Much in the same way that her first book, Swimming, analyzed family dynamics, Joanna Hershon's new book, The Outside of August, provides an intimate and detailed account of one family's dysfunction.

The story is told through the eyes of Alice Green, sister to "Gus" (short for the August in the title). Their parents are Charlotte and Alan Green, and the Greens all live in a large, dilapidated house on the New England waterfront.

It becomes clear very soon that the somewhat glamorous Charlotte is not much of a mother. She frequently runs off on months-long trips to exotic foreign lands. These trips always happen on the pretext of something important, like a business opportunity, but turn out to be nothing more than adventure vacations. Sometimes she runs a scam to raise money for the next trip.

The Greens' house is littered with souvenirs and artifacts from Charlotte's trips. When she does stay home, she goes through flighty mood swings and minor obsessions. There's the suggestion of substance abuse.

When we meet 10-year-old Alice, she nervously begins to take on the role of responsible female in the family, or perhaps even responsible adult. Charlotte's husband Alan is not a presence either, owing in part to his absorbing work as an award-winning neurobiology researcher.

Alice and Charlotte have a conversation one day, when Alice comes home from school. The dog has not been let out by her mother, and Alice discovers the inevitable mess the dog has left. After Charlotte dodges the subject of her responsibility for the dog, Alice asks:

"Why are you still wearing your bathrobe?"

"Don't you like it?"

"Yeah, I like it, but shouldn't you get dressed?"

"Getting dressed is very overrated. Sometimes, sweetheart, I feel like if I'm going to get dressed I want to seriously get dressed. You know what I mean?"

In addition to her self-absorbed mother, Alice also has to cope with her jealousy of Gus, who seems to hold a special place in her mother's heart - a place she herself needs desperately to occupy.

By the time the kids are teenagers, Charlotte has traveled a great deal. At one point, Charlotte returns from a trip to Mexico and seems even more off-balance than usual. When she dies in a boathouse fire soon after, the question of what happened on that trip haunts the two children into adulthood. Alan slowly withers in the absence of Charlotte.

After Alan's death some years later, Gus travels to the Mexican town where his mother last visited, and Alice follows him. A family secret is discovered. At the same time, Alice finds a fellow tourist who seems to satisfy her quirky romantic needs.

Gus surfs and explores the past. More is learned about Charlotte, but nothing is ultimately resolved.

Despite some promise, the plot meanders in this way. The struggles and tragedies faced by her family are nothing special - one might see them revealed on the more lurid daytime talk shows. While portrayed with great wit, the novel's worst moments read like psychotherapy transcripts pieced together and edited for narrative flow.

Yet despite this flaw, there is something engaging about the storytelling and characters. It's like listening to someone unloading resentments and airing her family's dirty laundry. Just when the storyteller notices listener disinterest, she finds a way to slip in some colorful, fascinating or coy detail. This promise of something really juicy about to unfold holds the listener's attention just a little longer.

The Outside of August reads the same way. The characters manage to keep surprising the reader. Unexpected corners are turned and characters reveal new dimensions of themselves as the story progresses.

The Outside of August offers a sensitive, intelligent story that ultimately presents readers with a cruel conundrum: The book is not quite engaging, yet difficult to set aside.

Eric J. Blommel is a freelance writer living in Centennial.