Dysfunction Junction: Unraveling the Complexities of Childhood
People of faith sometimes struggle with it, despite wanting to believe the desires of their hearts will be fulfilled by faith in God. Working towards building the career you want or even the individualistic life you want is one thing; nurturing healthy familial relationships is another thing entirely.
Family estrangement is a REAL thing and sometimes distance is the only actionable move to make when it comes to interacting within a dysfunctional family. Robin W. Pearson delicately weaves in all the sights, sounds, and emotions of growing up in the south all while using A1 descriptive writing, especially through character development of Frankie, Annabelle, Charlotte and their mother, Mayhelen in her new book Dysfunction Junction.
This is not the ordinary surface level mother-daughter or sister story, this novel dives deep into the complex dynamic of the origin story of the Winters sisters exploring the emotions of growing up with an emotionally unavailable mother and an absent father. Robin discusses through these characters that childhood experiences continually impact adult lives; learning to forgive, grieve, heal, and most of all, love with all of the relationship nuances in between that can change the trajectory of an individual’s life and simultaneously break unhealthy generational patterns too.
Every healing journey is uniquely personal, however, support and time is ideal. The eldest sister, Frankie, makes that apparent, “I’m still at that junction, dear sister, between hurtin’ and healin’. Give me time.” The foundation of faith and the reality of loving a parent that was not there when the child needed them is not an anomaly. Trying to figure out how to still honor parents despite their lack of care is like walking an emotional tightrope.
The story is told in the flashback/flash forward format utilizing “then and now” at the beginning of each chapter. The pacing of the story is on the slower side, however, the character development makes up for it. Although the ending is not what is expected or anticipated, it mirrors real life. Life is not tied up in a pretty red bow, things get messy and the clean up process can be lengthy, but if you stick with it, despite the hurt, you will begin to see light and abundant love at the end of the tunnel.
Mrs. Pearson, what a read! This could easily be a candidate for screen adaptation and appear on networks like Hallmark or streaming platforms like Hulu produced by Onyx Collective. Happy reading, Hope friends!
Brittany is a book lover with an continuously expanding To Be Read (TBR) List and her unofficial love language is good food! She lives in an Atlanta suburb with her husband and two daughters.