ABANDONED. Fiction. Engineer with large family must flee by himself to South America.

[Sherryl]

Engineer with forbidding wife has large family. Children have unusual middle names. Engineer quietly helps those in need. When falsely accused he flees to South America with help from Indians. One daughter becomes opera star and lives by her own terms. Kids try to contact dad by newspaper using odd middle names. I read this maybe 20-30 years ago.

[Kris]

Sherryl, what's the genre (which we need to add to the topic header) - e.g., mystery, thriller?

What's he falsely accused of? (Spoilers are okay in the comments. Just give us a clear warning before revealing a spoiler.)

Can you tell us more about the engineer (e.g., age, what does he design or build, his home town/country)?

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

When is it set?

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Can we rule out The Mosquito Coast? It features an engineer/inventer with four kids who moves his family to the Honduran jungle. I don't know if anything else matches.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Oh never mind, I see you said he moves by himself.

[Kris]

No response, moving to Abandoned folder.

Sherryl (OP) last posted in the group in July 2020.