Saturday, June 29, 2013

Until I Say Good-Bye


Until I Say Good-Bye
Susan Spencer-Wendel

Until I Say Goodbye: A Book about Living

Genre: Memoir

Summary (from Goodreads):  In June 2011, Susan Spencer-Wendel learned she had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)--Lou Gehrig's disease--an irreversible condition that systematically destroys the nerves that power the muscles. She was forty-four years old, with a devoted husband and three young children, and she had only one year of health remaining.

Susan decided to live that year with joy.

She quit her job as a journalist and spent time with her family. She built an outdoor meeting space for friends in her backyard. And she took seven trips with the seven most important people in her life. As her health declined, Susan journeyed to the Yukon, Hungary, the Bahamas, and Cyprus. She took her sons to swim with dolphins, and her teenage daughter, Marina, to Kleinfeld's bridal shop in New York City to see her for the first and last time in a wedding dress.

She also wrote this book. No longer able to walk or even to lift her arms, she tapped it out letter by letter on her iPhone using only her right thumb, the last finger still working.

However, Until I Say Good-Bye is not angry or bitter. It is sad in parts--how could it not be?--but it is filled with Susan's optimism, joie de vivre, and sense of humor. It is a book about life, not death. One that, like Susan, will make everyone smile.

From the Burger King parking lot where she cried after her diagnosis to a snowy hot spring near the Arctic Circle, from a hilarious family Christmas disaster to the decrepit monastery in eastern Cyprus where she rediscovered her heritage, Until I Say Good-Bye is not only Susan Spencer-Wendel's unforgettable gift to her loved ones--a heartfelt record of their final experiences together--but an offering to all of us: a reminder that "every day is better when it is lived with joy."


Marcie's Review:  I cried and cried while reading this book, but in spite of that, it's a beautiful, heartwarming, uplifting book.  Susan acknowledged some of the unhappy thoughts and bad feelings she'd had following her diagnosis with ALS, but she chose to focus her time on making joyful memories with her family.  This book was such a good reminder to give my kids an extra hug and choose joy every day.

I had a few complaints, namely that the chapters were, at times, a little jumpy, but I decided to overlook that in my rating given that she wrote the entire book on her i-phone using only her right thumb.  What an amazing accomplishment! 

Becky's Review:  I enjoyed reading this book and I admire Susan for having written it even though it was so difficult for her to do so.  I also admire Susan for her attitude after being diagnosed with ALS.  The book was a little disjointed and a lot of it focused on her life before ALS rather than how she lived with joy after her diagnosis.  I love to read memoirs but this one fell short for me-it was lacking the emotion that you find in good memoirs.  There were moments where I teared up-especially the part when she took her daughter to New York.  She does write the book as more of a journalist and just includes the facts.  I wanted more.

Marcie's Rating: 4.5 stars 

Becky's Rating: 3.5 stars

The Language of Flowers



The Language of Flowers
Vanessa Diffenbaugh

The Language of Flowers

Genre: Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads):  A mesmerizing, moving, and elegantly written debut novel, The Language of Flowers beautifully weaves past and present, creating a vivid portrait of an unforgettable woman whose gift for flowers helps her change the lives of others even as she struggles to overcome her own troubled past.

The Victorian language of flowers was used to convey romantic expressions: honeysuckle for devotion, asters for patience, and red roses for love. But for Victoria Jones, it’s been more useful in communicating grief, mistrust, and solitude. After a childhood spent in the foster-care system, she is unable to get close to anybody, and her only connection to the world is through flowers and their meanings.

Now eighteen and emancipated from the system, Victoria has nowhere to go and sleeps in a public park, where she plants a small garden of her own. Soon a local florist discovers her talents, and Victoria realizes she has a gift for helping others through the flowers she chooses for them. But a mysterious vendor at the flower market has her questioning what’s been missing in her life, and when she’s forced to confront a painful secret from her past, she must decide whether it’s worth risking everything for a second chance at happiness.


Review: This book was recommended to me by a trusted friend as the best book she'd read all year, so my expectations were, perhaps, unreasonably high.  The writing style was lovely, and the first half of the book was engrossing, even given the complicated and not quite likeable personality of Victoria.  I enjoyed watching Victoria blossom as she worked in the flower shop, and was fascinated by the flower history and the magic Victoria causes as she finds the perfect flower arrangement for her customers.  The second half of the book left me feeling unhappy; I guess I would have preferred a sappy happily-ever-after ending, and that wouldn't have made the book nearly so interesting.  The real problems I had were twofold.  First, the relationship between Victoria and Grant was so one-sided that I couldn't see why Grant kept putting up with her.  And secondly, Victoria's decisions were so, so terrible that I lost all respect for her (if I were to be any more specific, it would be a complete spoiler).  I couldn't relate to her at all, given her terrible childhood in the foster system, and so it's possible that her reactions were completely understandable.  But while I felt sympathy and pity for her, I didn't like Victoria at all towards the end. 

