Snapshots — William Norris

The Mahoneys are the quintessential Irish Catholic family, living what might seem a perfect life in the affluent New Jersey suburbs. But behind closed doors, they struggle with alcoholism, sexual orientation, and mental illness--they love and hate one another, save one another, and break one another's hearts. "Snapshots" is a portrait of the Mahoneys, which begins when Kate, Patty, Sean, and Nora, all grown, come home for Christmas to the family's summer house on the Jersey Shore. William Norris's innovative novel then works deftly backwards in time, telling the story of their past twenty-five years as a family, filling in the rich, deep hues of the Mahoneys' family bonds.