Unbecoming

Starred review from November 23, 2015
Downham (You Against Me) examines the family battles and internal conflicts of three generations of women in this novel about a household in crisis. Seventeen-year-old Katie’s life takes an unexpected turn when her estranged grandmother Mary, diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, moves into their small apartment. While Katie’s mother tries to find another place for Mary to stay, Katie is drawn to the elderly stranger, a woman tormented by a past she can’t reliably remember. Even though Katie already has her share of responsibilities, trying to meet her mother’s high standards and looking after her disabled brother, she offers to become Mary’s caretaker. She is determined to unlock secrets about Mary’s history but doesn’t realize how her own past is intertwined with her grandmother’s. Alternating between Katie’s and Mary’s point of view, Downham shows extraordinary skill in expressing the complex psychologies of two very different women while exploring how people are shaped by events, unrealized dreams, and restrictions. The more answers Katie finds, the more she realizes that she will have to become someone new in order to be true to herself. Ages 14–up. Agent: Catherine Clarke, Felicity Bryan Associates.

Starred review from November 15, 2015
Three generations of a family wrestle with secrets. Katie knew nothing of a grandmother. But suddenly here one is, because the grandmother's boyfriend just died and his emergency contact was Katie's mother, Caroline. Caroline, enraged, wants to leave her mother, Mary, with social services, but despite Mary's dementia, Mary's sent home with them, to squish into the three-bedroom flat with Mum, Katie, and Katie's younger brother. Mum's smotheringly protective of her kids and now of Mary too, though coldly, without sympathy. Pain and worry seethe from events long-past--Mary's unwed teen pregnancy and the unknowing Caroline's tumultuous childhood as the supposed daughter of Mary's sister--and current: Katie's fear of admitting that she likes girls. Mary's always been a glamorous, fiery sparkplug. She broke free from the repressive social mores of white 1950s England. But she's had heartbreaking losses too, some of which torment her with their emotional pain even after dementia has stolen their details. Katie and Mary walk daily to a cafe, seeking something Mary always forgets but finding, instead, a waitress who ignites Katie's own fire. The writing, fluidly moving between both Katie's and Mary's third-person perspectives, is a wonder. Downham keenly weaves together musings, revelations, confrontations, and poignancy. Her prose gets right down inside human fragility, tenderness, fury, gusto, and strength--leaving sweet, sharp images that are impossible to forget. Exceptional. (Fiction. 14 & up)

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Starred review from December 1, 2015

Gr 9 Up-What kind of pain can love survive? How late is too late to learn the truth? When 17-year-old Katie's estranged grandmother shows up on their doorstep, alone and suffering from dementia, Katie's tightly wound mother is enraged. Instantly drawn to the confused but fascinating old woman, who seems to embody a spirit of personal freedom and love that the teen has been longing for, Katie starts recording pieces of her grandmother's story, both to help her remember and to get to the bottom of what really happened between her mother and grandmother. It turns out all three women are harboring some pretty heavy secrets. Unveiling the narrative in bits and pieces and hopping through time periods, Downham paints a moving picture of three generations of women who haven't felt listened to or understood, who have felt confined by their choices, and who have suffered the consequences of trying to forge a new path. Katie's plotline (she is coming to terms with her growing attraction to girls) is wrapped up a little too nicely, but the two older women's stories, both past and present, are subtle and heartbreaking. The grandmother, whose slipping hold on her memories is portrayed with compassion and gentle humor, is especially well drawn. This would be a great title for teens and adults to read and discuss together. VERDICT A strong choice for thoughtful readers.-Beth McIntyre, Madison Public Library, WI

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2015
Grades 9-12 Katie meets her grandmother Mary for the first time when the hospital calls. It's an understatement to say that Katie's mother, Caroline, has a tense relationship with Mary, and she's none too pleased to have to care for the woman, who's slipping into dementia. Katie, however, is enchanted, and she compassionately endeavors to help Mary remember as much as possible. In dredging up the past, however, Katie learns painful secrets about her mother, secrets that strain their already rocky relationship. But learning about her family helps Katie feel brave enough to share her own secretthat she's gaynot only with her mother but with the whole world. The three women at the heart of the storyKatie, Caroline, and Maryare all richly detailed and well developed, and Downham slowly, tantalizingly unspools each of their stories. Though the passages focusing on Mary's and Caroline's struggles with parenting and marriage might not resonate with teens, Katie's brave self-discovery will likely ring true, and Downham's lyrical meditation on the nature of memory will be deeply thought-provoking.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Downham's gotten high praise for her last two books, Before I Die (2007) and You against Me (2011). Expect her latest to have just as rosy a reception.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)