Rating: 4 stars

The Romanov Cross



The Romanov Cross
Robert Masello

The Romanov Cross

Genre: Thriller

Summary (from Goodreads):  Nearly one hundred years ago, a desperate young woman crawled ashore on a desolate arctic island, carrying a terrible secret and a mysterious, emerald-encrusted cross. A century later, acts of man, nature, and history converge on that same forbidding shore with a power sufficient to shatter civilization as we know it.

Army epidemiologist Frank Slater is facing a court-martial, but after his punishment is mysteriously lifted, Slater is offered a job no one else wants—to travel to a small island off the coast of Alaska and investigate a potentially lethal phenomenon: The permafrost has begun to melt, exposing bodies from a colony that was wiped out by the dreaded Spanish flu of 1918. Frank must determine if the thawed remains still carry the deadly virus in their frozen flesh and, if so, ensure that it doesn’t come back to life.

Frank and his handpicked team arrive by helicopter, loaded down with high-tech tools, prepared to exhume history. The colony, it transpires, was once settled by a sect devoted to the mad Russian monk Rasputin, but there is even more hiding in the past than Frank’s team is aware of. Any hope of success hinges on their willingness to accept the fact that even their cutting-edge science has its limits—and that the ancient wisdom of the Inuit people who once inhabited this eerie land is as essential as any serum. By the time Frank discovers that his mission has been compromised—crashed by a gang of reckless treasure hunters—he will be in a brutal race against time. With a young, strong-willed Inuit woman by his side, Frank must put a deadly genie back in the bottle before all of humanity pays the price.

The Romanov Cross is at once an alternate take on one of history’s most profound mysteries, a love story as unlikely as it is inevitable, and a thriller of heart-stopping, supernatural suspense. With his signature blend of fascinating history and fantastic imagination, critically acclaimed author Robert Masello has once again crafted a terrifying story of past events coming back to haunt the present day . . . and of dark deeds aching to be unearthed.


Review: I had mixed feelings about this book.  I got caught up in the medical mystery surrounding the Spanish flu and the story of Anastasia Romanov, but did not enjoy the story of the inept, idiotic criminals and their religious mastermind.  It added an unnecessary point of view that didn't add much to the story other than wondering how they managed to survive so long.  The historical information seemed accurate, and the setting of very small town Alaska was interesting, although I would like to have seen more glimpses of everyday life other than that of the criminals.  Finally, the character of Frank Slater seemed to be highly intelligent, motivated and courageous, but he had either the most awful luck, or a truly inept sense of management, both of which seemed to be at odds with his character.  All in all, a quick read with an interesting plot, but it had enough flaws to make me rate it lower than I had expected.

Rating: 3 stars

Friday, June 28, 2013

The Last Telegram


The Last Telegram
Liz Trenow

The Last Telegram

Genre: Historical Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads):  Decades ago, as Nazi planes dominated the British sky, eighteen-year-old Lily Verner made a terrible mistake. She’s tried for decades to forget, but now an unexpected event pulls her back to the 1940s British countryside. She finds herself remembering the brilliant, lustrous colors of the silk she helped to weave at her family’s mill, the relentless pressure of the worsening war, and the kind of heartbreaking loss that stops time.

In this evocative novel of love and consequences, Lily finally confronts the disastrous decision that has haunted her all these years.


Review: A moving story about a young woman who takes over her family's silk weaving business during WWII. It's partly a coming of age story wherein spoiled Lily learns that she can cope with the challenge of developing new products and managing employees in a male-dominated manufacturing business.  It's also a romance, when Lily falls in love with a Jewish German refugee taken in by her family to work in the silk mill.  And finally, it's a history lesson about silk manufacturing, a topic which sounded a little boring, but turned out to be a fascinating part of the story.  I usually enjoy books about how British women coped on the homefront during World War II, and this book provided a unique perspective.

I had a few minor complaints, which is why I didn't rate this any higher.  Once the war ended, Lily's recounting of the past also ended, and the story jumped back to the present.  The reader found out a little about her life (who she had married, what happened to John), but I thought that would have made a fascinating continuation of the story.  I also wanted to know more about Lily's brother John and his experiences in the POW camp, and his return to married life.   

