It is a crisp December day when Annette Byrne walks to the end of her long, curving driveway and drops five sealed envelopes into the mailbox, quickly, before second thoughts stay her hand. Shortly thereafter, with the holidays approaching, her estranged family will be gathered at her country estate for the first time in years.
The sons . . . two brothers embittered by a breach of ethics, honour, and trust.
The grandchildren . . . one young couple on the verge of divorce; another, lovingly united against the parents who have tarnished their lives. As the ill-fated meeting hurtles toward a bitter and abrupt conclusion, not even Annette Byrne's indomitable will can heal the rift-until a shattering event alters the landscape forever.
*** [The desktop was always covered with mail, incoming and outgoing] ***(Hodder & Stoughton, 5 March 1998, first published 6 October 1997, hardback, 212 pages, bought from a charity shop)
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This is my first time reading the author. I chose the book at random in a charity shop. The shop was selling 2 books for £1. I'd picked out the books I really wanted and chose this at random to make up the numbers. I wasn't expecting much so this book lived up to my lack of expectations. The book is short and there are a lot of characters in it. Too much time is spent getting to know the characters and their various issues. When time is short we don't need to spend so much of it on developing a large cast of characters. The ending was a bit too cheesy for my liking. Instead of the estranged family members finding their own way back to each other or just accepting that the bond between them will never be the same, the author shoehorns in an over-the-top tragedy to make everyone forgive each other and be happy again. Completely unoriginal!
