Immediate Family, Ashley Nelson Levy
Immediate Family, Ashley Nelson Levy
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Immediate Family

Author: Ashley Nelson Levy

Narrator: Sarah Beth Goer

Unabridged: 5 hr 48 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/03/2021

Synopsis

A tender and fierce debut novel that explores the bond between two siblings—one the biological child and one adopted from an orphanage in ThailandIt is the day of her brother’s wedding and our narrator is still struggling with her wedding toast. Despite a recent fracture between them, Danny has asked her to give a speech, and she doesn’t know where to begin, how to put words to their kind of love. She was nine years old when she traveled with her parents to Thailand to meet her brother, age three. They grew up together like any other siblings, and shared a bucolic childhood in Northern California. Yet when she holds their story up to the light, it refracts in ways she doesn’t expect.What follows is a heartfelt letter addressed to Danny and an attempt at a full accounting of their years growing up, invoking everything from the classic Victorian adoption plot to childless women in literature to documents from Danny’s case file. It’s also a confession of sorts to the parts of her life that she has kept from him, including her own struggle with infertility. And as the hours until the wedding wane, she uncovers the words that can’t and won’t be said aloud.In Immediate Family, Ashley Nelson Levy explores the enduring bond between two siblings and the complexities of motherhood, infertility, race, and the many definitions of family.

About Ashley Nelson Levy

Ashley Nelson Levy received her MFA from Columbia University, where she was awarded the Clein-Lemann Esperanza Fellowship. Her work has received a notable mention in The Best American Nonrequired Reading, and she is a recipient of the Bambi Holmes Award for Emerging Writers. In 2015, she cofounded Transit Books, an independent publishing house with a focus on international literature. This is her first book.

About Sarah Beth Goer

Sarah Beth Goer is a film and theater actress with over twenty-four years of acting experience. A member of both AEA and SAG-AFTRA, she recently produced, cowrote, and starred in her first feature film, Three Roads. As a narrator, she loves to immerse her listeners in the world of the story, bringing the text passionately and authentically to life. She has been described by one director as "possess[ing] that rarest combination of vulnerability, intelligence, and strength, allowing audiences to eagerly follow her wherever the story may lead."

Reviews

Goodreads review by Reading_ on September 17, 2021

The story seems so real and it felt like the author was telling me the story like it's a secret meant to be understood but not to be told as just a story. This book reads like a memoir. It deals with family and the complexities that a family has. Adoption plays a very important role in this story. A t......more

Goodreads review by Brittany (whatbritreads) on June 19, 2024

I’d never heard of this book before I picked it up from the sale section of Waterstones, but I was immediately drawn to it because of the beautiful cover design. It sounded emotional and thought provoking and exactly my cup of tea. It was all of those things, and I really enjoyed my very short but s......more

Goodreads review by Catherine on October 29, 2021

"...a new kind of loneliness filled me, as our mother reached for your hand and we turned to talk away, to leave the grown boy and the room full of children behind. Five minutes earlier I might have asked 'what will become of him?' because I was a child who had grown up in the company of adults and......more

Goodreads review by Lilly on September 24, 2021

For those who read The Leavers, I think you will also appreciate this book. This book is written from the perspective of a woman whose family adopted a boy from Thailand when she was 9 years old. Her brothers wedding is coming up and he asks her to give a speech. The book is her speech to him, their......more

Goodreads review by Tina on December 30, 2021

IMMEDIATE FAMILY by Ashley Nelson Levy is my last read of 2021 and unfortunately I didn’t care for it. It’s about a woman sharing her family’s story of adopting her brother. It was interesting to learn about the adoption process especially from the sisters point of view. But told mostly in second pe......more

Quotes

“Honestly explore[s] the complexities of adoption in modern America.” Anthony Marra, New York Times bestselling author

“Feels almost memoir-like in its realness.”  Entertainment Weekly

“[A] provocative snapshot of a family and the complicated, imperfect love that binds one member of it to another.” Goop

“A beautifully raw ode to the bond between siblings.”  PopSugar

“Powerful vignettes…blend with musings about the history of transracial adoption, Victorian literature, and famous adoptees.” Publishers Weekly

“Levy captures elusive ideas and intense emotions about transracial adoption and infertility.”  Kirkus Reviews

“[An] unsparing and absorbing family portrait.” Rachel Khong, author of Goodbye, Vitamin

“Probes the fissures and hidden places of familial love…and in so doing gets to the heart of love itself.” Lydia Kiesling, author of The Golden State

“Asks urgent questions about belonging, the definition of family, and the horizons of love.” Julie Buntin, author of Marlena

“Immediate Family is about the improbable relentlessness of love. It refuses tidy conclusions, and yet by the time I turned the last page, this book that had undone me had also left me magnificently whole.” Anthony Marra, New York Times bestselling author

Awards

  • Goop Pick
  • Amazon Editor’s Top Pick
  • Entertainment Weekly Pick
  • PopSugar Pick
  • BookRiot Pick
  • Paperback Paris Pick
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