The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout

Jim and Bob Burgess and their sister Susan grew up in a small town in Maine.  At the age of three Bob released the handbrake while playing in the car, causing the death of their father and infamy for himself in their town ever after.
As adults both Burgess boys become lawyers and escape to New York.  Older brother Jim becomes highly successful and well known through a famous case, and while the brothers are close, Bob endures subtle put-downs and is left in no doubt he is the less successful of the two.
When the brothers are called back to their home town to help their nephew who has made headlines over a racist attack, family ties become strained and the past is re-examined.
Having recently read another of Elizabeth Stroud's novels
My Name is Lucy Barton, the themes of family secrets and tense relationships are familiar and again realistically portrayed.

Posted by Katrina

Catalogue link: The Burgess Boys

*I can't help myself - have to share this much more amusing review from the goodreads website with full credit to reader Sheila, who posted this review of The Burgess Boys (sorry not sorry that you are going to be singing the Brady Bunch theme in your head all day!):

cue the music to the Brady Bunch theme song

Here's the story,
Of a lonely lady,
Who was bringing up her very lonely son.
He threw a pig's head in church,
Just for the heck of it,
Then he was on the run.

Here's the story,
Of the lady's brothers,
Who were scheming, competing, cheating on their own.
They were two men,
Telling lies together, but they were soon both alone.

Till the one day when the truth came to the surface,
and they knew that these were much more than ploys.
That this group,
Was really quite dysfunctional.
That's the way they all became the Burgess Boys,
The Burgess Girl, the Burgess Boys
That's the way they became the Burgess Boys.

Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15823461-the-burgess-boys