Rating: 4 stars

Calling Me Home

Calling Me Home
by Julie Kibler



Genre: Historical Fiction/Women's Fiction

Synopsis: 89 year old Isabelle McAllister has a favor to ask her hairdresser, Dorrie Curtis.  It's a big one.  Isabelle wants Dorrie to drop everything and driver her from her home in Texas to a funeral near Cincinnati.  With no clear explanation why.  Tomorrow.

Dorrie, a black single mother fleeing problems of her own, wonders if she can unlock the mysteries of Isabelle's guarded past.  She hardly hesitates before agreeing to Isabelle's request, never imagining it will be a journey that changes both their lives.

As they drive, Isabelle confesses her longest-kept secret.  As a willful teen in 1930s Kentucky, she fell deeply in love with Robert Prewitt, a would-be doctor and the black son of her family's housekeeper-in a town where blacks weren't allowed after dark.  The tale of this forbidden relationship and its tragic consequences makes it clear that Dorrie and Isabelle are heading for a gathering of the utmost importance, and that the history of Isabelle's first and greatest love just might help Dorrie find her own way.
From the book jacket

Review:  This is a beautiful story of friendship between Miss Isabelle, an 89 year old white woman, and Dorrie, her hairdresser who is a single mother and a black woman.  The bond between these women became more like mother/daughter than client/hairdresser.  During the car trip to the funeral, the chapters switch off from present day Dorrie and the struggles that she is going through with her son and her new man, and Miss Isabelle's life in the late 1930s/early 1940s.  This is not only a story of friendship but of a beautiful love relationship between Isabelle and Robert.  The love story is quite heart wrenching.  You really get to know the 2 women very well in the story and it's almost like you are taking a ride with them on their road trip.  The author does a fantastic job with writing the story but also with developing the characters and making the characters extremely likable.  I really enjoyed the character of Isabelle and how she spoke her mind, especially at 89 years old!  The story also deals with racial inequality both in the 1930s and the present day.  I could not put this book down and I was quite satisfied by how the story end.  I would definitely encourage you to pick up this book!

Rating: 5 stars

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

The Secret of Happy Ever After


The Secret of Happy Ever After
Lucy Dillon

The Secret of Happy Ever After

Genre: Women's Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): When story-lover Anna takes over Longhampton's bookshop, it's her dream come true. And not just because it gets her away from her three rowdy stepchildren and their hyperactive Dalmatian.

Unpacking boxes filled with childhood classics, Anna can't shake the feeling that maybe her own fairytale ending isn't all that she'd hoped for. But, as the stories of love, adventure, secret gardens, lost dogs, wicked witches and giant peaches breathe new life into the neglected shop, Anna and her customers get swept up in the magic too.

Even Anna's best friend Michelle - who categorically doesn't believe in true love and handsome princes - isn't immune.

But when secrets from Michelle's own childhood come back to haunt her, and disaster threatens Anna's home, will the wisdom and charm of the stories in the bookshop help the two friends - and those they love - find their own happy ever afters?


Review: A cozy, heartwarming story of the friendship between two very different women; it's the kind of book that would be just perfect to curl up with in front of a fire during a winter snowstorm.  It's light and easy to read, yet deals with marital issues, step-parenting, pregnancy, and childhood traumas in a realistic way.  I am a sucker for books about women trying to revitalize bookstores, and enjoyed all the references to classic children's novels, but I could not understand why Anna kept trying to push books like Little Women on her angsty, anti-reading teenage daughter.  I felt her efforts would have been more well-received if she had tried some current young adult fiction first, and as a librarian and bookstore owner, Anna ought to have known that herself.  But other than that small complaint, I really enjoyed this book.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Island 731


Island 731
Jeremy Robinson

Island 731

Genre: Thriller, Science Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads):  The high adventure of James Rollins meets the gripping suspense of Matthew Reilly in Jeremy Robinson's explosive new thriller

Mark Hawkins, former park ranger and expert tracker, is out of his element, working on board the Magellan, a research vessel studying the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. But his work is interrupted when, surrounded by thirty miles of refuse,  the ship and its high tech systems are plagued by a series of strange malfunctions and the crew is battered by a raging storm.

