The book takes time to find its footing ... Although Bilton says the book is based in part on written records, conversations and photographs, some aspects of Debra’s story seem implausible. Debra catalogs a long list of celebrity lovers and claims her rebuff of a sexual advance by Mick Jagger inspired one of rock’s most famous lyrics, a fact unconfirmed by music historians ... Bilton says she checked the facts of her memoir 'where I could.' Yet she makes some basic errors ... These oversights are regrettable, because when Bilton writes about her own experiences, away from the shadow of her mercurial mother, she shines a much-needed light on the impact of the secretive, unregulated world of sperm donations ... Bilton feels betrayed by her mother’s half-truths and her father’s broken promise, but stops short of examining the highly profitable, largely unregulated fertility industry that allowed a single man to father at least 35 siblings.
[Debra's] antics are described with deadpan humour and a wonderfully brisk pace ... The cast of characters that inhabited their lives could each be the subject of their own book ... shocking stuff, handled gracefully ... At this point I would have liked to have heard more of Bilton’s interior world, but the fallout is reported rather than examined ... After ten years of keeping her distance, Bilton, now 37, opened the door to 35 siblings, inviting them into her house, which she shares with her husband and two children. A string of people turned up in her living room with the same feet, dimples and propensity to leave phones uncharged, but this felt bland compared with what had come before. Which is why I am glad the book ends with her mother, now sober and a devoted grandmother, somehow on 'first name terms with Kamala Harris' and still wearing bright red lips and nails ... This beautiful, warm, funny book is a testament to human resilience, forgiveness and humour. It is also a love letter to an extraordinary mother.
Compelling ... Eloquently written and compulsively readable, Bilton’s jaw-dropping coming-of-age memoir—and the love and survival found within its pages—one readers won’t soon forget.
Normal Family is about one of the most atypical families one can imagine, and in that way, it's certainly a page-turner. For most of the book, readers will simply have no idea where this wild tale is headed. But it also demonstrates that the most normal thing in the world is for a family to have—and overcome—its secrets.
Entertaining ... Bilton tells two remarkable stories ... Bilton's warts-and-all depiction is sometimes hilarious, sometimes horrifying, always grounded in extraordinary forgiveness and resilience ... A wholly absorbing page-turner that everyone will want to read. You should probably buy two.
