The Other Son Kindle Edition

The book is the story about a dysfunctional family. I struggled to get through the first three chapters, where Alice and Ken constantly struggle within their 40+ year marriage. Ken wasn't Alice's first choice, but she felt that she could make the marriage work. It lost chances over the years with Ken's domineering personality (physical as well as emotional abuse), his addiction to alcohol, and harsh expectations regarding their two sons, Tim and Matt. The second part of the book takes us into the lives of Tim and his dysfunctional family. Alice finally comes to life in the third section, calling herself Joan of Arc. Finally we meet Matt, the younger son, who left home years ago to travel and see the world.Alice seeks refuge and help first with Tim, but instead finds an ally in Natalya, Tim's Russian wife. She finally meets up with Matt and the fragments of her life finally begin to mend, when she 'butts heads' with Matt's partner.Having dealt with a 'Ken' I wasn't sure that I wanted to walk down memory lane, but I stuck with the story and began to have compassion for each of the characters. Unfortunately situations such as this are all too common. Some people/families hide it better than others as they live their lives.

At first I really disliked Alice, the mother of Tim & Matt. I didn't care for Tim or his wife Natalie and I really detested Ken, the father. Together their behaviors stank! Mom was extremely negative about everything with a snide, disapproving comment she just had to say. And Tim & Nat were so caught up with trying to purchase the very best of stuff,, living much higher than they should. As for Ken, well for him, I have nothing to say, for that character you'll have to read the book. So who remains? Matt. It is he and his truly remarkable and amiable partner, Bruno, who together clarify the complex histories and relationships of everyone in this emotionally chilling family. The ending chapters are so perfect, the book becomes a classic for generational, racial & gender issues. Really worth getting beyond the likely initial reaction to replace this book with something more comfortable, but, oh my goodness, I sure am glad that I persisted! What a terrific book! 5 stars all the way!

I highly recommend ‘The Other Son’, it was absorbing and had a twist at the end that I did not expect. The plot was well developed and focused on a family with a physically abusive father, who victimized his wife and children the effect on the family and how they were able to begin to heal. The characters and their relationships were clearly defined and relatable. I had not read anything by this author previously but will definitely be reading more by him in the future. Kudos and thank you Nick Alexander for an unforgettable reading experience.

I didn't think I was going to like this book in the beginning, but as I read the book, the characters were extremely well written. I began to empathize with Alice, but couldn't understand her not leaving Ken. When Dot leaves her husband, it looks like Alice will finally leave Ken. Her one son does want to get involved because he has seen too much of his parents terrible fighting and his mother's refusal to deal with it, but his Russian born wife helps Alice to see she must escape. When Alice goes to her other son in France and her life becomes good again, out of the blue her other son get a phone call from Ken that he will send money so she can stay in France. This is after Ken not having talked to Mat for years and always threatens Alice.I am ready the book at about 11:30 at night and I all of a sudden it is over. I can't believe it. Terrible.

I am a great fan of Nick Alexander. You have to like his style to enjoy. I savour the dialogues. So spontaneous, so true. No extra boring details. Every word means something important. I usually read very fast since I have been an avid reader since the age of four but when it comes to Nick Alexander books I read every word slowly, utter pleasure.

Two brothers who grew up in a house with a really mean father and husband, one son marries and has two children who don't always listsen.They traded up to s house much too big for them and much more expensive and are still not happy.The other brother runs away to travel and be meets a much younger and they become s very happy couple. When their mother leaves her husband she goes to the son who has very little but lots of happiness and she decides yo stay.

Very slow start, I was going to put it down and start another book, but my inquisitive mind took me back again and I finally found it interesting (slightly) enough to finish reading it.I feel that there were a lot of loose ends not tidied up, from start yo finish it was hard going. Possibly not my type of genre, maybe someone else would enjoy it

I was not wanting this book to end! I’m happy to learn that there is a short Christmas sequel to follow! The characters came to life on the pages. There were some pleasant surprisesAs I turned the pages. I recommend. I will most definitely follow Nick Alexander.

