The Perfect Son by Barbara Claypole White

I had gotten The Perfect Son a while back on an Amazon bargain. I can't recall why or what, but it looked interesting, so I started reading it. A chapter or so in, I realized it was the same book a coworker had just read and had brought up that OCD and OCPD aren't the same. So, I was excited to have someone to discuss it with when I finished.

This book jumped right into it. Ella, a wife and mother, has a massive heart attack on a plane on her way home one day. She was basically the sole caregiver to the son, Harry, she had with her husband, Felix. Harry has Tourette's Syndrome and some other difficulties, so she's always been his advocate and Felix has kind of been on the side. (Because of his own issues.) The majority of the book is about how a son and father who have been practically nothing but living in the same house for 17 years learn that they are really a lot less different than initially thought. 

One of the most intriguing aspects of the book was the OCD vs OCPD differences. Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder is a lot different than Obsessive Compulsive Disorser. I had to do some reading on them after finishing the book. It's fascinating. I enjoyed learning about that (in the book and otherwise) as well as learning more about Tourette's and having the stereotypes surrounding that disorder that I held challenged. 

The ending of the book caught me off guard, but it ended probably exactly how it should have. 

It's definitely going on my recommended books list. Especially for people who are interested in the mind or about pleasing the unpleasable. 

386 pages