Wish You Were Here - Stewart O'Nan

A family spends one last week at the cottage before they are forced to sell it after the death of the patriarch. The deceased's wife, sister, daughter, son, daughter-in-law, and four grandchildren are all there to relive the memories, divide the old furniture, and eventually try to convince the wife not to sell. The young boys are annoying, the daughter is an attention-whore ex-alcoholic recent divorcee who thinks everything is about her. The son is a typical push-over, keep-the-peace type. Although the characters are quite real, the story is shallow, with a surprising, yet barely-discussed lesbian incest attraction between one of the young girls and her cousin. The need to find out if the wife sells the place, remaining selfish and over-dramatic, or actually listens to her family kept me reading, but I wouldn't recommend this book except as a quick, lightly entertaining summer read.