The Last Hundred Years trilogy by Jane Smiley

Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson? I’m having a hard time thinking of titles but there are definitely “feels like I’m adopted” type stories out there.

Anonymous wrote:Not exactly what you’re asking for. But I do think Far from the tree (nonfiction) is a bit like this

I was thinking the same thing. It’s an incredible book - one of the most impactful and profound I’ve ever read.

However, it’s non-fiction. And while the differences between the children and their parents are due to nature rather than nurture, I can’t think of any that were straight-up direct choices about values etc. But I think you can get a feel for that piece between the lines. (It’s about when kids are inherently very different than their parents - when the Apple falls “far from the tree.”)

I know it’s not exactly what you’re asking for, OP, but it’s an exceptional book. The more of it you read, the more the broader themes start coming together. Such good stuff!

Not exactly what you’re asking for. But I do think Far from the tree (nonfiction) is a bit like this

Thanks!

I don't think fiction is really the place to start if you are interested in finding out about child development. I would look for books on personality development. However, some novels that look at family systems and intergenerational differences that I have enjoyed are:

The Corrections
The Netanyahus
Buddenbrooks

Can anyone recommend fiction that gets at the heart of why some children reject their parents’ values and way of being at a very young age (by 5-10 for example, I’m not talking teenage rebellion), while others adopt them, when there’s not any abuse or gross negligence or anything like that, and the child is not presented with other grown ups that offer an alternate, more appealing (to the child) way of being? This question comes up in my mind every single time I spend time with my very happy and conventionally successful parents, as someone past mid life. And no, I’m past therapy at this point I just want to read some universal truths, through fiction, about what it is about very young children in their nature, rather than nurture, that drives them to chart their own path not just in terms of profession but in terms of way of being in the world (eg nuanced thought processes v black and white thinking, deliberate decision making v frazzled, nature loving v couch potato, etc). And how does that work out when there’s no alternate model for behavior, just a vague sense of what not to be like?