Her Father's House

Rating:
Summary: complex cerebral father-daughter relationship tale
Review: 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

Rating:
Summary: The time in which story takes place confusing
Review: Man meets woman whom he thinks is the love of his life. You know that they will get married, both will discover that they are wrong for one another and get a divorce. Enter a sweet and innocent daughter to complicate matters. Man knows she is more important than his life and he will do anything to protect her from his ex-wife, who is highly unsuitable as a mother. You know that a few years down the road, lies will be exposed and there will be heartbreaks, but you also know where things are leading towards in the end.

Predictable and boring -that's how I feel about the book, no doubt the emotions are pretty powerful, but this doesn't stop me from flipping through most of the pages and knowing what ending to expect. The synopsis of the book, which in a few short paragraphs, sums up what is covered in more than three quarters of the book, proves my point.

Rating:
Summary: Predictable
Review: Man meets woman whom he thinks is the love of his life. You know that they will get married, both will discover that they are wrong for one another and get a divorce. Enter a sweet and innocent daughter to complicate matters. Man knows she is more important than his life and he will do anything to protect her from his ex-wife, who is highly unsuitable as a mother. You know that a few years down the road, lies will be exposed and there will be heartbreaks, but you also know where things are leading towards in the end.

Predictable and boring -that's how I feel about the book, no doubt the emotions are pretty powerful, but this doesn't stop me from flipping through most of the pages and knowing what ending to expect. The synopsis of the book, which in a few short paragraphs, sums up what is covered in more than three quarters of the book, proves my point.

Rating:
Summary: NOT A SIZZLER
Review: THIS BOOK DIDN'T SIZZLE, BUT IT WAS ALL IN ALL VERY SATISFYING. THE TONE OF THE BOOK WAS OLD FASHIONED WHICH REMINDS ME OF PLAINS EARLIER BOOKS. I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO READ MORE ABOUT HOW DEAR LILLIAN REALLY FELT DURING THE 20+ YEARS WHILE HER DAUGHTER WAS MISSING. AND I'M ALSO CURIOUS ABOUT LILLIANS FAMILY, MUCH WAS MADE OUT OF IT, BUT WE STILL DON'T KNOW WHAT HER SECRETS ARE.

Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Story
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: The time in which story takes place confusing
Review: This is the first book I have read by this author. Maybe I should have started with a different book by this author. What I had the most trouble with is the timeline. The things that were going on in the early 70's in this book seemed more like present day. I mean rap music, A $175,000 sports car. Besides that the story seemed to drag on.

Rating:
Summary: Neither Complex nor Plain
Review: This is the second Belva Plain's book that I've read. The first one was `Looking Back', which seemed to be engaging in the beginning but after a while kept dragging on and on going over the same event, I did not feel for the characters. I picked up this book, thinking that I should give Plain another try, I found this book much worse, not only it was dragging on and on, but it had too much preaching and too much predictability. It seemed that the language was too simple, conversations not real and descriptions of the places and events too shallow. I kept skipping pages, because the words kept repeating themselves. I do not recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Neither Complex nor Plain
Review: This is the second Belva Plain's book that I've read. The first one was 'Looking Back', which seemed to be engaging in the beginning but after a while kept dragging on and on going over the same event, I did not feel for the characters. I picked up this book, thinking that I should give Plain another try, I found this book much worse, not only it was dragging on and on, but it had too much preaching and too much predictability. It seemed that the language was too simple, conversations not real and descriptions of the places and events too shallow. I kept skipping pages, because the words kept repeating themselves. I do not recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Belva Plain wrote this?
Review: You can count on a Belva Plain novel to tell a good story, and this book is no exception. The main character is Donald Wolfe, a young man who lives prudently and plans his life carefully. His world is turned upside-down when he meets the enchanting Lillian. They marry, and Donald finds out that Lillian is not all she appeared to be when they were dating. Donald begins to wonder if he has made a terrible mistake in his marriage, when Lillian announces that she is pregnant. Their child, Bettina, is enchanting, and Donald feels more and more drawn to her despite the fact that his marriage to her mother has fallen apart. Events occur which cause Donald to make a decision which will effect the rest of his, Lillian's and Bettina's lives. He becomes a fugitive, afraid that someday, somewhere, he will be confronted with his crime. Plain develops characters which the reader can really care about, and writes an interesting story of redemption and forgiveness.

Rating:
Summary: A good storyteller
Review: You can count on a Belva Plain novel to tell a good story, and this book is no exception. The main character is Donald Wolfe, a young man who lives prudently and plans his life carefully. His world is turned upside-down when he meets the enchanting Lillian. They marry, and Donald finds out that Lillian is not all she appeared to be when they were dating. Donald begins to wonder if he has made a terrible mistake in his marriage, when Lillian announces that she is pregnant. Their child, Bettina, is enchanting, and Donald feels more and more drawn to her despite the fact that his marriage to her mother has fallen apart. Events occur which cause Donald to make a decision which will effect the rest of his, Lillian's and Bettina's lives. He becomes a fugitive, afraid that someday, somewhere, he will be confronted with his crime. Plain develops characters which the reader can really care about, and writes an interesting story of redemption and forgiveness.