I used to read Tony Parsons a lot when I was in college. Then, I found his writing repetitive and thought I had outgrown him. Turns out that his writing still resonates with me because I made it my KPI to finish “The Family Way” today, a day made unfettered by life’s demands because I had to take childcare leave.

Tony Parsons details the lives of three sisters - Cat, Jessica, and Megan - and fleshes out their deeply-felt, yet loosely held thoughts on motherhood. Why do I say that? Well, each sister found herself changing her stance towards being a mother throughout the book. I like that several themes were explored as a result of their evolving journeys. Abortion, miscarriages, adoption, premature babies, postnatal depression, undoing of vasectomy…no stone was left unturned. My heart pained for the emotional turmoil they had to undergo. My parenthood journey seems like a stroll in the park by contrast.

Some male characters in this book (Michael and Kirk) couldn’t stop (literally) fucking around, which led to the demise of their relationships. Of course, they don’t deserve any sympathy, but I thought Tony Parsons punched a raw and hard look at how with the act of loving your child, your identity is diminished because you give up the things you once loved. Or how the relationship you had with your partner necessarily shifts its shape - a change that mayn’t sit well with you. Not that these are acceptable excuses for straying, but I loved how he didn’t portray parenthood as something that lights up the fire in everyone’s heart. I think some individuals find it inherently more difficult than others.

The last ten pages are the exact opposite of what Singaporean teachers instruct their charges to write for their composition. They were action-packed, arresting my eyes with a carpet cutter attack and a birth on the back seat of the sisters’ dad’ car. Pretty unforgivable if I were to examine it from an examiner’s point of view. But I’m just happy that everyone got their happy ending in the end. I just need to feel that in spite of the vulnerabilities and inadequacies of modern family life, everything typically works out fine in the end.