Family Tree
by Barbara Delinsky
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Book Reviews of Family Tree
Book Review: Interesting story, if nothing else...
Summary: 4 Stars
I must admit that although I agree with much of what the other reviewers have said about `FAMILY TREE' that I did enjoy it despite it's obvious flaws. The thing that made this story enjoyable was the concept, a child with clearly African-American traits born to a white couple with no knowledge of African roots on either side. The fact that `FAMILY TREE' is an easy to read novel where everything unfolds pretty quickly helps make the story all the more enjoyable.
Being that I myself am African-American, I am not sure how a white couple brought up a certain way would react to this particular situation and although I thought that many of their reactions, as well as those of their friends and family, were unbelievable I did think that Hugh's (the child's father) initial response was the most genuine. Although I disliked his character's behavior immensely after the birth of his daughter I am sure that many men in his situation would have reacted similarly in wanting a DNA test. However, it was the reactions of the people affected by the revelation of where the child's African-American traits came from that were the most outrageous to me. While most of me wanted to tell them to get a grip, part of me believes that there are people who would feel similarly and not know what to do with the knowledge that they were anything but 100% white.
Overall `FAMILY TREE' has an interesting plot line and is very easy to read and enjoyable to boot. Definitely a great book club selection, 4 stars!
Book Review: Perfect for beach reading and book clubs, ending a bit forced
Summary: 4 Stars
Family Tree by Barbara Delinsky is perfect for both the beach and your book club. Dana and Hugh Clarke are living a perfect life. They live in a lovely house, have jobs they love and are expecting their first child. But their world starts to fall apart after the birth of Elizabeth. Their daughter is perfectly healthy with all ten fingers and toes, but her skin is dark and her hair black and curly. Hugh's family is upper-crust country club well documented back to their roots on the Mayflower, but Dana was conceived after a one night stand, and her mother struggled to raise her alone before her early death. Dana was raised by her loving grandmother who now has secrets she feels the need to hide with Elizabeth's birth. Accusations about Dana's fidelity fly, and the Clarke's relationship with their black neighbor suffers as even he feels the weight of the gossip. As Dana starts to trace her ancestry, questions are raised about what it means to be black and "to pass" as well as how we can be subconsciously racist. Delinsky's writing is fluid and makes for a hard to put down book as she deftly blends tense family drama with heavy political issues. The ending may or may not surprise, but it brought a satisfied smile to my face as many characters were forced to face their hidden racism. Eaton Clarke's turn around was a bit forced, and the happy ending just a little too tidy for the real world.
Book Review: Worn out subject and not dealt with well
Summary: 1 Stars
I could not beleive the characters in this book. It was like watching a soap opera of sterotypical characters. Here we have the so called sophisticated rich verses the moral middle class. It disapointed me that this sort of plot was even used to write a book. I get so tired of people thinking that all wealthy individiuals have narrow ideas and are quick to judge. It would be difficult for me to explain without giving the plot away but you sure can't write a book about a baby who is born to two caucasion parents and she turns out looking half african american. In the book the husband "digresses back to his parent beiefs and does not even try to stand by his wife. He is a coward and not worth my time. I have to be honest I did not finish the book because I got so disgusted with the way these people were protrayed. I was even disapointed with the wifeof the rich husband and her gandmother. Of course they had to be the "heros" because they were raised with values but not money. Oh guess what? Some rich people do have values and morals. One does not have to go on a journey to discover a family tree. First take a DNA test and if in fact the father is the the baby's dad then go on a hunt. The characters in this book need to get a life and find something else to worry about like the state of america. I am a terrible speller but I still say, READ SOMETHING ELSE!Book Review: Interesting topic, disappointing effort...
Summary: 2 Stars
Books like FAMILY TREE are always difficult for me to review. On the one hand, I was interested in the story and wanted to see how it played out. On the other hand, there are so many problems with the book that I really shouldn't have been that interested in it.
Right off the bat, I disliked the character of Hugh. The way he was portrayed in his interaction with Dana on the day she gave birth was reprehensible. (I found it interesting that he would take the case of a woman who claims a US senator fathered her child based solely on her word, no investigation on his part, yet he is suspicious of his own wife.) Nothing he ended up doing in the rest of the book redeemed him in my eyes.
I wasn't entirely thrilled with any of the other characters either. They were very clichéd and I had trouble connecting with them. Also, the knitting theme was apparently supposed to be a metaphor for...something, but darned if I could figure that out.
There was real potential here. This could have been a great book about interracial bloodlines and how they effect/impact future generations, but this read more like typical "chick-lit." I've read other Delinsky books in the past and have enjoyed them. She's a good writer, but this one just wasn't up to par.
Book Review: Good read - A bit disappointing
Summary: 3 Stars
I enjoyed Family Tree, but, unlike other recent Delinsky books, found the characters to be more "wooden" and less believable than usual. Someone else mentioned stereotypes, and I also found that many characters were very much stereotypes. I actually enjoyed the subplot of Hugh helping the single mother, Crystal, more than the main plot. This is a minor point, but sometimes things that just don't ring true distract me from the enjoyment of the story. When one chapter began by saying, "Strapped in a bouncer on the kitchen floor, Lizzie was contentedly full. She was so intrigued by the play of morning sun on her own hands that Dana decided the bath could wait." I thought for a moment that more time had passed than I'd realized in the plot line, but on the next page, Dana is telling someone on the phone that Lizzie is two and a half weeks old. Either Barbara Delinsky doesn't have children, or it has been so long ago that she doesn't remember that 2-1/2 weeks old is way too young to be strapped in a bouncer chair. And as for being fascinated by light on her hands, 2-1/2 weeks old seems a bit young for that also. Babies aren't even holding their heads up on their own at that age. It just didn't ring true and distracted me from the story.