Stories about happy, chaotic families
September 27, 2024 9:52 AM Subscribe
In need of comfort. I enjoy reading about chaotic families who love each other really. Any recommendations?
I am very comforted by stories about big, chaotic families who bicker and squabble but love each other really.
I feel like Jane Austen scratches this itch for me, and of course Gerald Durrell's Corfu books. Any other recommendations?
I'm really stressed out at the moment by family health issues, so I feel comforted by stories of happy families. Really not seeking anything too dark or gritty at this point.
TIA MEfites!
I am very comforted by stories about big, chaotic families who bicker and squabble but love each other really.
I feel like Jane Austen scratches this itch for me, and of course Gerald Durrell's Corfu books. Any other recommendations?
I'm really stressed out at the moment by family health issues, so I feel comforted by stories of happy families. Really not seeking anything too dark or gritty at this point.
TIA MEfites!
Seconding Cheaper By the Dozen. I read it once long ago when I was a kid but I still remember it and thought of it immediately when I saw this Ask.
I didn't learn until much later that the Gilbreth family is notable for other reasons, especially for the accomplishments of their mother, Lillian Gilbreth.
A (fictional) rediscovery of Lillian Gilbreth's work is a plot point in the recent novel The Making of Incarnation by Tom McCarthy --- which is in a completely different mood from Cheaper by the Dozen.
posted by JonJacky at 10:16 AM on September 27
I didn't learn until much later that the Gilbreth family is notable for other reasons, especially for the accomplishments of their mother, Lillian Gilbreth.
A (fictional) rediscovery of Lillian Gilbreth's work is a plot point in the recent novel The Making of Incarnation by Tom McCarthy --- which is in a completely different mood from Cheaper by the Dozen.
posted by JonJacky at 10:16 AM on September 27
The family in "A Wrinkle In Time," et al., is also strong if messy. :7)
posted by wenestvedt at 10:18 AM on September 27 [7 favorites]
posted by wenestvedt at 10:18 AM on September 27 [7 favorites]
Please read You Can't Take it With You by Kaufman and Hart. There are also film and TV versions, but the written version is funnier.
posted by ubiquity at 10:19 AM on September 27 [6 favorites]
posted by ubiquity at 10:19 AM on September 27 [6 favorites]
You might also try Stella Gibbons' Cold Comfort Farm, which is hysterically funny. The chaos is much more evident than the love in this case, but the love is there. There have also been excellent film and TV versions (somewhat better than those for You Can't Take it With You).
posted by ubiquity at 10:23 AM on September 27 [6 favorites]
posted by ubiquity at 10:23 AM on September 27 [6 favorites]
Seconding A Wrinkle In Time.
And ubiquity's mention of the film of Cold Comfort Farm reminds me of another film, if you want to go that route - Coda. One of my absolute favorite exchanges from the film comes at the end of a heart-to-heart conversation Marlee Matlin's character is having with her daughter; the daughter is the only member of the family who isn't hearing-impaired and is conflicted about going off to college as a result. The daughter asks her mother if she was uneasy about having a hearing daughter, and Matlin has a lengthy monologue about how she was indeed afraid they'd be unable to bond so she treated the poor girl distantly for a while, unsure what to do. She ends by saying she was just so terrified that being a hearing-impaired woman would make her a bad mom to a hearing child. Then the daughter deadpans back: "Nah, you're a bad mom for totally different reasons."
It's 100% clear that it's just a joke and both parties understand that as a joke, and I loved it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:42 AM on September 27 [2 favorites]
And ubiquity's mention of the film of Cold Comfort Farm reminds me of another film, if you want to go that route - Coda. One of my absolute favorite exchanges from the film comes at the end of a heart-to-heart conversation Marlee Matlin's character is having with her daughter; the daughter is the only member of the family who isn't hearing-impaired and is conflicted about going off to college as a result. The daughter asks her mother if she was uneasy about having a hearing daughter, and Matlin has a lengthy monologue about how she was indeed afraid they'd be unable to bond so she treated the poor girl distantly for a while, unsure what to do. She ends by saying she was just so terrified that being a hearing-impaired woman would make her a bad mom to a hearing child. Then the daughter deadpans back: "Nah, you're a bad mom for totally different reasons."
It's 100% clear that it's just a joke and both parties understand that as a joke, and I loved it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:42 AM on September 27 [2 favorites]
If you are open to young readers chapter books, I highly recommend The Lighthouse Family series by Cynthia Rylant.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 10:46 AM on September 27
posted by Winnie the Proust at 10:46 AM on September 27
Not a BIG family but Schitt's Creek absolutely hits the spot for a chaotic and initially discordant family who eventually remember they love each other.
Oh dang you were asking for books. Haha, okay, then I would recommend Wife 22 by Melanie Gideon, it's a fun and breezy read. Jonathan Tropper's This Is Where I Leave You dials up the twisty shenanigans to 11 but it is still about coming together and it's skillfully done!
posted by MiraK at 10:46 AM on September 27 [6 favorites]
Oh dang you were asking for books. Haha, okay, then I would recommend Wife 22 by Melanie Gideon, it's a fun and breezy read. Jonathan Tropper's This Is Where I Leave You dials up the twisty shenanigans to 11 but it is still about coming together and it's skillfully done!
posted by MiraK at 10:46 AM on September 27 [6 favorites]
Will Stanton's family in the The Dark is Rising
posted by olopua at 10:54 AM on September 27 [5 favorites]
posted by olopua at 10:54 AM on September 27 [5 favorites]
William Sleator, Oddballs. I knew Danny Sleator pretty well in the 90s and he was a really lovely guy.
posted by Rhedyn at 10:54 AM on September 27 [2 favorites]
posted by Rhedyn at 10:54 AM on September 27 [2 favorites]
Also, Luke Sunborn's family in the incomparable novel IN OTHER LANDS by Sarah Rees Brennan. Just. asjkdhsJKDFHASJKHDFK sorry I turn into a 13 yr old whenever I talk about this book, unabe to contain my enthusiasm for it.
posted by MiraK at 10:56 AM on September 27 [2 favorites]
posted by MiraK at 10:56 AM on September 27 [2 favorites]
There's some heartache, but you might enjoy Sandwich by Catherine Newman.
posted by amarynth at 10:58 AM on September 27
posted by amarynth at 10:58 AM on September 27
The Bridgerton books are pretty delightful on that front. The family isn't the focus, but they are always there, squabbling and trying to beat each other at croquet.
posted by jacquilynne at 11:03 AM on September 27 [6 favorites]
posted by jacquilynne at 11:03 AM on September 27 [6 favorites]
Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford, and Christmas with the Savages by Mary Clive are variations on this theme
posted by JJZByBffqU at 11:12 AM on September 27 [2 favorites]
posted by JJZByBffqU at 11:12 AM on September 27 [2 favorites]
If cozy-mystery type deaths are not too dark or gritty, Jesse Q. Sutanto's Aunties books.
posted by LadyInWaiting at 11:33 AM on September 27 [3 favorites]
posted by LadyInWaiting at 11:33 AM on September 27 [3 favorites]
YA, but I recently read The Swifts: A dictionary of Scoundrels and it was lovely.
posted by Dotty at 11:48 AM on September 27
posted by Dotty at 11:48 AM on September 27
H.E. Bates’s The Darling Buds of May sounds like perfect fit.
posted by Quinbus Flestrin at 11:51 AM on September 27 [3 favorites]
posted by Quinbus Flestrin at 11:51 AM on September 27 [3 favorites]
Diana Wynne Jones's Dark Lord of Derkholm and The Year of the Griffin.
posted by EvaDestruction at 12:08 PM on September 27 [3 favorites]
posted by EvaDestruction at 12:08 PM on September 27 [3 favorites]
If you're in the mood for something more literary, I recommend Cloudstreet by Tim Winston. I remember it being quite chaotic, very Australian, and enjoyable.
posted by emd3737 at 12:09 PM on September 27 [4 favorites]
posted by emd3737 at 12:09 PM on September 27 [4 favorites]
My big fat Greek wedding ?
posted by St. Peepsburg at 12:25 PM on September 27 [2 favorites]
posted by St. Peepsburg at 12:25 PM on September 27 [2 favorites]
I feel like actually Nancy Mitford and Gerald Durrell have a surface appearance of loving families but there is a lot of coldness underneath - Nancy was a gimlet-eyed observer of a pretty repellent set, and a lot of Gerald's humor reads as truly mean when I go back to him. Not saying I don't love them, but I read them both a lot differently than I used to.
A Wrinkle in Time was honestly the first one that popped up in my head, I'm glad to see it mentioned more than once here.
Miriam Toews' Summer of My Amazing Luck is pretty great. Chaotic, smaller family but a ton of warmth and humor.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 12:48 PM on September 27 [1 favorite]
A Wrinkle in Time was honestly the first one that popped up in my head, I'm glad to see it mentioned more than once here.
Miriam Toews' Summer of My Amazing Luck is pretty great. Chaotic, smaller family but a ton of warmth and humor.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 12:48 PM on September 27 [1 favorite]
If you're okay with found family and cozy mysteries, check out Richard Osman's Thursday Murder Club series. It's set in a retirement village and there are four main characters with a bunch of additional people getting pulled into their circle and they all clearly care about each other in the midst of lots of chaos.
posted by SeedStitch at 12:54 PM on September 27 [5 favorites]
posted by SeedStitch at 12:54 PM on September 27 [5 favorites]
If you're open to audio: Series 9 (6 episodes, 30 minutes each) of John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme (available on BBC Sounds so you can listen for free). More about it.
posted by brainwane at 1:04 PM on September 27 [1 favorite]
posted by brainwane at 1:04 PM on September 27 [1 favorite]
I feel like a couple of the later sequels to Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Ingleside and Rainbow Valley, are good portraits of a large, chaotic but loving family. But if you haven't read any of the earlier Anne books, they might not pack as much punch. All of them are available on Gutenberg, though!
