About this title: Dana Clarke has always longed for the stability of home and family--her own childhood was not an easy one. Now she has married a man she adores who is from a prominent New England family, 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.
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Description: Very Good. 0307388468 Great condition paperback book, clean pages, mild creases to spine, some edge/corner rubs, this book is GREAT! Shop & Save With US. read more
Description: Very Good. 0307388468 Great condition paperback book, clean pages, mild creases to spine, some edge/corner rubs, this book is GREAT! Shop & Save With US. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Anchor
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780307388469ISBN:0307388468
Description: Very Good. 0307388468 Mass Market Paperback, previously read used book in very good condition, may have slight worn corners and some shelf wea..._ read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Anchor, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780307388469ISBN:0307388468
Description: Good. 0307388468 Mass market paperback, previously read used book in good condition, varying degrees of shelf wear, some spine creases, m...02505065 _ read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Anchor, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780307388469ISBN:0307388468
Description: Fine. 0307388468 Mass market paperback, previously read used book in like new condition, some very minor shelf wear, no rips or tears. _ read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Anchor, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780307388469ISBN:0307388468
Description: Fine. 0307388468 Mass market paperback, previously read used book in like new condition, some very minor shelf wear, no rips or tears. 02505703 _ read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Anchor, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780307388469ISBN:0307388468
Description: Very Good. 0307388468 Mass market paperback, previously read used book in very good condition, may have slight worn corners and varying degre..._ read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Doubleday
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9780385518659ISBN:038551865X
Description: Very Good in Very Good jacket. Small Edition Nice clean copy! May have price sticker on cover and minor shelfwear. Overall a very good book! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Doubleday
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9780385518659ISBN:038551865X
Description: Good in Good jacket. BOMC/Book Club. Used hardcover with dust jacket. Both are in good condition with light wear to dust jacket. read more
"I was first attracted to this book by the cover, it intrigued me, so I picked it up. At first, when I looked at the cover, I thought that it was about an adoption story. White woman, dark-skinned child, that's the first thing that popped in my head. Hugh and Dana, who are both white, are about to have their first child. When Dana gives birth, they are surprised that their baby, Lizzie, is dark-skinned. Hugh's family ancestry can be traced back to the Mayflower, whereas Dana has never known who her father was.
With the birth of their child, Hugh begins to struggle with his emotions. Although he trusts Dana, his family keeps on suggesting that she might have had an affair (especially as they are close friends with their neighbour, a single black man). Eventually, he asks Dana to do a DNA test on the baby, insisting that it is the only way to prove that it is really his child. After the test proves that Lizzie is his, Dana begins a quest to search through her family tree, to try and discover who her father was.
It was a very readable book, easy to read, and interesting. I felt myself wanting to smack Hugh at times for not having more trust in Dana. I suppose that it's easy for women, the baby is always definitely theirs, whereas men never know for certain. And if you are both white, suddenly getting a dark-skinned baby must come as a huge shock, thus breeding doubt in the man's mind.
I wouldn't nominate the book for any awards, but it's definitely an enjoyable book to read if you've got a few hours free time!"
"Wow - I was surprised at the number of varied responses by other readers.
I found the book a fast read and I wanted to find out the ending. I did think that in some cases the characters did come off as pretty shallow, but I think when big revelations come in a family - you do end up with some pretty shallow responses - like not in my family!
I do think the explanations of which family had an inaccurate view of their family tree was a bit formulaic but again i wasn't ask upset about that as I thought I would be.
This is not the great American Novel - but I wasn't expecting it to be - This was however a great read that kept me interested enough to finish it and brought me comfort and thought about - yet again - the universal truth - how much do you really know about another person (dreams/feelings/thoughts and wants)
In her more recent book - While My Sister Sleeps - again the universal truth - how much do you know... The Wednesday Letter also has the same basic premise...
Would I recommend the book - yes - a great beach read. A great - it's a rainy day and I am reading book. A great - I just want to read about someone else's problems for a while. Yes"
"The novel "Family Tree" by Barbara Delinsky was recommended by my school librarian. I figured that I would give it a shot as the plot sounded incredibly interesting, but unfortunately it did not live up to the librarian's great review. I think that the novel was decent but held a lot of potential that wasn't thoroughly developed by Delinsky. The story is about a young Caucasian couple who have a black baby. The themes of judgment and acceptance are explored throughout the novel. I enjoyed the plot that Delinsky created; however I disagree with some of the details that were incorporated in the story. I don't believe that an ancestor of a different race should have such an enormous effect on a person's personality or way of life. After investigating her ancestry, Dana, one of the main characters in the story, believes that she is a whole new person because she is 1/16 black. She constantly goes on about being black and how she views her life differently. I believe that the novel should not have focused on an idea that the colour of your skin defines who you are. I have been raised in an environment where all races and ethnic groups are considered equal. Parts of this novel represent something I don't stand for; inequality. I think that there should have been less emphasis on the "different" feeling the character's experienced and more development of how heritage provides unique aspects to a person. Although there were parts of the novel that I didn't enjoy, I truly liked how the novel was able to probe questions in the reader about their own views on judgment. The novel explores the harsh reality of the world we live in and the tough decisions that people must make on a day to day basis. Also, the exploration of different social class and the expectations that are accompanied were incredibly interesting. The automatic judgment that is made from a person of higher class on a person of lower class truly surprised me. As a person of middle class, I don't really experience those types of situations and it was therefore interesting to read about. Overall, I believe that Delinsky created a skeleton for what could have been an amazing novel but unfortunately did not execute the story to its full potential."
"This novel is a delight to interpret because of the remarkable plot. The author Barbara Delinsky starts the story with a wealthy Caucasian couple whom just had a baby but with a few unexpected physical features that shocks their whole family, friends and peers. Hugh, the father becomes very inquisitive as of why his child was born with a different colour that had no relations to his family, until he finds out about his great-grandfather after all the drama he had created with his wife and his good friend David. This story is very uplifting to read, and it is such a good family drama that in my opinion, it could almost be made as a successful television show series. The character development is captivating in various ways because there are consequently many things going on with each main character in the storyline. Hugh not only worries about his family issues with his newborn child, but he also assists a woman he met at the hospital where Dana, his wife, gave birth to their child, given there he is a lawyer. On the other hand, Dana is not only a new mother, however she also become even closer with her heart-warming grandmother, and gets attached to knitting that she even gives her neighbour David's daughter free knitting lessons. Even Hugh's father not only criticizes the child's skin colour, moreover he is an author who is busy trying to promote his book sales while trying to work on his relationship with his son. Without this interesting development between the main characters, this story would not really have a lot of significance to it.
It was instructive for me to read a book with such a diverse and kind of unusual scheme since it makes it enjoyable to read, especially if there is a twist to the story. The husband accuses his wife's family side for the reason of their dark-skinned child, and he makes her feel terrible, especially just after she had a baby, that she does not know anything about her father because she never grew up with him. Furthermore, it ends up being the great-grandfather of Hugh who has been the reason all along, which the author demonstrates that some people approach with quick conclusions."
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