One of the very best novels I have read in years: sensitive, perceptive of complicated human relationships, and real a page-turner.Ken and 69-yearold Alice Hodgetts have been unhappily married for fifty years. Ken is a boor, and, as we find out later, can be extremely violent when he is angry. They have two sons: Tim, a successful financier, who is married to Russian-born Natalya, who appears unfriendly to Alice allows her no joy from her grandchildren; and Matt, who has been a dropout from university, then from about ten jobs – some quite decent ones - before he went abroad somewhere: she hasn’t seen him for three years, and has always worried about him. Alice reflects on her dreary and joyless life, as Ken and she drive to the funeral of a former colleague of Ken’s in the tyre-remoulding business.We have seen Alice as victim; but there is also another view of her. Tim dutifully sees his parents from time to time. These may both boast to other people about his achievements; but both of them are incapable of showing their approval of him, which he longs for. So he is always in a foul mood afterwards. Natalya has to suffer silently from Alice’s fault-finding.Tim and Natalya are very well off, but both lust after an ever-more luxurious way of living – Natalya because she has come from a very poor background, has grown up in an orphanage, and had worked in a hostess club in London, where Tim had met her. Natalya feels very insecure. A house even more magnificent than their current splendid one is on the market. They buy it, but do not feel comfortable in it. There are two superbly described scenes of the tension between Tim and his parents and also between Tim and Natalya.Alice’s friend Dot, of whom Ken does not approve, is also in a bad marriage. She has left her husband and thinks Alice ought to leave Ken. Alice can’t bring herself to do this, but she puts some money she has kept in cash into a Nationwide account. There will be a violent climax when Ken discovers that she has done this, which forces Alice to leave home. She first flees to Tim’s house, but he doesn’t want to get involved: he has always been frightened by his father, and says that fighting is just “what they do” and have done for as long as he can remember.Finally we meet “the other son”: Matt, now forty-two, has a part-time job in a restaurant above Aix-en-Provence. He is in a loving homosexual relationship with the handsome Canadian, Bruno Campbell, 29. Bruno is the - as it turns out later - adopted son of loving parents who run an art gallery and let him live, rent-free, in a summer-house they own and which he shares with Matt. We learn about Matt’s childhood, how he had suffered from Ken’s violence towards him and Tim, and especially about a traumatic event when he was eleven, involving a dog and an especially violent outburst of Ken’s. It was a life-changing event for him, and ultimately led to him cutting loose from his parents, and, in due course, finding happiness with Bruno.Alice eventually finds refuge from Ken with Matt in France. She arrives here as her usual fault-finding self, and is at first shocked by finding her son in a homosexual relationship. But Bruno not only wins her over, but gently tells her that she would be happier if she didn’t criticize so much and would not always look on the negative side of things. Eventually she takes this on board, becomes happier than she has ever been, and comes to realize that, in his spartan way, Matt, too, is happier than the money-mad Tim and Natalya can ever be. She no longer has to worry about him and can even tell him that she is proud of him.

Again I love love loved The Other Son. The characters at times were not very pleasant, however once you become aware of their back story you are able to have more empathy. Alice's growing awareness of her own narrow thinking and how unbearable life with Ken has really been was very well drawn out. Again Mr Alexander highlighted the subtle horrors of domestic abuse and how Alice through trying to protect her children and herself she had enabled Ken. I am now going to read The Other Son at Christmas. Then onto more of Nick' s books.

I loved this book, although I didn't realise until I had finished it that I had previously read a couple of other of Nick Alexander's novels, which I think illustrates his flexibility as a writer, nothing was formulaic about this novel.The characters are briliantly observed, I really like the way that the reader is led along a path by one character in their description of another and then is made to see the other side of that relationship when the narration turns to the other character. This was particularly true of Natalya, who seemed quite a cool and distant daugher in law when described by Alice but then turned out to be one of my favourite characters in the book.It is an excellent portrayal of family relationships, I am sure will strike a chord with many readers as it certainly did with me - I recognised several of my own family in there.I've just noticed that there is a short story as a sequel to this book and can't wait to read it as The Other Son leaves you at a point of just wanting to know more.Highly recommended.

I read Things We Never Said which was ' why would anyone do that?'. I then started this utterley miserable book about utterley miserable people. The main character kept saying 'why have i wasted my life' and i thought why am i wasting mine reading this. I rechecked the reviews to make sure i had the correct book. Why anyone gave this 5* is beyond me. I finally found one reviewer who gave it 3* saying the characters later were even more miserable. Why would you read on!!!

Although the subject matter is one of domestic abuse, I would describe this book as an enjoyable read. It’s well written and without relying on graphic descriptions of violence the author portrays the sad effects that such abuse has on families in the years ahead.Ken and Alice have been married for 50 years. They have two sons- Tim and Max. Ken is a violent, angry man who lashes out at the slightest disruption of his controlling ways; particularly when drunk. Each of the family members deal with the situations in their own way. Alice accepts being battered as it has continued throughout the marriage. Tim is a business man and has gained wealth and respect. He just wants people to know he’s successful. Max is a drifter who has travelled the world and settled in France. Maybe a disappointment to his parents.Alice ‘snaps’ eventually and what follows is the basis of the plot. Can Alice escape from the clutches of Ken?A good read. Not going to blow your mind but will certainly keep a reader occupied.