"Lydia is dead. But they don't know this yet. 1977 May 3, six thirty in the morning, no one knows anything but this innocuous fact: Lydia is late for breakfast."
The rest of the book describes the various family members attempts to make sense of this tragedy, the actions of the distraught parents and the furious brother, are often seen through the eyes of eight year old Hannah. It's a book that grows on you, as the family members are fleshed out and we begin to understand and sympathize with their anguish, their pain and fight to understand Lydia's suicide (if it is a suicide since there is a chance it was an accident). The mother begins to realize how her plans for her daughter, much like that of a Tiger mom, have partially led to this end. And the father's sense of otherness, of inferiority, because he's Asian has also played its role. The two siblings to a far lesser extent have some blame, the brother for his anger towards Lydia because she is dating Nath's evil twin, Jack. Nath never really understands what's going on between the two of them; he assumes they are sleeping together when in reality, all Jack wants is to be near Nath (he's gay). So concisely, that's the book, well worth reading. There are many flashbacks, obviously, to Lydia, to her growing unhappiness and the futility of her life changing. Growing up as the 'other,' or as an outsider and never quite fitting in, has rarely been so real. There are no bad guys in this novel which makes it all the more tragic and sad. Everyone thinks they are doing the right thing but they never ask if Lydia agrees.
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