Family Tree

by Barbara Delinsky (Goodreads author)

book data

1,569 ratings, 3.42 average rating, 397 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		14%
4		34%
3		34%
2		14%
1		3%

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published

October 30th 2007 by Broadway

binding

Paperback, 400 pages

isbn

0767925181 (isbn13: 9780767925181)

description

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

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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 2,159)

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12/29/07

Sara rated it:

(review of isbn 038551865X)

Read in March, 2007

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 ...more

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05/07/07

Amanda Robinson rated it:

(review of isbn 038551865X)

bookshelves: bad

Read in April, 2007

recommends it for: No one

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 thro...more

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02/26/08

Christine rated it:

(review of isbn 038551865X)

bookshelves: general-mainstream-fiction

Read in February, 2008

recommended to Christine by: book club
recommends it for: No one

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 ...more

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01/11/08

Sherese rated it:

(review of isbn 038551865X)

Read in January, 2008

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....more

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10/04/07

Yvette rated it:

(review of isbn 038551865X)

bookshelves: chicklit

Read in September, 2007

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 unnec...more

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

2 comments

01/04/08

Jennifer rated it:

(review of isbn 038551865X)

Read in January, 2008

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 compl...more

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09/07/08

Pamela rated it:

(review of isbn 038551865X)

Read in September, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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....more

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02/20/08

Christy rated it:

(review of isbn 038551865X)

Read in February, 2008

recommends it for: no one. Unless of course they want to give me some money for my copy!

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...more

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01/25/08

Elizabeth rated it:

(review of isbn 038551865X)

bookshelves: post-masters

In attempting to write what was probably supposed to be a heartfelt and meaningful narrative that her normal suburban book club audience would embrace wholeheartedly, Ms. Delinksy ends up with a badly written and almost laughable story that begs the reader to ask "Is this really worth my time?"

Certainly the premise could have been handled better had it been written by someone else. Delinsky's characters are, ironically, black and white. They have no vitality, they have ...more

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06/23/07

Maudeen rated it:

(review of isbn 038551865X)

Read in January, 2007

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 ...more

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11/25/07

Jessica rated it:

(review of isbn 0739333488)

bookshelves: 2008

Read in January, 2008

recommends it for: no one

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 bo...more

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03/10/09

Roxanne / RoMoSquare rated it:

(review of isbn 038551865X)

bookshelves: 2009

Read in March, 2009

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...more

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01/02/09

Bookczuk rated it:

(review of isbn 038551865X)

bookshelves: bookcrossing, borrowed, sometimes-fluff-is-good

An okay quick read. Not mind altering, but had moments of interest and made me itch to get my hands on some yarn!

From the Publisher

Dana Clarke has always longed for the stability of home and family-her own childhood was not an easy one. Now she has married a man she adores who is from a prominent New England family, 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 b...more

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11/30/08

Christina rated it:

(review of isbn 038551865X)

bookshelves: 2008-bookstack, library-book

Read in May, 2008

Family Tree by Barbara Delinsky was in the library’s Look!Read! section and I decided to give it a shot but I found the book to be just okay. Nothing really special. The characters were pretty caricatured at the beginning, making it hard to get into. There were several interesting story lines and but the people weren’t super fascinating or thought provoking for me.

It’s not really about genealogy though, its about race.

“We’re all for minorities-civil rights, affi...more

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05/03/09

Lauren rated it:

(review of isbn 038551865X)

