"This is How it Always Is"

   This novel begins with Rosie Walsh and her husband Penn, who have four boys - Roosevelt, Ben, and twins Rigel and Orion.  Four boys!  But Rosie wanted a daughter, since her only sibling, a sister, Poppy, died at ten.

Quote:
"Was she just trying endlessly to make a daughter to fulfill an ancient dream of her sister's, a ten-year-old's dream at that?  Did she believe this daughter would grow up and be, at ten, the little girl she'd lost, Poppy herself, picking up where Poppy had left off, fulfilling all the promise of that stymied, hacked-off, stubbed-out little life?  As long as she kept her womb full, might Poppy, some version of Poppy - some waiting, watchful, wandering Poppy demon- gather up all her errant atoms and come home again?"
    Well, she did have another child, but it was not a daughter- at first.  Rosie and Penn's last child was born a boy, but he wanted to dress like a girl.  The parents were loving and accepting of his wishes and tried to accommodate the challenges, as their son transitioned to a daughter.
   This novel raises many questions that will be interesting to address at the next book club meeting.
   The author explains her interest in such a story in the notes at the end, where she tells of her transgender child.
   What would the author want us to understand from this novel, that is not biographical although based on her experience?
   "So one of the things that I hope is that people who read this book will read it and forget about the transgender issues and just be in the embrace of this family and realize that this family is like all families: They love and they keep secrets from one another and they protect one another and they struggle with how to do that and they have these challenges.  And it's hard, but it isn't scary and it isn't abnormal at all." (Laurie Frankel)

   I appreciated the opportunity to read such a novel.  I enjoyed the family of five children with such permissive parents.  It was a very creative family and fun to read about their life.  However, I struggled with the author's syntax.  Her sentences were often long and confusing.  Was that on purpose, to reflect the chaos in the home?
  This may say more about me, because I realize that modern authors create their own path and do not follow the grammar of the past.