A Stranger in the Family

Robert Barnard, the British author, writes small books. Small in physical size and generally, small in scope and plot. Barnard's books are generally filed as "mysteries" but they are mysteries in the true sense of the word. Not a lot of death and physical mayhem; Barnard's books are psychological mysteries. Cerebral, of the mind, in the family, in small spaces... "A Stranger in the Family", Barnard's latest, has no murders, other than those murdered by the Nazis and their allies. The plot, which ranges in time from the 1930's to modern days, ties the Kindertransport of 1939 to a more modern child abduction. Two boys, both three years old, are taken from their families. One, Jurgen Greenspan, is sent out of Germany on the last Kindertransport with his slightly older sister, Hilde and raised in England by adopted parents. The other, Peter Novello, is snatched from his parents while vacationing in Sicily and is adopted by the now-grown Jurgen and his wife in Glasgow. Only on his adopted mother's deathbed, does she tell Peter, referred to as Kit by his adoptive parents, the name of his birth mother. After her death, Kit tracks down his birth family in Leeds and is accepted by his mother, estranged father, and siblings with varying degrees of warmth. Kit sets out to discover how he was taken from Sicily and ended up in Glasgow. His journey of discovery takes him to London, Vienna, and Sicily, touching on people's memories of the times and events. Few people in the book are all good or all bad (except Peter's birth father, who's an unreconstructed "baddie"); Barnard draws all his characters with a nuanced touch sadly missing in many works of fiction. There's very little physical action in the book; the action is nearly all of the mind. Barnard's books are pure gems and thankfully he's a fairly prolific writer.

Many adopted children become obsessed with finding their biological parents. That is not Kit Phillipson's problem. His adoptive mother, as she was dying, told him that his birth mother's name was in her address book, and that she lived in Leeds, as well as that he was three years old when he was abducted while the family vacationed in Sicily and ended up "adopted" by the Phillipsons. After the death of his much-beloved adoptive mother, he traveled from Glasgow to visit the Novello family, meeting his biological mother and siblings. He finds out that he was three years old when he was abducted while the family vacationed in Sicily and ended up "adopted" by the Phillipsons. While in Leeds, he meets visits his supposed biological father, Peter Novello, who is in an assisted living home and in the early stages of senility. He is informed, however, that he is not Novello's son, giving rise to all sorts of questions and leading Kit to investigate his adoptive father's past. As the past unfolds, many secrets are revealed about the nature of Kit's abduction, and his real grandfather, who has a murky past in wartime Europe and post-war Italy. While this is termed a novel of suspense, it is much more: an insightful analysis of the foibles of human nature and family inter-actions, much less self-discovery on Kit's part, leading to accepting values and morals by which to live. Well-written and intriguing, the book is highly recommended.

Barnard has given us a real page-turner here, well written (of course) and well plotted. Treat yourself! And wish for Mr. Barnard a long, healthy, productive life -- for his sake and ours.

In Glasgow, Scotland, Kit Philipson was raised by professional parents; his mom taught school while his dad, who escaped the Nazis as an infant, was a journalist. He loved both of them and knew they loved him. However, twentyish Kit is stunned when his dying mom informs him he was adopted; his birth name is Novello. Her comments trigger long lost not quite lucid memories of a nursery and a woman baking as well as strangers taking him away from his apparent biological family. Needing to know the truth, he searches newspaper clippings for Peter Novello. He learns that in 1989 in Sicily, three years old Peter Novello was abducted. Kit deepens his quest to meet his family, but is confused by what he learns as his siblings had no idea he existed or why his biological parents who never left Leeds suddenly went to Sicily on vacation. This great tale will be on most short lists for suspense thriller of the year as everyman Peter digs deep into his past trying to connect the dots between Leeds, Sicily and Glasgow. The journey is filled with twists as nothing is quite like it seems. Readers will want to join Kit on his quest to discover why from Peter's biological bloodline. Harriet Klausner