“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way” is the famous opening line from Leo Tolstoy’s novel Anna Karenina. In her compassionate, engaging, readable debut novel The Truth About my Daughter, author and GP Jo Skinner reveals the actions, outcomes, betrayals and secrets of the memorably dysfunctional Steinbauer family through the weary yet discerning eyes of Fin (Josefine), the eldest daughter.Â
In the vein of Holly Ringland with her bold sweeps of courage, grief and redemption, and also reminiscent of Sally Hepworth’s books, Skinner’s gritty, bittersweet tale is darkly charming. The tricky love-hate relationship between siblings George (Georgina) and Fin rides the wave of a trending preoccupation with sisters and recalls Peggy Frew’s Wildflowers.Â
Dysfunction thrives in Fin’s family because vexed issues are never addressed let alone resolved. Victor, the father, creates mayhem for his wife Barb and their daughters each and every day. He’s a body shamer who never listens or considers the consequences of his self-aggrandising, inappropriate decisions on his loved ones. Regularly dreaming up hare-brained business plans, he lacks the requisite skills to achieve them.Â
Generally, these schemes involve significant building projects. He moves Barb and the siblings without consultation away from urban Brisbane to a rundown, isolated rural property, which he plans to turn into a site of profitable holiday cottages. Except Victor’s building efforts amount to little more than destroying existing architectural structures rather than replacing them. The scarred walls, treacherous gaps and ruined foundations mould and fester like the toxic realities of his family.
Many of Victor’s most wounding behaviours occur during celebratory family lunches. Narcissists are inclined to view special occasions as attention-seeking opportunities. During these Victor strikes out and demeans and bullies Fin’s friends and partners, and belittles his wife’s every social and culinary effort. Inevitably these get-togethers splinter and escalate into harrowing theatre.Â
Long-suffering Fin has an overexaggerated spirit of responsibility, she has trust deficits in her dealings with the opposite sex and she’s hobbled by a warped self-esteem. When she achieves her first job as a palliative care nurse and expects praise from her “self-absorbed ignorant” parents, Victor voices disgust. How can a daughter of his earn a living attending to the dirty bedpans of the old and frail?Â
Skinner’s narrative unfolds through luminous yet unpretentious prose. Her understated exploration of Barb’s unconditional acceptance of Victor and the uneasy bond between the sisters is all the more powerful because of it.
The plot is neither linear nor straightforward. Instead, it progresses like steps in a dance, forwards, backwards, a spin here and a jump there. The distortion and manipulation of time is a device enabling the reader to track Fin, the loveable yet beleaguered heroine and her sister George’s skewed adult perspectives.
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The book also massages the truth about the Steinbauer clan’s histories because recollections always differ. Sometimes, the time-hopping creates mild confusion but, overall, this is a rewarding, absorbing read that juggles emotional chaos with colourful twists and turns, and narrative surprise.Â
The Truth about my Daughter, Jo Skinner
Publisher: Hawkeye Publishing
ISBN: 9781923105249
Format: Paperback
Release date: 14 September 2024
RRP: $29.95
