For my Christian readers this isn't a selection of Christian fiction. I enjoy reading all genres and this novel caught my attention. It was the cover that hooked me into reviewing it. I am new to this author and I always love being introduced to someone new. It gives a reader great perspective of different styles of writing.
This novel started out with getting a bit of my attention, but I never really connected with any character. No character stood out for me. I enjoy connecting on some level and having a novel leave me pondering. That just didn't happen here.
The writing style was a bit slow and there was a loss of detail. The heart of each character just never exploded onto the pages. I guess you could say, it never came to life. I see others truly enjoyed this novel. Remember, this is only my opinion, my take away. You may choose this selection and love every page, closing the last and wanting more.
The story-line is a great one. A family of seven. The father passes away, leaving his wife and five sons behind. They have lived with a great loyalty to family. This was taught to them by their parents. After their father dies questions come about. There's another woman. She has grown children. She's never told them about their father. That is until he is gone from this earth and now she wants them to sue the estate. This is where the story really takes off. This family is left wondering if anything about their lives was found to be true.
Now, these are very wealthy people. So, dividing the estate with two other sons wouldn't really hurt anyone. It's not the money that is causing such turmoil. It's the fact that this other family wants to put in question all they knew to be of their father.
These sons face the fact that the new sons look much like their father. A dad they never knew. So how could they have his mannerisms? They find that there is more about these two young men that are alike their father than anything about them. But that just isn't true. They share much about their father. He is a part of them and no matte what tries to invade this family, loyalty finds a way to remain strong.
The novel takes a chapter for each son. So, the reader does get a chance to explore the lives of these sons and their lives. For me it just wasted enough. So, what is the novel about? It's family, loyalty, forgiveness, and acceptance. It's this family battling to understand just who they are in the twist of life.
This novel was a gift from Crown Publishing for sharing my review with you.
Susan Rieger is the author of The Divorce Papers. She is a graduate of Columbia Law School and has worked as a residential college dean at Yale and as an associate provost at Columbia. She lives in New York City with her husband, writer David Denby.
