One of the greatest reading experiences of mine which earned five big, bold, musical, lyrical, perfectly crafted stars! Such a fantastic novel about dysfunctional families, bonds, secrets, siblings, opportunist neighbors, poverty, grief, struggling life conditions. Now twins test their boundaries and their closeness because as Jeannie wants to live her isolated and peaceful life in their cottage with their lovely dog Maude and her brother, Julius wants to socialize, connecting with outside world, dragging into his own romance story! They don’t have enough money for turning on electricity, eating proper food, burying their mother!!! Jeannie should find a job but how ? She has no qualities: she doesn’t have proper educational skills! She cannot turn on the computer for searching for jobs! She cannot even type anything! And of course her brother has issues to find his handyman jobs. You easily pity on twins and interestingly you easily understand their peculiar, weird natures, the different lifestyle they chose for themselves. The people around them act like jackals hunt their preys to take advantage of their weaknesses which makes you furious. And unfortunately the Rawsons are not only people she owed money!

Rawson doesn’t waste any time to knock on their door and tell them their mother owes her debt for rent and if they want to continue living in the cottage they have to pay rent including the amount their mother forgot to pay because of her illness. They always think they are living rent free but they don’t. They cannot imagine how their mother was the only bond hold them together and when she is gone, her entire secrets slowly reveal and turn their peaceful, estranged lives into hell! They seem like outcasts, marginals but they’re pleased with their peaceful independence till one night their mother collapses on the floor, dying from a stroke. Even though Jeanie cannot properly read and write, she’s happy to play her own music via her guitar as Julius plays the fiddle. Their mother saved their money in a tin box.

Julius and Jeanie are twins in their 51s, living a secluded life with their mother Dot in their own terms with less comfort, little money in their life, growing their own vegetables, selling them to an upscale deli. You are just drawn into the pages! The incredibly well constructed characters, embellished, detailed descriptions of the nature, those lyrical folk songs brush your ears, soothe your soul and the poverty, harsh life conditions, demanding challenges the siblings endure make you enjoy your reading more at each chapter! This is deliciously disturbing and extremely unputdownable reading!

Unsettled ground fuller