I Have to Tell You Something

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I enjoyed this dramatic family thriller set on a farm in Ireland. Rows over land and property aren't uncommon, and I felt the plot was believable and the characters all had their own reasons for behaving the way they did (apart from one, who was just a pure weapon). Kate and Rob had been arguing with Ursula over a barn conversion, but neither of them would resort to a double murder. Would they? Ursula is written as a strong feminine character, who tried to hard to overcome poverty, shame and trauma, but which undoubtly remains broken and with no will or widsom in realising what that can impregnate on her life.

Rob and Kate never envisaged life on the farm, but they begrudgingly gave up their dreams of Stateside legal careers when Rob’s older brother Mark took his own life so that they could support the running of the family business. They’re stressed, overworked, underpaid and feel unappreciated by Ursula who wants more from them at every opportunity.

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The sad part is that it had the potential to be so good. As I said, the twist was predictable, but it could have hinted at the twist, made it the only possible answer, and then turned it on its head with something totally ‘wow – I didn’t see THAT coming.’ Even far-fetched is preferable to predictable. However, as one of my fellow book club readers pointed out, it would make a great TV show – Keely Hawes as Jay, David Tennant (of course) as Tom and – I’m still working on Edward Blake. Suggestions please. This young adult adaptation of Chasten Glezman Buttigieg’s memoir was such a sweet and wholesome coming of age story. Through his own words, we learn about Chasten’s teenage years growing up in a small conservative Midwestern town, his experience as an exchange student in Germany and his dawning realization that him always being seen as “special” and “unique” might have something to do with his sexual orientation and his struggle to come to terms with that.

Too often, all that a domestic thriller offers is building suspense and a series of plot twists. This novel is well-written and feels more like easy-to-read literary fiction. But it also delivers on the domestic suspense front, and works well as a compelling murder mystery.

Okay, this is going in my 7th & 9th grade classroom library because it is exactly the kind of message adolescents and teens need to hear as they navigate through an awkward & difficult time in their development. My main take-aways: With so much adulterous hanky-panky going on throughout, it is somewhat ironic that the ending should turn out to be quite such an anti-climax – the earth barely trembled for this reader. The enormous length also gives plenty of time for even the least competent armchair ‘tec (i.e., me) to work out the “twist”. I did see that coming! Lots of chopping and changing between referring to people by their surname or first name, confusing on who is who and who is being referred to. This isn't marketed as a crime thriller and that technique only really works in established crime thriller series when the characters are quite well known. Saturated in Freudian material, thought, understanding, interpretation, word-play, fathers and sons, father murder, sexual perversity, a sort of polymorphous perversity coming at you all the time. Hanif Kureishi clearly has also acquainted himself with Lacan.

It’s the story of middle life crises where multiple characters find themselves with much of their life behind them they wonder have they done enough of the right stuff? And how much more can they do and achieve to become noticed and accepted? There are family secrets aplenty, as well as those who fear the discovery of them, but is it really reasonable to think that Jimmy and Ursula's awful deaths could be laid at the door of any of their nearest and dearest?When landowner/farmer James (Jimmy) Kennedy, who has recently been diagnosed with dementia, goes missing, family members rush to alert his wife, Ursula; only to discover that she, too, has disappeared. Despite, initially, appearing, to local police, that a tragic accident may have befallen the couple, local rumour, gossip and speculation soon have the Gardai looking closely at son Rob and his wife Kate. Well I didn't passionately hate it but I didn't like it either. I wouldn't even say it was okay. More on the meh said. Review to come soon. Also, I have no idea why Kureishi had to do this because he handled this way better in other books I read, but he did this huge pet peeve of mine, where literary writers seem to think that the only way to treat sex in literature is to make it grotesque and unsettling and to describe it just so that it's all really disgusting. Now, sometimes it is. Totally. But I am just so, so tired of this trope, especially in a long book that really didn't have any other bright spots to focus on. Unfortunately, in this novel, little is shown and almost everything is described, in such superficial, tedious details, that the reader never develops empathy. There are a whole range of topics raised that could have been explored: sexual abuse; sexual freedom versus repression; migration and return; how we come to terms with the past, but all of these are unexplored in any depth, and certainly sit at the outside of Jamal’s naval gazing, which mostly focuses on his organ size, and why he can’t commit to anything.

I Have Something to Tell You is the young adult adaptation of the hopeful and refreshingly candid bestselling memoir by the husband of a former Democratic presidential candidate about growing up gay in his small Midwestern town. A collection of poems and prose to cradle, comfort, guide and hold space for emotions big and small. Fans of Yung Pueblo, Courtney Peppernell, and Brene Brown are sure to enjoy. I Have to Tell You Something is Zara Bas’s first book of pieces written from the most tender depths of a healing heart exploring themes of love, loss, grief, loneliness and self-worth. Split into two sections of soft and hard truths, these are the words your inner child needed to hear. I Have to Tell You Something by Zara Bas – eBook Details Clearly no contender for Mother of the Year, Ursula also repeatedly broke her promises to her second son Robert and his wife Kate, who lived on the farm and worked alongside the older couple. Their marriage was on the verge of disintegration immediately prior to the two corpses being found at the farm, so it could truthfully be said that Ursula's death gave Kate and Robert a second chance at working out their relationship. Following a tragic event on the farm, Rob, and his wife Kate, put a stop to their fledgling careers and returned home to help out at Glenbeg. Now, many years later, with small children of their own, life is beginning to be a challenge and Kate is at her wits end. This was not the future with Rob that she had hoped and dreamed of. Meanwhile, Rob’s sister, Christine, is a shadow of her former self, a highly sensitive individual, who struggles with living, struggles to survive.

It’s good she’s so invested in working, because she has a lot going on in her personal life and she can use the distraction. When your spouse sits you down one day and says “I have something to tell you”, it’s not usually good news, and her husband’s news throws her entire world upside down. Now, she’s dealing with her husband’s sins, trying to save her adult children from the truth, all while working to save her client from being convicted of murder. All in all, this was a beautiful, raw and honest memoir focusing on Chasten Buttigieg’s early years, giving hope for teens struggling with the same questions, showing that they are not alone and that they deserve to be loved for exactly who they are. It’s also a wonderful resource to use for parents, teachers and others, to reflect on the way to support the LGBTQ+ community, to make this world a safe and inclusive place for everyone. I’m really glad that Chasten decided to share his experience in such a candid way, and I’m sure that this book will give courage and support to so many. Not only by the message in the book itself, but also by learning about Chasten and his husband’s groundbreaking presidential campaign and seeing in practice that there are no limits but that you can reach any goal you have while still being true to who you are.