one of several “zany” characters. In this book, it's just about a family, where one of the members has this condition. Also, all of the characters were written about appealingly, so that there were none who were just bad (or good). All of them were developed and had nuance. The way that Gwen fell in love was well done, and the response by her family seemed true to life.

Then the bad (which is more nit-picky type things than something really bad!). Mainly, I was surprised that so much of the book was about the family and not more about Gwen. She doesn't get much play until you are well into the book. Also, since the book was called “The Condition”, I thought there'd be more about, well, the CONDITION! I was really curious about how it would be living with this, living as an adult in a forever-child body, and there wasn't as much about this as I had expected. Again, I probably would have been fine with it had the book not been titled as it is.

Overall interesting read.
1 people found this helpful
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Unlikeable Characters.

The only character that I liked in this book was Gwen. The rest of her family were very unlikeable, whiny people. I did not enjoy this book.
The first chapter was great and I had high hopes but was disappointed. I read the book "Faith" by the same author and loved it.
1 people found this helpful
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Poor representation of Turner Syndrome

While the writing was decent, the representation of Turner Syndrome is terrible. The only accurate part was the short stature and late puberty. I have Turner Syndrome and was disappointed that I couldn’t relate to the trouble the main character was going through. The family was also to wrapped up in their own issues and social image.

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