When the storm fades and the sun rises, the beaten crew awakens to find themselves anchored in the protective cove of a tropical island...and no one knows how they got there. Even worse, the ship has been sabotaged, two crewman are dead and a third is missing. Hawkins spots signs of the missing man on shore and leads a small team to bring him back. But they quickly discover evidence of a brutal history left behind by the Island’s former occupants: Unit 731, Japan’s ruthless World War II human experimentation program. Mass graves and military fortifications dot the island, along with a decades old laboratory housing the remains of hideous experiments.

As crew members start to disappear, Hawkins realizes that they are not alone. In fact, they were brought to this strange and horrible island. The crew is taken one-by-one and while Hawkins fights to save his friends, he learns the horrible truth: Island 731 was never decommissioned and the person taking his crewmates may not be a person at all—not anymore.


Review: I was drawn to this book because of the comparison to James Rollins and Matthew Reilly, authors whose books I usually enjoy reading.  This book, however, was a little over the top for me.  I got caught up in the drama of the search for the missing crew members, but once it turned into a human and animal experimentation science fiction story, I found it too unbelievable and disturbingly gory to enjoy.  The main character was both incredibly skilled and supremely lucky, and the non-stop action was too much to take.

Rating: 2 stars

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Before Green Gables


Before Green Gables
Budge Wilson

Before Green Gables

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): A must-read for generations of book lovers. This remarkable, and heart-warming prequel to the classic Anne of Green Gables was specially authorized by L.M. Montgomery's heirs to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the publication of the original novel.

Before Green Gables is the story of Anne Shirley's life before her arrival at Green Gables-a heartwarming tale of a precocious child whose lively imagination and relentless spirit help her to overcome difficult circumstances and of a young girl's ability to love, learn, and above all, dream.

Published in 1908, L. M. Montgomery's coming-of-age classic Anne of Green Gables has enchanted generations of readers, both children and adults. The story of the spunky red-haired orphan from Prince Edward Island is known to millions, and copies of the eight titles in the series have never gone out of print.

But when readers first meet Anne, she is eleven, and has just been sent from an orphanage to meet her new family. No one ever learned the events of Anne's life before she arrived at Green Gables.

Until now.

For the millions of readers who devoured the Green Gables series, Before Green Gables is an irresistible treat; the account of how one of literature's most beloved heroines became the girl who captivated the world.


Review: I enjoyed this story of Anne's young childhood, but it was missing some of the magic inherent in L.M. Montgomery's writing.  The author clearly did her research into Anne's early life as described in the Anne of Green Gables series, and she even worked in the history of some of Anne's little quirks, like her wonderful vocabulary.  I felt that the 3 or 4 year old Anne was completely unrealistic, though.  Could a precocious child of that age handle that much responsibility, even a hundred years ago, and would she have the grasp of language to talk in such a manner as Anne did in this book?  I sincerely doubt it.  The emphasis on Anne falling in love with Prince Edward Island also seemed like a bit of a stretch, but that's a minor complaint.  Overall, when I finished this book, I was so caught up in Anne's life that I dug out my Anne books from a box in the basement and read the first four in the series over the weekend.  So despite my complaints, the author must have done a nice job bringing Anne to life.

Rating: 3 stars

The Orchardist

The Orchardist
by Amanda Coplin


Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis:  At the turn of the twentieth century, in a rural stretch of the Pacific Northwest, a reclusive orchardist, William Talmadge, tends to apples and apricots as if they were loved ones. A gentle man, he's found solace in the sweetness of the fruit he grows and the quiet, beating heart of the land he cultivates. One day, two teenage girls appear and steal his fruit at the market; they later return to the outskirts of his orchard to see the man who gave them no chase.
Feral, scared, and very pregnant, the girls take up on Talmadge's land and indulge in his deep reservoir of compassion. Just as the girls begin to trust him, men arrive in the orchard with guns, and the shattering tragedy that follows will set Talmadge on an irrevocable course not only to save and protect them but also to reconcile the ghosts of his own troubled past.
Transcribing America as it once was before railways and roads connected its corners, Amanda Coplin weaves a tapestry of solitary souls who come together in the wake of unspeakable cruelty and misfortune. She writes with breathtaking precision and empathy, and in The Orchardist she crafts an astonishing debut novel about a man who disrupts the lonely harmony of an ordered life when he opens his heart and lets the world in.
Review:  This was a well written book but just not a book for me.  I read the whole thing because I was curious about where it was going but I didn't like it.  The descriptions of people and places are amazingly well detailed and very poetic.  All of the characters were keep to themselves kind of people and they didn't talk hardly at all.  That means that there was virtually no dialogue and I missed it.  From the book description, I would have expected most of the story to take place while the two young girls show up at Talmadge's place.  But that is not the case, the story spans about 16 years.  The book was unnecessarily long.  I don't understand the main character (Talmadge)'s motivation to try to keep track of Della long past when she left the orchard and his obsession with trying to help her.  The characters didn't appeal to me.  There was a part to the story that was really disturbing and hard to get past-I almost abandoned it right then but something made me keep reading.  I did want to find out what happened to the characters and was hopeful that they would redeem themselves or make changes for the better but I don't think that happened.

