One family, comprised of four women, shares a great deal of complicated history. Josie, the youngest daughter, is a brilliant scientist, but that takes a back seat when it comes to her eclectic thirty-four-year-old twin sisters. She has become their caregiver of sorts. Twenty years ago, the twins, Emma and Ara, with Josie's management skills, found short-lived fame as musicians. The years since have been a struggle. Ara's drug addiction and Emma's need for her creative genius have turned Emma into an enabler. After having gone missing, Ara finally calls. She is in prison, and an even bigger surprise is that she is in no hurry to be freed. She makes what might be the most important decision of her life. She will detox not only from the drugs but from her family as well. Their mother, Bertie, a widowed former defense attorney, raised who she thought were independent daughters. Early on, she had made an important decision. Quite often, she opted to give her love to those she felt needed her the most, and quite often these people were not her daughters. When Josie begged her to help Ara, Bertie made yet another consequential decision. As a result, the entire family dynamic irrevocably changed. THE FREQUENCY OF LIVING THINGS, a novel by Nick Fuller Googins, is a powerfully conveyed story about the nature of family. It is an in-depth examination of relationships and dependencies created over a lifetime. The absorbing characters are filled with emotional turmoil. Drama is their middle name, and they are the heart and power of this story. The narrative is told in their distinct voices, and they are direct. While Josie, Emma and Ara are absorbing characters, it is Bertie who might be the most surprising. The story reveals how she raised her girls and how she has lived her life, but when faced with tragedy, it is time for introspection. Is it too late to make a change? Skillfully told, moving and poignant, THE FREQUENCY OF LIVING THINGS is a memorable story that is well worth reading. Highly recommended.
Josie may be the youngest sister, but she takes care of everyone. She is the left-brained scientist to her twin sisters’ right-brained artistic chaos. She makes sure their rent gets paid on time, they make their therapy appointments, and has also been their de-facto band manager since she was a teenager. When Ara, her middle sister (by a few minutes), calls from jail, it isn’t exactly a surprise, and Josie knows exactly how to snap into action.
Emma is the quintessential frontwoman, complete with looks and attitude. But the success of The Twins’ first (and only) album—gold records, Grammy nominations, and diehard fans—is two decades behind her. Hiding under the surface of her swagger is a long-held guilt that has turned her into her sister’s enabler. Emma knows she needs Ara’s creative genius and thinks a jailhouse record could be just the thing to get Ara her freedom and their band back on the main stage.
Ara is detoxing, not only from her opioid habit but also from her family. The truth is, as crazy as it sounds, she’s not in a hurry to get out of lock-up. In the most unlikely and dangerous of places, this could be her chance to face the demons of her past and disentangle herself from her family.
Bertie, who raised her three daughters as a single mother, has always taught them that family won’t always be around to take care of you. A former defense attorney and perennial do-gooder, she’s committed to taking care of everyone less fortunate even if that means putting her girls’ needs second. But now Bertie must decide if she should reenter her daughters’ lives in their greatest time of need—or watch to see if the resilience she’s taught them will help carry them through.
A story both intimate and sweeping, The Frequency of Living Thingsexplores the timeless question of how our individual destinies are intertwined with our family, our siblings, and our history no matter how we try to untangle ourselves from them.
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