I read another book by Delinsky a couple of months ago and really liked it. I kept seeing this one on the shelf of the bookstore when I was still working there and was always curious. But for some reason just not curious enough to pick it up. I should have just left it there on the shelf instead of checking it out from he library. So you would think that a white couple has a very obviously brown baby would make for a interesting story. Was the baby a product of an affair? Sperm switched during a...

A potboiler in the worst sense of the word. This book is deeply offensive in its dramatization of mixed race parentage as a crisis worth 39 chapters of hand-wringing. Hugh and Dana, the married couple that form the center of this novel, are Splenda characters: noxiously sweet. I don't buy it for a second that Dana is "underprivileged" compared to her pure-blood husband—working at a yarn shop on the Cape (or wherever) with your grandmother does not a working class boho make. The birth of their "c...

Very enjoyable story and brought out racial attitudes.

Since I read this book, I can tell that my perspective of a "perfect family" has been renovated again. The reason why I recommend this book because the theses of Family Tree are about faith, loyalty, and race. Actually, I adore Barbara's style of writing. Even though I did not know her well before, the diction she used makes the whole story more vivid. Especially, she created the story based on "mixed race family" and the mystery of descent. This issue attracted me, and it is more splendid than

As I look over the reviews for this novel at Goodreads, I'm shocked by just how negative so many of them are. But, as I looked over the "rating details," a small fact became clear to me. This book is "front-loaded" with negative reviews because so many people have liked those reviews. In all, only 3% of the reviewers gave this book one star, but six of the first ten reviews I saw were one star. This seems especially bizarre considering that 14% of reviewers gave the book five stars.Also, I as I

This book was bad on so many levels, I'm not sure where to begin. The characters were flat, unsympathetic, and completely stereotypical. (A bit ironic, given that I *think* the point was an observation of race relations and perceptions.) The writing was ok at best, with the dialog often coming across as forced. The plot was completely unbelievable from page 1 to the end.I don't give books such scathing reviews lightly, so let me delve into some details...I'm afraid I was completely unable to sus...

If it were possible to give less than 1 star I would. The writing style was like a stoned high schooler writing the day before a paper was due. Things were thrown in that had nothing to do with the story, I am guessing it was to keep the "mystery" going but it didnt. The statement from the incredibly waspy woman "I am african american" actually made me laugh. I recommended this book to my husband just so he could see how bad it was, he didnt make it through the first chapter.

The characters in this contemporary novel were a bit overdrawn and too stereotypical for my taste. There were several subplots that I am not sure really added or supported the central theme of the book. When a white couple give birth to a baby of African American linage the ground under their feet suddenly vanishes. Somewhere in their Family Tree is African American blood...but where?

This is one of those books that could have been SO good. Two white parents, have a baby....she's awfully African American looking....hmmm.. let the fun begin. But it was so annoying and borderline offensive I nearly didn't finish it. The "startling surprise" was so predictable you can see it coming a mile away. The side story about the snobby knitter was unnecessary and had no real impact on the story except to make it longer. As the mother of three beautiful bi-racial children, I am intrigued b...

I overall enjoyed this book and how it touched on a subject that many people think about but sometimes don't want to admit; race. In light of all that's going on in the world today right now today, the book brought some good points to the forefront on how people view others who look different than themselves. This book surrounds Dana and Hugh, a white couple, who were expecting their first child, but when the baby is born, she looks black. They find themselves having to initially contend with ou...

I have read many of Ms Delinshy's books and this one was especially good. All of us carry around a history inside of us, our nationality is just one of the things that we can pass onto our children. We have the baggage of our health and the baggage of our mental health brought about by our parenting methods. Some of these you can see like the child in this book a nationality difference others remain hidden to appear at random through out out lives. I enjoyed the book.

I don't understand all the poor reviews. Being a child of a mixed heritage, I wasn't offended at all. The book is about a white couple conceiving a black baby. Everyone's shocked of course and throwing around accusations and suggestions. The father of the baby, Hugh is from a well-known and very wealthy family with a history of trying to help the minority races of America as well as being overly proud of their "white" heritage. Hypocrisy at it's best. The mother of the baby, Dana has little know...

This book explores racism, prejudice and trust in an intimate thoughtful way when a white couple's naturally conceived child is born with copper colored skin and distinct African-American features and they begin to question if they are who they always thought they were. 2021 Popsugar Reading Challenge: a book with a family tree. (while this book does not have an actual genealogy chart in it, multiple (sometimes convoluted) family trees are extensively discussed and explored within it's pages so

This book took two seconds to read but Ms. Delinksy should have done some research on the Black experience because this woman has absolutely no clue about it as evident with her latest novel. I found myself laughing at the ridiculousness of the dialogue between characters and the author's misinformed ideas of what it means to be Black/African-American. In this day in age does anyone really believe the one drop rule? Who goes around saying I'm 1/16 black so I need to redefine who I am completely....

I really disliked this book. It seemed unrealistic to me that a situation like this would create such controversy. The main premise is that a fairly young couple welcomes a new arrival into their lives only to find that it doesn't look like either one of them and more specifically, that it's skin is darker than theirs. I found the stereotypical characters vaguely offensive and the writing rather weak. I would go into more detail, but it's just not worth it. Read it, if you want to shut off your

I picked this book up at Costco without having heard anything about it before. Total judgment of a book by its cover, but the description on the back of a white couple who unexpectedly give birth to a black baby intrigued me. This was an interesting look at how we look at ancestry, race, and the definition of family. I liked that the author did not shy away from some of the really deep issues with race that we still have in this country. I thought she bordered on lecturing in some instances, tho...

This is one of those books that everytime I walked into Barnes and Noble, it was front and center, so I figured I would give it a try. Its was definately not worth it. While the subject matter is interesting...white couple gives birth to a child with African-American features...I didn't find any of the characters particularly likeable. The whole book just seemed a little "woe is me" for my taste. I think its important to write books with this subject matter, this book completely missed the mark

Okay, I am torn about what I want to write about this book. First off, I did enjoy it. It was an easy read and entertaining. Did I love it, no. Why? Although the story was good, the characters were lacking depth. They were shallow. I couldn’t connect with them. The author introduced them but left us wanting more. For example, Corinne, whose husband was arrested for fraud… Okay- and? We were left wanting more. Also, Ali’s mother had this useless Cameo appearance. It was so unnecessary. And what a...

Brief Synopsis: Happily married Caucasian couple has baby with disctinctly African-American features. Husband knows his family lineage (he is a Mayflower descendant); the wife knows nothing about her father other than his name. Like the movie "Crash" this makes you wonder about your feelings and brings up a lot of interesting issues. Setting: Coastal New England town, present day. Read in one sitting. I had been disappointed with several of this author's last few books but this subject matter in...

Gah! Made of hate! This book just was not my cup of tea; surprising, since it had been recommended to me by several people.The cast of characteres was full of the types of people I hate, it discussed issues that were pretinent and PC about 10 years ago, and the structure was a mess.Along with the main story line, there were about three or four overlaping sub-plots, starting at various places along the primary plot. However, when the primary plot finished, so did the book. Those sub-plots were ju...