Read in May, 2009

The novel “Family Tree” by Barbara Delinsky was recommended by my school librarian. I figured that I would give it a shot as the plot sounded incredibly interesting, but unfortunately it did not live up to the librarian’s great review. I think that the novel was decent but held a lot of potential that wasn’t thoroughly developed by Delinsky.
The story is about a young Caucasian couple who have a black baby. The themes of judgment and acceptance are explored throughout the novel. ...more The novel “Family Tree” by Barbara Delinsky was recommended by my school librarian. I figured that I would give it a shot as the plot sounded incredibly interesting, but unfortunately it did not live up to the librarian’s great review. I think that the novel was decent but held a lot of potential that wasn’t thoroughly developed by Delinsky.
The story is about a young Caucasian couple who have a black baby. The themes of judgment and acceptance are explored throughout the novel. I enjoyed the plot that Delinsky created; however I disagree with some of the details that were incorporated in the story. I don’t believe that an ancestor of a different race should have such an enormous effect on a person’s personality or way of life. After investigating her ancestry, Dana, one of the main characters in the story, believes that she is a whole new person because she is 1/16 black. She constantly goes on about being black and how she views her life differently. I believe that the novel should not have focused on an idea that the colour of your skin defines who you are. I have been raised in an environment where all races and ethnic groups are considered equal. Parts of this novel represent something I don’t stand for; inequality. I think that there should have been less emphasis on the “different” feeling the character’s experienced and more development of how heritage provides unique aspects to a person.
Although there were parts of the novel that I didn’t enjoy, I truly liked how the novel was able to probe questions in the reader about their own views on judgment. The novel explores the harsh reality of the world we live in and the tough decisions that people must make on a day to day basis. Also, the exploration of different social class and the expectations that are accompanied were incredibly interesting. The automatic judgment that is made from a person of higher class on a person of lower class truly surprised me. As a person of middle class, I don’t really experience those types of situations and it was therefore interesting to read about.
Overall, I believe that Delinsky created a skeleton for what could have been an amazing novel but unfortunately did not execute the story to its full potential.
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05/01/09

Angela rated it:

(review of isbn 038551865X)

Read in April, 2009

This novel is a delight to interpret because of the remarkable plot. The author Barbara Delinsky starts the story with a wealthy Caucasian couple whom just had a baby but with a few unexpected physical features that shocks their whole family, friends and peers. Hugh, the father becomes very inquisitive as of why his child was born with a different colour that had no relations to his family, until he finds out about his great-grandfather after all the drama he had created with his wife and his g...more This novel is a delight to interpret because of the remarkable plot. The author Barbara Delinsky starts the story with a wealthy Caucasian couple whom just had a baby but with a few unexpected physical features that shocks their whole family, friends and peers. Hugh, the father becomes very inquisitive as of why his child was born with a different colour that had no relations to his family, until he finds out about his great-grandfather after all the drama he had created with his wife and his good friend David. This story is very uplifting to read, and it is such a good family drama that in my opinion, it could almost be made as a successful television show series.
The character development is captivating in various ways because there are consequently many things going on with each main character in the storyline. Hugh not only worries about his family issues with his newborn child, but he also assists a woman he met at the hospital where Dana, his wife, gave birth to their child, given there he is a lawyer. On the other hand, Dana is not only a new mother, however she also become even closer with her heart-warming grandmother, and gets attached to knitting that she even gives her neighbour David’s daughter free knitting lessons. Even Hugh’s father not only criticizes the child’s skin colour, moreover he is an author who is busy trying to promote his book sales while trying to work on his relationship with his son. Without this interesting development between the main characters, this story would not really have a lot of significance to it.

It was instructive for me to read a book with such a diverse and kind of unusual scheme since it makes it enjoyable to read, especially if there is a twist to the story. The husband accuses his wife’s family side for the reason of their dark-skinned child, and he makes her feel terrible, especially just after she had a baby, that she does not know anything about her father because she never grew up with him. Furthermore, it ends up being the great-grandfather of Hugh who has been the reason all along, which the author demonstrates that some people approach with quick conclusions.
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05/26/09

Marti rated it:

(review of isbn 038551865X)

bookshelves: books-this-year, pop-fiction

Read in May, 2009

Wow - I was surprised at the number of varied responses by other readers.

I found the book a fast read and I wanted to find out the ending. I did think that in some cases the characters did come off as pretty shallow, but I think when big revelations come in a family - you do end up with some pretty shallow responses - like not in my family!

I do think the explanations of which family had an inaccurate view of their family tree was a bit formulaic but again i wasn't ask u...more

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11/02/07

Jo Sansevero rated it:

(review of isbn 038551865X)

bookshelves: readandloved

Read in May, 2007

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.

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04/16/09

Wei-hsuan rated it:

Read in March, 2009

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

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11/03/07

Amy rated it:

(review of isbn 038551865X)

Read in November, 2007

Entertaining - definitely forces one to take an introspective look into how we really view our own race and others. What is tolerance? What is racism? What is prejudice? What is the difference between being a supporter of equality amongst races but feeling sheepish when the issue hits too close to home?

Being of mixed race myself, I especially consider this to be a good read for anyone with an immediate or extended multicultural family.

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