On the Shores of Darkness There is Light by Cordelia Strube

The story of Harriet and Irwin is told in two distinct parts - first from Harriet, the older sister whose parents have largely emotionally abandoned her.  For her mother Lynne, her affection is used up in the care for Irwin, Harry's younger brother whose hydrocephalus has made him a much needier and more compelling child.  Conversely, their father Trent abandons the family as he is unable to cope with a child who has special needs, and finds a new partner Uma, who wants a baby of their own.  

Harriet's plan is to escape, and the means is the cash that she earns from the "olders" in her building who pay her to run errands.  Harriet's life with her emotionally absent mother and openly hostile pseudo step father Gennedy is illustrated with a painful clarity.  Harriet is ferocious in her love, in her anger, in her fear and in her art.  

When the story turns to Irwin, we find a much more timid boy, whose life of surgeries, hospitalization and the overbearing love of his mother has left him ill prepared for the challenges life offers.  Through his friendship with the same oldsters that Harry ran errands for, he learns that he has to navigate his life himself, and that in all the ugly darkness of his world, there is also love, beauty and a redeeming light.

The characters of this novel are some of the most flawed I've read, but they are quite brilliantly penned and I was very drawn in by what is largely a very sad story.  The way in which Strube takes the writing between stark reality and alternate reality is unique, and the flow between the two works well.

I was given the opportunity to read this book via NetGalley for an unbiased review.