The Last Romantics / Tara Conklin / 352 pages

This is the story of five siblings, four sisters and a bother, and the bond that held them together through life.  The story is told in two time periods, the year 2079 and the 1980s when the siblings were children and following them into adulthood.  One of the sisters is the story teller and is 102 years old in 2079.  The children's father dies unexpectedly in 1981 of a heart attack at the age of 34.  This event sets into motion the path their lives will take.  The family is forced to downsize to a small house.  The children's mother takes a two year "pause" and secludes herself in her room, forcing the children to take care of themselves. Interesting character development and how one tragic event dictates the paths of their lives.