Rating: 2 stars

Friday, June 21, 2013

The Buddha in the Attic

The Buddha in the Attic
by Julie Otsuka


Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis:  Julie Otsuka’s long-awaited follow-up to When the Emperor Was Divineis a tour de force of economy and precision, a novel that tells the story of a group of young women brought from Japan to San Francisco as “picture brides” nearly a century ago.
In eight incantatory sections, The Buddha in the Attic traces the picture brides’ extraordinary lives, from their arduous journey by boat, where they exchange photographs of their husbands, imagining uncertain futures in an unknown land; to their arrival in San Francisco and their tremulous first nights as new wives; to their backbreaking work picking fruit in the fields and scrubbing the floors of white women; to their struggles to master a new language and a new culture; to their experiences in childbirth, and then as mothers, raising children who will ultimately reject their heritage and their history; to the deracinating arrival of war.
In language that has the force and the fury of poetry, Julie Otsuka has written a singularly spellbinding novel about the American dream.

Review: I had such a hard time getting into this book.  I was so thrown off by the "we" narration.  There were no single characters in this book.  Everything talked about we and our.  So when the author wrote the section about giving birth there were sentences such as "One of us gave birth in the fields.  Another one of us gave birth..."  (Those aren't quotes from the book, they are similar to what I remember).  Towards the middle of the book (which is only about 95 pages), I did get into the plural narration but I still longed for stories of a few of the characters.  I couldn't get a feel for how many women were in the story.  I saw a review on GoodReads that called this book a combination of a poem and a novella and once I saw that I understood the perspective better and I liked it better.  But if you are looking at it as a novel, it leaves much to be desired.

Rating: 3 stars

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Cold City


Cold City
F. Paul Wilson

Cold City

Genre: Thriller

Summary (from Goodreads):  The first of three Repairman Jack prequels, revealing the past of one of the most popular characters in contemporary dark fantasy: a self-styled “fix-it” man who is no stranger to the macabre or the supernatural, hired by victimized people who have no one else to turn to.

We join Jack a few months after his arrival in New York City. He doesn’t own a gun yet, though he’s already connected with Abe. Soon he’ll meet Julio and the Mikulski brothers. He runs afoul of some Dominicans, winds up at the East Side Marriott the night Meir Kahane is shot, gets on the bad side of some Arabs, starts a hot affair, and disrupts the smuggling of preteen sex slaves. And that’s just Book One.


Review: I was so excited to discover this new author, who has written quite a few novels about this character named Repairman Jack.  This book is a prequel to his other novels, so I know there will be lots of other books to read, and in fact I've already checked out another of his books from the library.  The character reminds me a little of Jack Reacher, in that he solves other people's problems in clever ways, but there's a lot more descriptions of violence in this book.  This book is the first in a prequel trilogy, and my biggest complaint about it is that it didn't have an ending.  AT ALL.  There was no cliffhanger, it just stopped, making me wish I could pick up the next book and start reading it immediately to learn how the stories end.  And the next book isn't due out for a while.  I hate it when authors do that.

Rating: 4 stars

The Survivor


The Survivor
Gregg Hurwitz

The Survivor

Genre: Thriller

Summary (from Goodreads):  One morning in Los Angeles, Nate Overbay—a divorced former solider suffering from PTSD and slowly dying from ALS — goes to an eleventh-floor bank, climbs out of the bathroom window onto the ledge, and gets ready to end it all. But as he’s steeling himself, a crew of robbers bursts into the bank and begins to viciously shoot employees and customers. With nothing to lose, Nate confronts the robbers, taking them out one-by-one. The last man standing leaves Nate with a cryptic warning.

Nate soon learns what that message meant. He is kidnapped by Pavlo, a savage Russian mobster and mastermind of the failed heist. Unable to break back into the bank to get the critical item inside, Pavlo gives Nate an ultimatum—break in and get what he needs or watch Pavlo slowly kill the one thing Nate loves most—his ex-wife Janie and his teenaged daughter Cielle—both lost when he came back from Iraq broken and confused. Now he’s got one last chance to protect the people he loves, even if it’s the last thing he is able to do.


