Book Reviews
When Dana and Hugh Clarke's baby is born into their wealthy, white New England seaside community, the baby's unmistakably African-American features puzzle her thoroughly Anglo-looking parents. Hugh's family pedigree extends back to the Mayflower, and his historian father has made a career of tracing the esteemed Clarke family genealogy, which does not include African-Americans. Dana's mother died when Dana was a child, and Dana never knew her father: she matter-of-factly figures that baby Lizzie's features must hark back to her little-known past. Hugh, a lawyer who has always passionately defended his minority clients, finds his liberal beliefs don't run very deep and demands a paternity test to rule out the possibility of infidelity. By the time the Clarkes have uncovered the tangled roots of their family trees, more than one skeleton has been unearthed, and the couple's relationship-not to mention their family loyalty-has been severely tested. Delinsky (Looking for Peyton Place) smoothly challenges characters and readers alike to confront their hidden hypocrisies. Although the dialogue about race at times seems staged and rarely delves beyond a surface level, and although near-perfect Dana and her knitting circle are too idealized to be believable, Delinsky gets the political and personal dynamics right.
Publishers Weekly
A white New England couple, interior designer Dana and lawyer husband Hugh, are excited about becoming first-time parents. But when the baby girl is born with brown skin, questions and suspicions abound. Dana never knew who her father was, so perhaps there is black ancestry on her side of the family. However, Hugh's snooty family suspects infidelity-after all, there is an attractive black man living next door, and Hugh was out of town nine months ago. Dana vehemently denies cheating and is wounded when Hugh insists on DNA testing. Although Hugh's mistrust of Dana is disappointing, the real villain is his father, Eaton, who is less concerned with his granddaughter than with how this development could harm reception of his forthcoming book. When it is confirmed that Hugh is indeed the father, he and Dana seek to solve the mystery, uncovering family secrets and confronting prejudice along the way. Best-selling author Delinsky has written a compelling and thought-provoking novel that will have readers and book clubs exploring tough racial and family issues. Recommended for all public libraries. —Samantha J. Gust, Niagara Univ. Lib., NY.
Library Journal
Delinsky often writes with insight about complex family matters and here adds thought-provoking concerns about race in America to the mix in a novel that will stir debate and inspire self-examination. —Patty Engelmann
Booklist
Loyal readers who have followed Barbara Delinsky’s writing for many years will not be surprised at the depth of characterization in Family Tree.... Full of complex and fascinating family dynamics as its characters are forced to come to terms with issues such as faith, race and loyalty, Family Tree is thought-provoking and memorable.
BookPage
Delinsky's family saga explores how a white, upper-middle-class New England couple would react if the wife gave birth to an African-American baby. Hugh Clarke, a good-hearted Boston lawyer in his mid-30s, hails from impeccable Mayflower lineage. His beloved wife Dana never knew her father and was raised after her mother's untimely death by grandmother Ellie Jo, proprietor of a successful yarn shop. The Clarkes are overjoyed at the birth of their healthy daughter, Elizabeth, though startled by the baby's dark, curly hair and coppery skin. Hugh's parents insinuate that perhaps he's not the father. Confounded and hurt (as well as suspicious that Lizzie may have been sired by their attractive black neighbor), Hugh convinces his increasingly resentful wife to have a DNA test. It confirms that Hugh is the father and indicates that the baby carries the sickle-cell gene-inherited, subsequent tests reveal, not from Dana, but from Hugh. Was the reader ever in doubt? Hugh stands up to his superior father, a historian who seems more concerned about the impact of Lizzie's color on the reception of his new book than about the truth. Dana finds and confronts her father, while everybody at Ellie Jo's yarn shop gets to swoon over the newborn. Delinsky vigorously takes on some thorny racial assumptions here (i.e., that the dark-skinned child will not comfortably attend white-dominated schools) and admirably allows her characters to acknowledge and correct their biases. Fail-safe delivery of an issues-packed story perfect for reading groups.
Kirkus Reviews