'The Bird the Sang in Color' by Grace Mattioli

Official blurb: Part family drama and part self-actualization story, this is about Donna Greco, who in her teens, subscribes to a conventional view of success in life—and pushes her freewheeling, artistic brother, Vincent to do the same. However, he remains single, childless, and subsists in cramped apartments. She harbors guilt for her supposed failure until she discovers a sketch-book he’d made of his life, which prompts her own journey to live authentically.

MY THOUGHTS:

Wow, I enjoy books that get us pondering the nature of happiness and fulfillment. Although non-fiction ones are great, fiction about the subject really tends to drive its message home, and this is one of them.  

It's told in first person by a driven young woman named Donna Tucci, who manages to tick all the dreams off her bucket list over time. This includes marriage to her sweetheart Frank Greco, having a family of four kids (two girls and two boys no less) and becoming an English professor. She observes from a young age that materialism, hard work, relationships and success seem to earn happiness and nods of approval, so goes flat out for it. 

Meanwhile, Donna is convinced that her talented older brother Vincent is living the life of a fall-short. He appears to be perpetually lonely and broke, letting himself down as a result of not ticking the boxes society smiles upon. Why does he keep working in jobs below his intelligence level and failing to take the bait on lucrative opportunities? It takes years of fortune reversals and angst for her to consider that maybe Vincent's approach to living had some value and wisdom after all. The gradual disintegration of Donna's marriage to Frank is extremely well told. He's a keyed-up high court judge with a drinking problem that he flatly denies. 

The story's themes are loud and clear, which they should be, since we of the western world need to hear them whether or not we know it. It's all about being careful who we label a loser, and examining the unconscious criteria we use. It even gets us questioning whether it's possible to misread someone's signals that they're unhappy, based on our own firm convictions. Overall, it's a great, affirming story for those 'satisficers' of the world, who resist subtle pressure to shape up to cookie-cutter ideals. For someone's idea of settling may be another person's way of living their best, most creative life. 

This story also introduces Donna and Frank's kids; beautiful but depressive Angie, brilliant but unmotivated Cosmo, artistic but restless Silvia, and high-principled but slightly fanatical Vince. These four feature strongly in the other two books of the Greco family trilogy, which are hard to put down once you start. Although each can be read as stand-alones, I find it impossible not to read all three back to back and immerse myself in the tricky and messy psychology of a dysfunctional family unit. They're written with so much heart.  

Highly recommended for anyone who's come to see that reaching for the stars may be overrated, or at least a different kettle of fish for different people. 

Disclaimer: Thanks to the author for sending me a copy to review. All my opinions are genuine and honest.  

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