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A Family Resemblance
Sometimes a family resemblance is hard to see...
especially if you're not looking for one. And Sabine Knoll isn't.
She's the widow of Victor Knoll and the mother of his three children. She loved him - deeply - and even though he's been gone four years, she can't imagine loving anyone else.
Then a man named Joe appears in her small town of Oro, Colorado. Joe Knoll. Victor's brother. Except that Victor never told her he had a brother. And if he'd lied about that, had he lied about other things, too?
Sabine isn't sure she wants to know. She is sure she doesn't want to fall in love with this man who resembles her husband in some ways, yet not in others. The man who's becoming a part of her children's lives - and of hers.
304 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 1, 2006
About the author
Margot Early
61 books17 followersMaster storyteller Margot Early has known from a very young age that she was born into her vocation. Storytelling has been part of her life since she was a child—whether plotting Nancy Drew cases in the basement of Palo Alto, California’s historic Squire House, pretending to live in trees (while climbing them) or tapping the keys of an ancient manual typewriter, writing stories to share with friends.
One of her most vivid and joyful childhood memories is when she realized she could read and interrupted a bridge party to display her knowledge. A writer from the age of nine or ten, she has always had an audience—her friends, sisters and parents listening to what she wrote.
A friend and fellow journalist once told her that she was a circle—perfect. The very full circle of Margot Early’s life has included some tough times, which she knows have made her a better and more insightful writer.
Early, who owns neither a car nor a television, believes her greatest wealth is her friends—and she’s glad to count many relatives among them. Living in a town of four hundred, high in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains, she enjoys the outdoors, dancing, spinning dog hair and spending time with her pets, which include German shepherds, snakes and tarantulas.
One of her most vivid and joyful childhood memories is when she realized she could read and interrupted a bridge party to display her knowledge. A writer from the age of nine or ten, she has always had an audience—her friends, sisters and parents listening to what she wrote.
A friend and fellow journalist once told her that she was a circle—perfect. The very full circle of Margot Early’s life has included some tough times, which she knows have made her a better and more insightful writer.
Early, who owns neither a car nor a television, believes her greatest wealth is her friends—and she’s glad to count many relatives among them. Living in a town of four hundred, high in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains, she enjoys the outdoors, dancing, spinning dog hair and spending time with her pets, which include German shepherds, snakes and tarantulas.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 17, 2015
Good premise, very poor execution.
Four years ago Sabine Knoll's much older and dearly beloved husband Victor died in an avalanche leaving her alone to raise their three young children. She thought she knew pretty much everything about her husband until one day a stranger came to her house claiming he was Victor’s younger brother Joe, a relative Sabine never knew existed until now. Joe has his reasons to come looking for Sabine. There are family secrets to unravel; there is interesting and dangerous world of mountain climbing to explore. (Both Sabine and Joe were avid climbers in the past and the activity played a big part in the story).
While the premise of the story was intriguing and promising, it quickly gave way to a below average read with repetitive, clunky writing, overly simplistic dialog, and awkward shifts in POV.
Here are some examples of the writing:
“Sabine sat at the workbench, sat staring, her face a picture of sadness.”
“But now, as a mother alone, she noticed her emotions surrounding guilty thoughts.”
“Remembering Maria’s serious face, her expression that showed thoughts whirling unseen.”
“He loved with a very pure, very sincere, very total love.”
“She was beautiful, her children were beautiful, she owned property in a beautiful place”.
The romance felt superficial and simplistic, based mostly on external qualities of the characters -she was the prettiest woman he ever saw, and he was a man used to be wanted by women who begged him to marry or at least to move in- oh, please….
We were repeatedly told of their sense of humor which, supposedly, attracted them to each other. I’m still trying to find any evidence of this humor.
The author’s repeated (and I mean repeated) assertions that mountain climbing is an automatic death sentence seemed to be over-dramatic and unnecessary morbid.
And I wouldn’t go into a real reason why Joe came into Sabrina’s life. It was so lame and cheesy; I had to roll my eyes.
I never read the author before and I don’t think I would be looking for her books in the future.
Four years ago Sabine Knoll's much older and dearly beloved husband Victor died in an avalanche leaving her alone to raise their three young children. She thought she knew pretty much everything about her husband until one day a stranger came to her house claiming he was Victor’s younger brother Joe, a relative Sabine never knew existed until now. Joe has his reasons to come looking for Sabine. There are family secrets to unravel; there is interesting and dangerous world of mountain climbing to explore. (Both Sabine and Joe were avid climbers in the past and the activity played a big part in the story).
While the premise of the story was intriguing and promising, it quickly gave way to a below average read with repetitive, clunky writing, overly simplistic dialog, and awkward shifts in POV.
Here are some examples of the writing:
“Sabine sat at the workbench, sat staring, her face a picture of sadness.”
“But now, as a mother alone, she noticed her emotions surrounding guilty thoughts.”
“Remembering Maria’s serious face, her expression that showed thoughts whirling unseen.”
“He loved with a very pure, very sincere, very total love.”
“She was beautiful, her children were beautiful, she owned property in a beautiful place”.
The romance felt superficial and simplistic, based mostly on external qualities of the characters -she was the prettiest woman he ever saw, and he was a man used to be wanted by women who begged him to marry or at least to move in- oh, please….
We were repeatedly told of their sense of humor which, supposedly, attracted them to each other. I’m still trying to find any evidence of this humor.
The author’s repeated (and I mean repeated) assertions that mountain climbing is an automatic death sentence seemed to be over-dramatic and unnecessary morbid.
And I wouldn’t go into a real reason why Joe came into Sabrina’s life. It was so lame and cheesy; I had to roll my eyes.
I never read the author before and I don’t think I would be looking for her books in the future.
January 14, 2024
This was a strange one. I can't say I really enjoyed it, but it wasn't bad. The setting was ok and so were the characters. I felt like certain parts moved too quickly and others dragged on and on.
July 4, 2024
Fast-paced
February 18, 2015
I need to do a reread of all of Margot Early's books. I love her story telling genius.
January 21, 2016
A slow read for me. Not sure if it was because of the characters, the plot, the setting or what but I was disappointed because I've read some of her other books and loved them.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews