Story

The story revolves around Lillian, a cynical late twenty-something year old who lives with her dysfunctional mom in their deadbeat hometown. Life seems exceedingly dull aside from her letters to Madison, her childhood roommate from boarding school. Once inseparable best friends, their friendship was compromised after a scandal that occurred at the boarding school. They went their separate ways, never seeing each other since. Until one fateful day, Madison offers Lillian a seemingly harmless babysitting job at her Southern Mansion. Curious, she visits the mansion, only to find out her tasks involve babysitting Madison’s twin stepchildren – her stepchildren who burst into flames at a moment’s notice.

The three of them form an unlikely trio as they navigate their newfound life in the isolated guesthouse, hidden in plain sight. The story revolves around Lillian as she gets an intimate insight into these traumatized fire children. Lillian provides them with the unconditional love they never had, and they in turn give Lillian’s life meaning. Together, they find comfort under these absurd circumstances and redefine what it means to be a family.

Characters

Lillian starts the book jaded with no aspirations; her narration riddled with cynicism. As the book progresses, she slowly begins to have a sense of identity and purpose. She becomes increasingly more caring and loving the more she allows herself to accept the love received by the two fire twins. She becomes more responsible, caring, and protective as she gets more attached to the children.

Roland and Bessie, the fiery stars of the book, are two deeply sensitive and traumatised children who were hurt countless times by the adults around them. Throughout the book you can see these twins slowly letting their guard down, realising they can trust Lillian to not abandon them. Their development is heart-warming, as it is evident that they spent a lot of their life in neglect, and finding someone who genuinely loves them, despite who they are, gives them the confidence they did not know was possible.

Madison and the Governor play the role of the neglectful, wealthy parents. They care more about how other people perceive them than anything else. Madison progresses to become more accepting and uncaring of how other people perceive her, whilst the Governor remains to be the primary antagonist of the novel.

Review

The book captures perfectly what it means to find family even in the most absurd circumstances. The prose is raw, heart-warming and engaging as you see through Lillian’s eyes how these two children had fundamentally changed who she is. The themes of dysfunction and neglect were handled with grace, and the book demonstrates how someone can learn to trust again after leading a life filled with trauma.

The novel did a wonderful job in portraying flawed, deeply sympathetic characters who were ultimately trying their best with what they had. Every single one of the characters was memorable and unique. The character development was excellent, with each one growing to be a completely different, better person by the end of the book. The dynamic between each character was explored thoroughly, and the role they played in each other’s lives was explored extremely well. You find yourself really rooting for Lillian and the children to be together and it was heart-warming to see how even people born under the worst circumstances can thrive when they receive the love they need. 

Conclusion

Nothing to See Here perfectly encapsulates the question, “What does it mean to be a family?” in a magic realism setting. It reads like a Southern Fairy-tale with memorable narration, and it hits all the marks for a classic coming-of-age literary fiction novel.