They May Not Mean To, But They Do: A Novel
Written by Cathleen Schine
Narrated by Cynthia Darlow
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
Joy Bergman is not slipping into old age with the quiet grace her children, Molly and Daniel, would prefer. She won't take their advice, and she won't take an antidepressant. Her marriage to their father, Aaron, has lasted through health and dementia, as well as some phenomenally lousy business decisions. The Bergman clan has always stuck together, growing as it incorporated in-laws, ex-in-laws, and same-sex spouses. But families don't just grow, they grow old. Cathleen Schine's They May Not Mean To, but They Do is a tender, sometimes hilarious intergenerational story about searching for where you belong as your family changes with age.
When Aaron dies, Molly and Daniel have no shortage of solutions for their mother's loneliness and despair, but there is one challenge they did not count on: the reappearance of an ardent suitor from Joy's college days. They didn't count on Joy suddenly becoming as willful and rebellious as their own kids.
With sympathy, humor, and truth, Schine explores the intrusion of old age into a large and loving family. They May Not Mean To, but They Do is a radiantly compassionate look at three generations, all coming of age together.
Cathleen Schine
Cathleen Schine is the author of The Grammarians, The Three Weissmanns of Westport, and The Love Letter, among other novels. She has contributed to the New Yorker, the New York Review of Books, the New York Times Magazine, and the New York Times Book Review. She lives in Los Angeles.
More audiobooks from Cathleen Schine
Künstlers in Paradise Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Grammarians: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The New Yorkers Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
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Reviews for They May Not Mean To, But They Do
3 ratings1 review
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Funny and subtle, with wonderful truths about parenthood, ageing, love, death, sickness, and everything in between. I laughed out loud at times, giggled or guffawed, and occasionally felt very moved. Incredibly human novel.