Rating:		5/5	Biography

A Normal Family - The Surprising Truth About My Crazy Childhood (And How I Discovered 35 New Siblings)

by Chrysta Bilton

This book is the author’s story of growing up in America in a small and unconventional family setting. You cannot help but get drawn into a story that reads like pure fiction due entirely to the author’s uncoventional mother and her chosen lifestyle.

Conceived through artificial insemination from a sperm donor, the author is brought up as a child with a younger sibling believing that her family unit of four is just like any other. Over time, however, it dawns on her that her upbringing is unlike that of her friends as more holes in the reality carefully crafted by her mother begin to appear.

The book is a fascinating study of someone trying to anchor themselves despite the rapidly changing environment in which they live by focusing on the things that seem real and normal. One moment the family is living in luxury and then next from hand to mouth as their fortunes suddenly change, including different schools, homes and even surrogate parents.

The book describes different characters including the author’s father, sister, and her mother’s various lovers; all of whom are woven into and out of her childhood and later years. Trying her best to maintain her family unit, her world is shattered when she realises that she has more siblings than the one sister she grew up with. The book also describes her diminishing connection with her father as he deals with his own set of issues.

This is a fascinating story about someone coping despite the often surreal, funny and whirlwind experiences created by a wildy eccentric and central character in her mother; some of which seems so unbelievable that it often reads like a work of fiction.

Well written and well paced, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and wouldn’t be surprised to see it released as a film comedy one day. Highly recommended.