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Rating: 
Summary: Lovely Story
Review: I enjoyed reading this book, but found that it left me with questions. One of which, was stated on the blurb, that "Arnrings' past begins to unravel, revealing a shattering secret that reaches back nearly a century". IT DIDN'T HAPPEN. I kept waiting for something spectacular to come out, but there was nothing there. If they meant the fact that he was illegitimate that appears in the beginning of the book. It also states that he went west....but he ended up in Texas??? I adore Ms Plain's books and will forever keep on reading them, but these mistakes should be caught before publication. Actually the book is stated as a generational book, but it takes us 310 pages with Adam's story, and leaves us with only 46 pages of the next two generations. I was confused with the story of Mr. Snow (Leo). It states that he picked up the litter of puppies abandoned beside the road, and it was in fact Adam's mother Eileen.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing? Unfortunately yes...
Review: I hadn't read Belva Plain for a few years until I spied this one displayed in the new book section of our public library. Now I am glad I didn't purchase the book. It is a common story with common writing, not worthy of Ms Plain and her reputation as a great story teller. I, too, was waiting for some deep dark secret to be revealed, especially concerning brother Leo and his strange behavior. She should have developed his character more and Adam's less. I have recently read some of my faviorite author's latest works (Grisham, Steele, Fielding, Cook, Evans) and have to make one blanket statement about them all. They aren't as good as they used to be.
Rating:
Summary: Belva's Sight for Sore Eyes
Review: I too wondered about some of the things in this book, but there's an easy explanation. Belva Plain isn't the first author to use modern terms for old-fashioned expressions. Other authors have fallen into the same trap. Blame the editors for not catching this type of mistake. As for Leo taking credit for rescuing the abandoned dogs, this is what people with low self-esteem sometimes do to make themselves feel important. I've always enjoyed Belva Plain's books. She writes beautifully about everyday people caught in everyday conflicts. The passage of time in her books is written seamlessly, and sex is left to the reader's imagination. If you can't imagine it, then you know what you have to do.
Rating:
Summary: One of Belva Plain's Best
Review: This was a wonderful book to read, and follow the charactors through the beginning of the 20th century to the near end. The book was engaging, and well written. Plain missed the mark with the blackmail story with the brother Leo, which made for a confusing ending. All in All, it was one of her better works.
Rating: 
Summary: Wishing for Another EVERGREEN!
Review: What can any reader say about an author who hit big with her first book Evergreen during the 1970's. The story of a young immigrant who goes to work at the home of a wealthy family and becomes involved with the dashing son, also gave birth to several other books in a series focusing on these two eventual families. Evergreen was also made into a television movie with Armand Assante and Lesley Anne Warren which I still enjoy watching. To say that I loved and continue to love the book , Evergreen, is an understatement and so with each book that Belva Plain wrote I was first on line to buy a copy. But in the succeeding years her books which took place during present day and grappled with many of the ills of our society like infidelity, embezzlement and betrayal, failed to move or interest me and most likely the last book I will read by this author. The story of a man that goes from rags to riches in a retail operation beginning in the early 1900's, marries the girl of his dreams and has many children and grandchildren has certainly been told before and in my opinion better in books like As the Crow Flies by Jeffery Archer and A Woman of Substance. Plain fails to deliver memorable characters or anything else of much value in this book I'm afraid to say. Despite a rather odd brother and historical events like WWI and the Depression plus a dark secret about the main character's failed to interest me more than a ho hum and ultimately led me to rate this book as low as I did. In addition I wondered why errors like words which were never used in this time period weren't caught during editing .It was almost as if this book took place now and the author simply used the early years to create a sense of a generational novel. Perhaps once cherished author lie Belva Plain should know "when to hold them and certainly when to fold them. I keep hoping Belva Plain' newest books will be as good as her first one. Regrettably this may be the last time I will read one of Belva Plain's new books preferring to revisit Anna and Paul Werner in Evergreen instead.
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