Familieverhaal gezien door de ogen van de broer. Hij voelt zich verantwoordelijk voor zijn zusje dat het Syndroom van Asperger heeft. De andere zus heeft extreme eczeem. Broer is extreem verlegen maar vindt uiteindelijk de liefde. ( )

I grabbed this book on the way out of the library, and what a wonderful compulsive move that was. I read this book in one sitting, staying up until early morning to finish it. Reading about Asperger's syndrome is always enlightening to me, as I have two grandchildren with this syndrome, and I am always interested in further education on the subject. The author was a bit slow in allowing me to know what the problem was that made the oldest sibling responsible for his sister, but once I got further along into the book, it all fell into place. It captured me until the final page, because the description of the relationships, the interacting and even the friends who interacted with the family seemed so real. I wanted to jump ahead and find out what the tragedy described in the blurb was, which is my usual behavior, but I waited the author out, and it was worth it. Not to spoil it for readers, I will just say it ended the way I hoped it would, rather than in another more dramatic way. The writing is smooth, descriptive, and so real that I wanted to shake the sister who decided early on to ignore any responsibility to her autistic sister, and instead to demand her own attention. Knowing so many people like this, narcissistic and demanding, it was easy to identify with the three of them. I especially knew I could never date a person like Asif, simply because he would have felt more like my father than my beau. This fit in perfectly with the story plot, because Yasmin, the autistic sister, needed just that. I highly recommend this book, not just because of the autistic plot, but because it is a great book, written with much compassion which will pull you into the lives of these wonderful people as they all mature to higher levels. ( )

What a great read.

Roopa Farooki creates this little bubble of a world, and I was totally drawn into it.

Asif (23), Yasmin(18) and Lila(22) Murphy are orphans and live in London. Since their mother died, and Lila left home (dropped of out art college, and is squatting and between multiple boyfriends) Asif has had to return to London from Cambridge to mind their Asperger's Syndrome sister Yasmin.

A wonderful, fully drawn-out, story of the family: change, love, obligation, being different, and being true to yourself. ( )