“When someone is your husband or father, that’s simply who they are. You don’t stop to question them, unless you’re given reason to, and they’d never been given reason to,” (Whittall 80).
Having prevented a school shooting from taking place eight years prior, George Woodbury is a hero to the Avalon Hills community. He is a beloved husband, father, and teacher when on his daughter’s seventeenth birthday he is arrested for sexual assault charges against some of the students at his school. His wife, Joan, is convinced of his innocence and shocked that her beloved community has turned on her. Their daughter, Sadie, is now a social pariah and son, Andrew, while assisting in George’s defense remembers his own unhappy teen years in Avalon Hills. At the same time a local author tries to take advantage of the story for a new book as a group of men’s rights activists attempt to get Sadie on their side. While George sits in jail, his family navigates life without him, trying to figure out if they really knew the man they loved as well as they thought they did.
I read The Best Kind of People for a book club and wow, what a stellar read! Whittall tackles a difficult, and very real topic and brings about a lot of good discussion. What happens when the person we love is accused of something horrendous? What if they’re guilty, how does our viewpoint of them change? Is restorative justice possible for all people?
While asking these questions, Whittall also balances a number of characters perspectives and keeps each of them interesting. One perspective doesn’t overshadow another, which I think is a rarity in many multiple point of view novels. Sadie was probably my favourite to follow, it hurt to see how much she suffered from what was happening as well as to see her struggle with the idea of consent, what she believes she is expected to commit to sexually in a relationship as a teen girl and whether her own wants or needs matter. Andrew was also fascinating, in denial that his own relationship with his school coach as a teenager was inappropriate, while Joan was probably the most intriguing though she frustrated me quite a lot at times. I haven’t been so angry with the ending of a book in a long time! I also found Kevin to be an intriguing point of view because Whittall wrote him in a way I wasn’t expecting. I still didn’t like him, but he was interesting to follow.
I also loved the variety of ways that Whittall looks at power dynamics in age gap relationships and what is and isn’t accepted by society, such as Andrew and his relationship with his high school coach as a teenager and Kevin and Elaine who, while both adults, have an age gap between them. It brings to questions consent and age gap relationships, whether or not they can be appropriate and if so what are the qualifiers for making it so?
Whittall tackles a number of difficult topics and brings up great discussion without giving readers any clear answers. It’s amazing that she was able to do so much in this book, a perfect book club read! I can’t wait to read more of her work.
Publication: August 27 2016
Publisher: House of Anansi
Pages: 404 pages (Paperback)
Source: Library
Genre: Fiction, Contemporary, Literary
My Rating: ⛤⛤⛤⛤
Summary:
George Woodbury, an affable teacher and beloved husband and father, is arrested for sexual impropriety at a prestigious prep school. His wife, Joan, vaults between denial and rage as the community she loved turns on her. Their daughter, Sadie, a popular over-achieving high school senior, becomes a social pariah. Their son, Andrew, assists in his father’s defense, while wrestling with his own unhappy memories of his teen years. A local author tries to exploit their story, while an unlikely men’s rights activist attempts to get Sadie onside their cause. With George locked up, how do the members of his family pick up the pieces and keep living their lives? How do they defend someone they love while wrestling with the possibility of his guilt?
Sarah O'Connor 