Review: This is the first book I've read by this author, and I will definitely be checking out his other books.  It's an action packed thriller with sympathetic characters, realistic dialogue, little snippets of comedy, and even some feel-good relationship moments.  Sure, there were moments when the action felt too over-the-top made-for-a-movie-ish,  and times when the teenage daughter and her boyfriend were annoying.  And, from the beginning, you can tell that there's no way to have an entirely happy ending.  But all in all, it was a very entertaining, fast-paced, easy to read book.

Rating: 4 stars

The Inn at Rose Harbor


The Inn at Rose Harbor
Debbie Macomber

The Inn at Rose Harbor (Rose Harbor #1)

Genre: Women's Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads):  From #1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber comes a heartwarming new series based in the Pacific Northwest town of Cedar Cove, where a charming cast of characters finds love, forgiveness, and renewal behind the doors of the cozy Rose Harbor Inn.

Jo Marie Rose first arrives in Cedar Cove seeking a sense of peace and a fresh start. Coping with the death of her husband, she purchases a local bed-and-breakfast—the newly christened Rose Harbor Inn—ready to begin her life anew. Yet the inn holds more surprises than Jo Marie can imagine.

Her first guest is Joshua Weaver, who has come home to care for his ailing stepfather. The two have never seen eye to eye, and Joshua has little hope that they can reconcile their differences. But a long-lost acquaintance from Joshua’s high school days proves to him that forgiveness is never out of reach and love can bloom even where it’s least expected.  

The other guest is Abby Kincaid, who has returned to Cedar Cove to attend her brother’s wedding. Back for the first time in twenty years, she almost wishes she hadn’t come, the picturesque town harboring painful memories from her past. And while Abby reconnects with family and old friends, she realizes she can only move on if she truly allows herself to let go.

A touching novel of life’s grand possibilities and the heart’s ability to heal, The Inn at Rose Harbor is a welcome introduction to an unforgettable set of friends.


Review: This is a typical Debbie Macomber book - a gentle little story about family dynamics that is easy to read and has a happy ending.  Sometimes I'm in the mood for that kind of a book, and Debbie Macomber usually satisfies.  This book, however, left me feeling a little disgruntled.  I understand the desire to bring back characters from her Cedar Cove stories; I've read some of those books, and wouldn't mind an update on what the characters are doing now.  But so many of them made appearances in slightly awkward ways, and I found it hard to believe that friendships would develop so quickly between those old Cedar Cove friends and a new-to-town stranger.  But most importantly, the two guests experience dramatic changes in their viewpoints on life over a single long weekend, and I found the timeframe completely unrealistic.  Since the point of this new series is to see how guests change during short stays at a bed and breakfast, I would expect that all future books in this series would have the same problem.  It just doesn't work for me.

Rating: 2 stars

Family Tree


Family Tree
Barbara Delinksy

Family Tree

Genre: Women's Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads):  For as long as she can remember, Dana Clarke has longed for the stability of home and family. Now she has married a man she adores, whose heritage can be traced back to the Mayflower, and she is about to give birth to their first child. But what should be the happiest day of her life becomes the day her world falls apart. Her daughter is born beautiful and healthy, and in addition, unmistakably African-American in appearance. Dana’s determination to discover the truth about her baby’s heritage becomes a shocking, poignant journey. A superbly crafted novel, Family Tree asks penetrating questions about family and the choices people make in times of crisis.

Review:  I generally like Delinsky's books for what they are, and I'll classify that as chick lit for moms.  This book had an interesting premise, but didn't live up to my expectations for many reasons.  The thing that bothered me most is that when the mother thought she had a great-grandparent who was part African American (giving her a heritage that was 1/16th African American) she immediately questioned who she really was, telling her family that she is now an African American.  Really?  Would suddenly finding out you are 1/16th of any nationality at all really make much of a difference in how you view yourself or how you live your life?  I don't think so.  And shouldn't the concern here be focused on how the child's looks will affect her life?  Also, the controversy between husband and wife about genetic testing was unbelievable; the husband's refusal to discuss it logically with his wife made me MAD.  I also questioned whether Delinsky had every been around a newborn, given the ease with which the mother suddenly took over a yarn store and care of an elderly relative, while toting around a newborn baby.  I frequently reread some of Delinsky's earlier novels that have sympathetic characters, strong and believable dialogue, and discuss family issues, but this one I will donate to Goodwill.

Rating: 2 stars