Three decades ago, Sean Doran’s mother died at 33 of Huntington’s disease, and his father, a merchant marine, left Sean and his two siblings in the care of their cold and distant Aunt Vivian. Though the siblings grow up aware of the threat of Huntington’s, they’ve never been tested; Sean’s sentiment, “I didn’t take it. I didn’t want to know,” is shared by all. Sean, now 44, has spent years exploring the world as a nurse, from one war-torn region to another. But when his brother, Hugh, dies of pneumonia, his sister, Deidre, puts her acting career on hold to care for Hugh’s son, Kevin, and their aunt, who she says has “lost it.” Sean returns from Africa and assumes the parental burden, a responsibility for which he is ill equipped. Soon, he reconnects with Becky, his childhood friend, but their budding romance is threatened by Sean’s pathological reluctance to put down roots, and he has to finally decide what’s most important to him.
I like this author and I liked this book...even though the main character of Sean annoyed me a bit. Yes he has been in out of touch places but seriously -- he could have gotten a cell phone and computer for the time he was coming back to his family in order to assimilate SOMEWHAT into every day life. That was bit unbelievable to me. there was not a not of development of the sister character (Deirdre)..while you know she stayed home and held down the fort , you do not get much of a sense of what her life was really like. A good read though.