Saturday, July 25, 2009

Barbara Delinsky - Family Tree

Dana Clarke has just given birth to her first child. The little girl is lovely, but no one can help noticing how little she resembles her parents.
Dana's husband, among others, suspects that she may have had an affair.
In order to put the rumors and speculation to rest, Dana has to delve deep into her past and her husband's heritage to unearth some uncomfortable secrets. Can her marriage survive what she discovers ?

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Dana and Hugh Clarke are happily married although their upbringing couldn't be more different. Dana, lost her mother early and grew up with her grandma, Hugh was raised in a elitist family that prided themselves to know their whole family heritage of Anglo-Saxons.
But their world turns upside down with the birth of their first child, Lizzie, who's unremarkable features point to an African-America heritage.
While Dana's fairly certain her daughter got her features from her mostly unknown family Hugh struggles with his families' resentment towards the child and his doubts in his wife's fidelity. His tool to quiet his families' voices and his own lingering doubts about his wife and best friend and Neighbor, David who looks so much like little Lizzie, is a paternity test.
But Hugh is the father and little Lizzie's blood has more to reveal than that.

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Although an interesting topic, I think the author didn't quite deliver or I didn't get it. I can't put my finger on it but a lot of the protagonists actions didn't make sense to me and were plain old stereotype.
The wife loves knitting, her life is nursing and knitting. The family has to deal with the discovery that there is African-American blood in their veins. Please, spare me. I know there are certainly families that wouldn't want to hear about this but it is hardly imaginable that in today's times a family is a Delinsky-called purebreed.
Also largely missing is the emotion a topic like this should cause in a family.
Probably not the best book by Delinsky.

Rating:
Visit Barbara Delisnky.

Mass Market Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: Anchor; Reprint edition (June 24, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0307388468
ISBN-13: 978-0307388469

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