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 1:28 PM on September 27 [2 favorites]
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 1:28 PM on September 27 [2 favorites]
Again with cozies, Donna Andrews has a series (with the bird pun titled) about a female blacksmith and her large kooky family. Modern, not medieval, and charming.
posted by restless_nomad at 1:45 PM on September 27 [2 favorites]
posted by restless_nomad at 1:45 PM on September 27 [2 favorites]
Shirley Jackson, Life Among the Savages. Laugh out loud funny.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 1:52 PM on September 27 [5 favorites]
posted by TWinbrook8 at 1:52 PM on September 27 [5 favorites]
Not big families, but I think you might enjoy watching The Kumars at No 42 and Kim's Convenience.
posted by brookeb at 3:15 PM on September 27 [1 favorite]
posted by brookeb at 3:15 PM on September 27 [1 favorite]
I very much enjoyed the family of eccentrics so warmly portrayed in Rebecca K Reilly’s Greta and Valdin.
posted by Lluvia at 3:43 PM on September 27
posted by Lluvia at 3:43 PM on September 27
Seconding Dark Lord of Derkholm and Year of the Griffin; also the classic children’s novels All of a Kind Family, and the more contemporary children’s novels by Hilary McKay, starting with Saffy’s Angel. (The DWJ and McKay books are also very funny; I would say All of a Kind Family more warm and cozy than funny.)
posted by elanid at 4:21 PM on September 27 [1 favorite]
posted by elanid at 4:21 PM on September 27 [1 favorite]
I highly recommend No Biking In The House Without a Helmet
posted by Kangaroo at 4:35 PM on September 27
posted by Kangaroo at 4:35 PM on September 27
Eight Cousins and Rose in Bloom, the sequel.
posted by praemunire at 4:35 PM on September 27 [1 favorite]
posted by praemunire at 4:35 PM on September 27 [1 favorite]
Another old one (first book was published in 1881) would be the Five Little Peppers books. A lot are available on Project Gutenberg.
posted by gudrun at 6:18 PM on September 27
posted by gudrun at 6:18 PM on September 27
A hundred years later, in 1981, John Irving's Hotel New Hampshire. In fact,
posted by Rash at 6:23 PM on September 27 [1 favorite]
spoiler alert
two of the siblings love each other. Really.posted by Rash at 6:23 PM on September 27 [1 favorite]
My Name Is Aram by William Saroyan is, I think, exactly what you're looking for.
posted by splitpeasoup at 8:01 PM on September 27
posted by splitpeasoup at 8:01 PM on September 27
These books are middle grade but I adore the Penderwick books by Jean Birdsall, especially the first three books. They are heavily influenced by Little Women but are not a retelling of that story.
I'm also going to recommend My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger. That book just feels like a literary hug whenever I read it.
posted by Constance Mirabella at 8:06 PM on September 27 [1 favorite]
I'm also going to recommend My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger. That book just feels like a literary hug whenever I read it.
posted by Constance Mirabella at 8:06 PM on September 27 [1 favorite]
Do comics count? Not strictly about a loving, chaotic family but a large part of the foundational storytelling: Adventureman
posted by Eikonaut at 10:31 AM on September 28
posted by Eikonaut at 10:31 AM on September 28
When Amy visits Bernadette in Beverly Cleary's Mitch and Amy
The Michie family in BC's The Luckiest Girl
posted by brujita at 12:44 PM on September 28
The Michie family in BC's The Luckiest Girl
posted by brujita at 12:44 PM on September 28
Definitely Shirley Jackson's memoires about her family, Life Among the Savages and Raising Demons. Hy-larious!
posted by primate moon at 12:51 PM on September 28
posted by primate moon at 12:51 PM on September 28
The Light Years is the first book in a series by Elizabeth Jane Howard about an English family at the start of the WWII. There are dark moments to be sure, but it's really about a big sprawling family's love for one another that gets them through the war and beyond.
posted by codhavereturned at 1:23 PM on September 28
posted by codhavereturned at 1:23 PM on September 28
John Verney’s Callendar Family series are five books full of charming chaos and adventures. Very British, very mid 1960s, very out of print, but libraries are your friend. The middle title, ismo, is the best.
posted by Jesse the K at 3:56 PM on September 28
posted by Jesse the K at 3:56 PM on September 28
Wait for Me! by Deborah Mitford was a fun one.
A line I always want to use (but am not rude enough to do it) is when one of the daughters brings friends over for dinner, the father waits for a pause in conversation then calls down the table to his wife at the opposite end, "Have these people no homes of their own?"
posted by Emmy Rae at 8:23 PM on September 28
A line I always want to use (but am not rude enough to do it) is when one of the daughters brings friends over for dinner, the father waits for a pause in conversation then calls down the table to his wife at the opposite end, "Have these people no homes of their own?"
posted by Emmy Rae at 8:23 PM on September 28
Show, not a book, but... have you watched Bob's Burgers? That whole show is nothing but happy chaotic family hijinks.
posted by cnidaria at 10:31 AM on October 1 [1 favorite]
posted by cnidaria at 10:31 AM on October 1 [1 favorite]
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posted by JanetLand at 9:57 AM on September 27 [9 favorites]