Her Father's House FROM THE PUBLISHER
Beloved storyteller Belva Plain understands the rich tapestry of the human heart like no other. Her many dazzling New York Times bestsellers probe the shifting bonds of marriage and family with insight, compassion, and uncommon grace. And her new novel is no exception. A tale of fathers and daughters, lovers and families, acts of love and acts of betrayal, Her Father’s House is Belva Plain’s most powerful and unforgettable novel yet.
It is the spring of 1968 when Donald Wolfe, a young graduate of a midwestern law school, arrives in New York. Filled with ambition and idealism, he is dazzled not only by the big city but by the vivacious, restless Lillian, whom he marries in the heat of infatuation.
Surely theirs is no marriage made in heaven, but they have a child, Tina, and she is the love of Donald’s heart. For her he would give up everything—his home, his distinguished career, and his freedom. When his flawed marriage begins to fail, a choice must be made. Shall he consider a step that would force him into flight and a life of hiding?
From her earliest years, Tina is exceptional, a brilliant student and a joyous, loving spirit. At the university she falls in love with Gilbert, who graduates from law school just as she is about to enter medical school. Together they go to New York, where she learns the truth about her family’s past, a truth that must change her regard for the father who has protected and cherished her. When a terrible lie has been told out of love, can it be forgiven?
With courage and compassion, Belva Plain paints a moving portrait of the choices that shape the course of our lives, the secretsthat haunt us, and the love that helps us heal and move on. It is a work of riveting storytelling and rare emotional power by one of the most gifted novelists of our time.
FROM THE CRITICS
Book Magazine - Susan Tekulve
With her latest novel, Plain delivers the flowing plot and neatly resolved conflicts her fans will expect, but the real strength of the book is that she doesn't make tidy moral distinctions between her villain and hero. Young Donald Wolfe is steadily building a career with a prestigious New York law firm when he meets Lillian, a glamorous beauty with a mysterious past. Soon after they marry, Donald discovers that Lillian is an unfaithful social climber and that he is merely her stepping stone to greater riches and social prestige. After a brief, miserable marriage, Lillian divorces him while carrying his child. Soon after, Donald kidnaps his daughter, assumes a false identity, flees New York and lands on a farm in the Georgia foothills. In this pastoral setting, he creates a wholesome and respectable life for himself and his daughter. It isn't until the child is nearly twenty that she discovers the truth about her father's house, and their stable existence is threatened. Plain's exploration of "good" characters who tell desperate lies and "bad" characters who conduct genuine acts of charity will keep the reader pleasantly guessing.
Publishers Weekly
Usually a crowd-pleaser, Plain (Looking Back, etc.) sleepwalks through her latest novel, in which old-fashioned style clashes uncomfortably with contemporary content. Donald Wolfe, a 25-year-old North Dakota native, comes to New York City in 1968 to practice law; five years later, he meets and falls for the captivating Lillian Morris. Marrying in haste, he repents big time when Lillian reveals herself to be disturbingly erratic. After she becomes pregnant, the two divorce, but when Donald judges his daughter, Bettina, to be neglected, he kidnaps her. Taking to the road, he invents a new past for himself and adopts the name Jim, renaming his daughter Laura. Many years later, the truth is revealed and Jim stands trial for kidnapping. Will Laura, now a young woman, be able to forgive her father his deception, which he claims was for her own good? An unbelievably na ve attitude on the part of young Donald and creakingly stilted dialogue all around make it difficult to suspend disbelief; meanwhile, the dated language will have readers expecting descriptions of porkpie hats. Preachy double standards regarding parenting will be unappreciated by modern readers, and there are a few glaring anachronisms (music CDs in the '70s?). When Donald/Jim, sanctimonious from start to finish, asserts late in the novel that "Running away is never the answer," readers will rightly wonder whether this man has been paying attention to his own life story. More importantly, has the author? A pass, even for completists. National advertising. (Aug. 6) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
Library Journal
Is it kidnapping when a father steals his cherished daughter away from a destructive and unstable mother? Plain's heroine, now a grown woman, must decide for herself. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
AudioFile
Don Wolfe, an attorney in New York City, meets and marries Lillian, but she wants fame and fortune, not a conventional marriage. Their union disintegrates while Lillian is pregnant, and after they divorce, it becomes clear that the child is being neglected. Wolfe kidnaps his daughter, changes their names, and finds a quiet place to live and flourish. Judith Ivey's narration brings out the pain of hiding one's past and loving those around one while living fully in the present. When Wolfe's past is revealed, all the characters must deal with the consequences. Ivey's subtle, emotional narrative carries the listener through the upheaval of Wolfe's discovery and trial. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
A divorced father, fearing the influence of his ruthlessly social-climbing ex, kidnaps his baby daughter and heads to the hills-until his past and the police catch up. Brilliant lawyer Donald Wolf is a straight-arrow kind of guy and a romantic soul who wants to marry and have kids. An associate in a leading New York firm, he thinks that in Lillian, a legal secretary who loves art, he's met the perfect woman. While Lillian is curiously reticent about her family and past, Donald is too smitten to ask questions. Nor is he particularly curious when Mr. Buzley, her boss, gives them a lavish wedding gift. Once married, Lillian spends money freely and befriends the rich couple who live in the penthouse. Next she's dragging Donald to glamorous parties and complaining they don't have enough money. When she gets pregnant, they decide to take a trip to Italy, where Lillian studied art and where Donald, already tired of Lillian's greedy ways, learns more about her past-not good-and asks for a divorce. Lillian gives birth to daughter Bettina, and, now married to Mr. Buzley, lives in style. But soon Donald, who sees Bettina regularly in the park with her nanny, learns that Lillian is cheating on Buzley. An accident involving Bettina convinces Donald that life with Lillian would be bad for her, and he so kidnaps the two-year-old, takes a false name, and heads for a small hill-town in Georgia, where years pass, he becomes a respected citizen, and makes himself helpful to ailing farmer Clarence Benson, his pretty wife Kate, and their young son Rick. Aware that the police are looking for him, Donald never leaves town, but his past catches up with him when he goes to Bettina's college graduation. His lifeunravels as lies and secrets come to light-but this is Belva Plain (Looking Back, 2001, etc.), and happiness lies ahead. Plain reading: no troubling shadings to complicate or disturb.
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