In Ordinary People, Judith Guest portrays the emotional demise of a family with depth, subtlety, feeling and intelligence….

The book opens with young Conrad's return from a mental hospital where he spent several months following a dramatic, bloody suicide attempt. The story that unfolds is his and his parents' efforts to become ordinary people again. The unexpected disorder of their well-ordered lives, however, makes it impossible for them to continue as before. The further tragedy of their lives is that they know no other way to be….

Somewhat surprisingly, the story is told through the eyes of Conrad and his father. The mother's point of view, even though she is foremost in the men's lives, is barely articulated. We come to know her only in dialogues with her husband and son, and through their portrayals of her. For some reason Guest has given her no voice, no platform...