Daughters-in-Law
by Joanna Trollope, Random House, $39.99
This will instantly appeal to all fans of Joanna Trollope, who has an amazing gift for bringing characters to life. In this very modern account of family relationships she draws the distinction between the roles of a wife and a mother and the role
of sons as opposed to them being husbands when daughters-in-law become part of a family. Many can relate to that.
Rachel and Anthony are the devoted parents of three boys. Their own marriage is a stable and happy one, although Rachel is the driving force, especially where the boys are concerned. So it can be anticipated that tensions may be felt when her views and those of their wives do not coincide, especially when one of the wives is not an English girl and another is indebted - or it is believed that she should feel indebted - to her husband's parents. The interplay among the characters is brilliantly drawn. The reader's sympathies see-saw as the events unfold and as marriages develop and threaten to disintegrate. Altogether a very readable and discerning picture of today's marriages.
