The Inconvenient Unraveling of Gemma Sinclair
On the path to wisdom, traumas turn into hope in the thought-provoking domestic novel The Inconvenient Unraveling of Gemma Sinclair.
In Meg Myers Morgan’s visceral novel The Inconvenient Unraveling of Gemma Sinclair, a woman’s personal awakening brings her family’s dysfunctions to light.
Days after the birth of their second son, Calvin, Gemma and Anthony prepare to host Gemma’s estranged brother, Eddie, in their home. Anthony has concerns about the wisdom of the visit, though, and Gemma’s sister, Mary, is worried about Eddie’s motives for reappearing. Gemma, who is eager for Eddie’s approval, ignores their advice. When Calvin is injured during Eddie’s visit, Gemma thinks back on her own childhood, when she broke her collarbone: Her family was tight-lipped about the circumstances, and Eddie became alienated from them.
Early on, Gemma’s physical discomfort reflects her stifled emotions. She has postpartum issues and deals with shame. Her mother is critical of her, and she feels ignored by Eddie. She experiences severe weight loss, stomach issues, and bouts of crying. Though she’s a successful therapist, she waves away concerns about her depression. Her extreme efforts to hide her issues from others and to maintain a strong facade are affecting.
As the story progresses, Gemma’s ailments ease. Still, her brooding over the past leads to marital strife, and she contends with fragmented dreams-cum-memories. Repressed images surface in a somewhat contrived manner, while her family members complicate her healing: Her father is silent, her sister capable and efficient, and there are question marks around Eddie’s past.
Covering fraught family interactions at Gemma’s home and during Calvin’s hospital stay, the novel is tense throughout. It is also humane in its characterizations. Even when Gemma’s presumptions about people cloud her views of them, as with her belief that her mother is motivated by judgment, it remains clear that no one in the family is free from flaws and that all deserve the chance to be heard. The tangled exasperation and love that the family members have for each other lead to moving scenes in which it is clear that anger sometimes masks sadness and that confusion can be created by unspoken guilt.
Gemma’s therapist helps her understand her pain, and their sessions prompt Gemma to approach Eddie about her childhood accident. Nuance is prioritized here and elsewhere, with Gemma moved to consider multiple angles and learning how to parse people’s responsibilities well. When the truth emerges at last, it leads to broad reconsiderations of Gemma’s family members’ behaviors and honest assessments of broken relationship patterns.
A new mother’s relationships and psychological well-being are compromised in the empathetic novel The Inconvenient Unraveling of Gemma Sinclair.
Reviewed by
Karen Rigby
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