Her Father's House

I bought this as a stocking stuffer for my Mom. She loved the book and read it in a few days. I had previously listened to it on audio disc and I loved it. Belva Plain develops her characters so well, you can really relate to their emotions. I love that they are complex and you see them from all sides.

This is about a lawyer who married badly, got divorced in two years while the wife was pregnant. The mother was never home and often had adulterous affairs. The husband kidnapped the daughter when she was two and took on a new identity, moved to Georgia and lived with a woman on her farm he had met on a plane once that invited him to come by if he was ever in town. His daughter eventually found out about her old identity. I liked this book and would recommend it.

I started this book thinking it was going to be boring. It starts out kind of slow, but then it really gets you hooked. I loved this book.

This is the first book I have read by Ms. Plain. I will surely be reading more of her books if they are anything like this one. I'm very glad I did not read the reviews before I read the book. The reviews were actually a summary of the book. I don't like to know each turn of event and how the book ends before I have a chance to read it. The actions of Jim never crossed my mind before they happened. I never dreamed he would risk his life's work to do what he did to save his daughter.

In 1968 Rising New York attorney Donald Wolfe meets, dates, and marries Lillian Morris. However, happily ever after fails to materialize and they quickly part but not before she becomes pregnant. Lillian remarries and Donald sees their child Bettina once a week. During his visits Tina's nanny accompanies the little girl. The nanny informs Donald that Lillian ignores their daughter while planning to carry her with her as excess baggage when she visits her latest lover. Unable to sit on the sidelines, Donald abducts his beloved Tina and vanishes with her.Years later Tina is getting married. She travels to New York where she soon learns more about her matriarchal background. Tina is pulled in two directions, as she knows her father lied about her past, but risked all to provide her a safe nurturing environment.HER FATHER'S HOUSE is a complex cerebral father-daughter relationship tale. The story line forces the reader to ponder how far does one go to protect a loved one including hiding the truth from them? That question leads to other philosophical issues such as does the means (hiding the truth and the abduction though risking everything) justify the end (an adjusted adult), when do you make that decision, and how do you knows its right in a world of multi-hued grays? Belva Plain leaves her fans to cogitate on this deep novel and what brilliant rabbit will she pull out of her magic word processor next.Harriet Klausner