Review by K.T Sullivan
Lorelei
Branch is a teenager, ready for her close up. She wants to be an actress or a
model or just famous. Her sister-in-law, Robin, is an agent for teenage girls.
She gets Lorelei a spot on a popular reality show. Enter Colleen, Lorelei’s
mother, to the mix. This is her ticket out. Colleen will ride Lorelei’s star to
the top. When Lorelei isn’t selected, Colleen goes on a drunken racist rant,
all caught on tape. Humiliated, Lorelei runs away from home. She breaks contact
with Colleen and Robin. Her life goes downhill very quickly. Meanwhile, Robin
is trying to get pregnant. Darren, her husband and Colleen’s stepson, gets a
chance to direct a film and leaves town. He’s caught by a paparazzi’s camera
with the star of the movie. Robin travels to confront him and they make up.
Lorelei has hit bottom and reaches out to her family. Colleen has a great idea,
why not do a show about Lorelei’s life since she got bounced? She contacts the
old show’s producer and pitches it. They all gather to ambush Lorelei when she
thinks she’s meeting her family. All works out on the surface. Lorelei is back,
Colleen sobers up, and Robin’s expecting someone’s baby.
Lorelei
is a spoiled child who never grows up. Colleen dreams of wealth and glamour,
but never makes it. Robin thinks her life is empty without a child. All three
women have different agendas and they collide with a bang. They are family and
all actions affect the others. A truly dysfunctional family on all levels,
offering an interesting glimpse of reality shows. Especially after the cameras
are shut off and move on.
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About the Author:
Caeli’s work has appeared in such publications as theNew York Times Magazine, Another Chicago Magazine, and the Madison Review, as well as on NPR and CBS Radio. She currently
teaches for Writing
Workshops Los
Angeles, and has taught in the past for Brooklyn’s Sackett
Street Workshop and at University College London. Real Happy Family is
her first novel, and she’s hard at work on another. When she’s not writing,
she’s hanging out with her husband and three children, working at her
unliterary day job, or jogging while thinking about writing and/or new soup
recipes.
Connect with the author at:
