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Families have bonds that cement them for life, despite troubles that might arise between siblings and parents. But sometimes the thread that binds becomes controlling, threatening healthy boundaries. The Marcus family suffer this fate in “We Would Never” a compulsively readable novel by Tova Mirvis.
Not many sons-in-law could stomach the interference of the Marcus matriarch, Sherry, a mother intent on convincing her daughter Hailey into relocating to West Palm Beach. More than anything, Sherry wants to have her daughter and granddaughter nearby after Hailey’s husband asks for a divorce following 7 years of marriage.
Sherry is obsessed with Maya, and thinks the move would benefit the child and her mom, despite Sherry’s ex being vehemently opposed to the idea. Having Maya around would fill a void in Sherry’s life. Lately, her physician husband Solomon and her adult children, Hailey, 34; Nate, almost 40; and Adam, 38, don’t seem to need her.
“Ever since her kids had grown up she felt dulled by the quiet of every day, so little required of her, so little to look forward to,” this despite having a part-time job at her husband’s dermatology office, a practice that their son Nate soon joins, at Sherry’s urging. A practice where Tara, a comely, longtime employee proposes a scheme that nearly proves disastrous.
In this riveting family drama, the author details the Marcus children’s growing up years—casting suspicions about this or that one’s dysfunction in subtle renderings of their day-to-day-lives. Nate and Adam, close in age are rivals, Nate constantly needling his brother, and parents, every chance he gets. Nate comes off as mean-spirted, disagreeable and delighted to cause trouble. When Sherry gives birth to Hailey it’s as if the heavens have gifted her with an angel, a girl-child she can turn to, who will be always be there to fill Sherry’s emotional needs. With a daughter, Sherry’s life is complete and she lavishes attention on Hailey, just as she does years later on Maya.
As the divorce grows ever more hateful, Nate and his mother Sherry devise a plan to rescue Hailey, as Hailey continues to try and convince her ex to allow her to take Maya to Florida. When moral and lawful proceedings don’t work, Nate and Sherry come up with one plan, then another. When Sherry’s son-in-law is found shot dead in his home, Nate and Sherry become suspect in his murder, as does Hailey.
“We Would Never” gets increasingly engaging as seeds of doubt about the identity of the murderer are effectively disbursed, readers getting to intimately know each member of the family. Rigid control laced with love is the culprit in this page turner, made even more interesting because it’s loosely based on a true crime, an incredible account that took great imagination and to guts to carry through.
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