I should've loved this book. The plot is solid, the characters are well developed, the setting is beautifully described by an author who clearly loves Trinidad, & the message is important. However, the story moves too slowly, is a bit predictable, and Ms. Adam steps too far into gratuitous violence/abuse in the third section of the book. It is both difficult to stomach and not fitting with the tone of the rest of the novel. As I was reading the abusive scene, I was immediately jarred out of the story. It doesn't fit with the rest of the story and feels as if it was included solely for shock value. Although I didn't particularly love this book, I am interested in seeing how the author's writing skill grows as she gains more experience. This is a decent debut novel & it is evident that Ms. Adam is a skilled writer. I think as she becomes a more seasoned novelist her writing choices will mature.

I loved The Resurrection of Joan Ashby so I had high expectations for The Family Tabor. Cherise Wolas did not disappoint me. Wolas once again excels at character development & describing family dynamics. It's another extremely well written family saga. This book would be a fantastic book club selection & has made me an even bigger fan of Cherise Wolas. I'm once again eagerly anticipating her next book.

This may be the best debut novel I've ever had the pleasure of reading. Each sentence is exquisitely written, the characters are unique and fully developed with extremely insightful examinations of what drives each of them, and the format of including literature written by the main character enhances and supports the plot.

This book is everything that you want a great piece of literature to be.

I think this book will speak to a lot of women who as mothers have made sacrifices that have affected their careers, their identities, their futures, & their happiness. I think "Have the sacrifices I've made been worth it?" or "How much more must I sacrifice for their happiness?" have crossed the mind of most mothers while experiencing frustrations, disappointments, and/or betrayals.

Reading of Joan Ashby's experiences as a mother & the choices she makes that lead to her resurrection was an extremely pleasant journey.

3.5 stars...looking forward to reading the next one in the series.

This one snuck up on me! I didn't realize how emotionally invested I was until I had tears in my eyes while reading the last chapter.
Each chapter is titled after a group of specific birds, "An Exaltation of Larks", "A Murder of Crows", etc. with a description of the type of bird & usually an example of the phrase being used in literature or the symbolism of the bird in mythology. It's an extremely clever device that foreshadows what will occur in each chapter & provides additional context information related to both the plot line & ornithology.
And...let's not forget the crows! I enjoyed reading about Meridian's studies of a murder of crows over the course of the years. Her studies are another clever plot device that enhanced the book. They're extremely social animals with a high level of intellect including extremely impressive memory & communication skills. I have both a fascination & a tiny fear of crows so I found Meridian's studies of crows to be quite captivating.

This book is so much deeper & better than I thought it was going to be. So very grateful to BookBrowse for providing me with a copy to read & discuss with their online book club. This book has been on my to read list since it's publication but I probably wouldn't have gotten around to reading it anytime soon had a copy not been provided to me. Oh how I love little literary surprises!

An insightful witty reflective examination of one woman's life & the city in which she has lived, NYC. Inspired by the life of the highest paid female advertising copy manager in the 1930's, this story examines the choices Lillian has made throughout her life as she visits places important to her during her life living in NYC. She tells the story of her life while reflecting on her life & choices she made while also describing the changes in the city she lives & loves. This book would be a great book club selection as it contains many issues & themes that we all face at some point in our lives…aging, death, mental illness, etc.

This book was a challenge for me. Not in the sense that it was difficult to read. Not in the sense that it was something I had to push through. More in the fact that I wanted to truly love it, but couldn't. Nor did I dislike it! It's sort of infuriatingly in between.

There isn't a thing wrong with it. The writing is perfectly fine, the story is interesting, I like the main characters well enough. But it's quiet. Subtle. Thoughtful. Gentle. Reflective. Sentimental. And these are not bad things for a book to be, but with the background of World War II, with an unexpected and tragic death, it seems to me I should have felt something. I should have cared more. And I didn't.

There were some lovely sentences in this book. Beautiful, thoughtful sentiments. Magnificent descriptions. Unfortunately, it just didn't capture my interest.