Audiobook Review: Famiy Tree by Barbara Delinsky

Family Tree
Author: Barbara Delinsky
Narrator:
Published: February 6, 2007
Genre: chick lit
Audiobook: 9 discs (approx. 10 hours)
Source: borrowed from the library

My Rating: 2.5 stars

Synopsis (from GoodReads): For as long as she can remember, Dana Clarke has longed for the stability of home and family. Now she has married a man she adores, whose heritage can be traced back to the Mayflower, and she is about to give birth to their first child. But what should be the happiest day of her life becomes the day her world falls apart. Her daughter is born beautiful and healthy, and in addition, unmistakably African-American in appearance. Dana’s determination to discover the truth about her baby’s heritage becomes a shocking, poignant journey. A superbly crafted novel, Family Tree asks penetrating questions about family and the choices people make in times of crisis.

My Thoughts: I have listened to a few Barbara Delinsky audiobooks now and tend to enjoy them. She writes great characters and often provides scenarios that are something that any woman might go through in her life. In this audiobook, a Caucasian man and woman have an African-American baby, which leads to many questions (obviously). Through DNA testing, they are able to discover who has African-American ancestors and all must grapple with race and how we actually deal with it. While this plot was interesting, there was a subplot that really grabbed my attention and that I felt could have been a novel all on it's own. A mother gives birth to a son who is fathered by a US senator (he denies paternity). After a terrible accident in which the boy is severely injured, the mom is swayed to take legal action by Hugh (who has the African-American baby). This story line was so interesting and I don't feel like it was given enough development, but just tossed to the side and forgotten about by the end. This whole novel actually felt that way, that it was just tossed around and not fully developed. Delinsky is a great writer, so I won't judge her just by this book, but it was a big disappointment. The narration was good and nicely paced, although it did make me a bit sleepy at times because she read so slowly (a big pet peeve of mine with audiobooks). Delinsky had a wonderful opportunity to explore race and how it affects a family, but she just tossed it away with this one.