The Other Family, Joanna Trollope

I think Joanne Trollope is a wonderful writer and was looking forward to diving into her latest [2010] book, The Other Family.

As always, Joanna finds new ways to explore human characteristics and emotions so well.

It seems that quite a few books I've been reading lately are taking the time to explore both sides of relationships in greater detail. Rather than learning how the "wronged" spouse feels when husband/wife leaves for another, more and more writers are trying to understand how both parties are impacted. And there is also more attention paid to the pivotal character who is leaving one relationship for another. No longer merely a selfish villian, the betwixt/between character is now often portrayed as another frail human being caught in an emotionally fraught situation -- loving two people, not wanting to hurt either party.

Emily Griffin portrayed the complexity and humanity in this now common reality, in her recent release [2010], Matters of the Heart. And, the difference is important. Rather than seeing a situation as simple "good vs. evil" or "moral vs. immoral" writers are portraying all parties as vulnerable human beings capable of both altruistic and selfish behavior. It makes for much more believable characters and a greater sense of realism.

In The Othe Family, we learn how the first wife Margaret -- left behind over two decades ago-- and the second wife Chrissie, left behind by her husband's recent death, cope with the lose of a key husband figure in both their lives - Richie Rossiter.

Richie, a talented piano player and singer whose career was definitely on the wane prior to his sudden death, leaves behind two families who are deeply affected by his lose. More unexpected, if possible, than his death, is his bequest to leave his prized piano and early musical scores to his first wife.

Margaret must come to terms with the lose of hoping that her husband will one day come back to her. Her son Scott has forgiven his father for abandoning his first family and is even willing to befriend his new-found stepsisters. But are they willing to accept his friendship?

Chrissie and her three daughters are bereft, abandoned, stunned by both the loss of a beloved husband and father, and trying to cope with the new reality that their lifestyle must change as their new financial picture is bleak.

Chrissie expects her daughters to rally around her, to staunchly defend themselves against all others, especially her husband's former family.

There are no villians in this story, just people trying to cope with change and loss. I think Joanna has done a wonderful portrayal of six lives affected by the same tragedy, each needing to find their own way through the grieving process.

I love being able to recommend Canadian authors, so I was happy to get my hands on Robert J. Wiersema's latest book, Bedtime Story, as part of my holiday reading. His first novel, Before I Wake, received great reviews, and I am confident this second novel will be likewise acclaimed.

The novel contains two plots, a book within a book, and plots within plots unfold as we read along. The main characters are Christopher Knox, an almost separated husband who still lives over the garage and helps raise his son, David who shares the main house with Christopher's almost-ex wife Jacqui.

Christopher is a writer whose first novel succeeded quite well. However, too many years have gone by without finishing his second novel for Christopher to not be losing faith in his ability as a writer. Coupled with his lack of failure as a husband, Christopher is desperate to be a success in at least one area of his life: fatherhood. As a way of marking his son David's eleventh birthday, he buys him a rare copy of a book he had enjoyed himself as a young boy.

David, at first disappointed he didn't get the Tolkien series, Lord of the Rings, soon finds himself immersed in his Dad's gift and becomes more and more distracted by the plot. Christopher is thrilled to have captured his son's attention, until the day that David suffers a seizure while reading and enters what becomes an enduring coma. The doctors are completely at loss as to the cause of the coma. Christopher is determined to figure out what is going wrong and soon begins to believe that the book itself has caused the coma.

The story now becomes two stories, the first being Christopher's attempts to find out how a book can be causing his son's coma, the second being David's story and how he is magically drawn into the knights and wizards legend where his own survival may depend on his succesfully completing a fictional quest.

This book delivers on many levels and is a fun blend of modern fiction writing and fantasy fiction. I am sure it will appeal to many types of readers.


To read the Globe and Mail review of this book, you can link to: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/bedtime-story-by-robert-wiersema/article1805935/