Next of Kin - Hardcover

Trollope, Joanna

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670899992 ISBN 13: 9780670899999

Publisher: Viking Adult, 2001

Synopsis

The death of Caro Meredith turns the lives of her grieving husband, in-laws, brother-in-law, and stepdaughter upside down as they all struggle to cope with the loss of a woman who had been the central figure in all their lives. By the author of Marrying the Mistress. 40,000 first printing.

About this title

About the Author

Joanna Trollope is a descendant of Anthony Trollope and a #1 bestselling author in England. Her ten novels include Marrying the Mistress, Other People's Children, The Best of Friends, and A Spanish Lover, as well as The Choir, and The Rector's Wife, which were both adapted for Masterpiece Theatre; and writing as Caroline Harvey, the historical novels The Brass Dolphin and Legacy of Love.

Reviews

Among bestselling British author Trollope's enviable skills are her ability to create characters with believable flaws, and to ponder plausible life situations in which the best possible outcome is merely pragmatic, rather than romantic, and tinged with rue as well as guarded hope. In her ninth novel (after Marrying the Mistress), the theme is the inevitability of change and the possibility of growth. The Meredith family, for generations farmers in the rural English midlands, are now beset by financial problems in a changing economy. The book opens with the funeral of Caro Meredith, a transplanted American who never adjusted to being a farm wife. Her husband, taciturn Robin, is less bereaved than relieved, since Caro stopped loving him long ago, but their adopted daughter, Judy, has always taken her mother's part and bitterly resents both her father and his dairy farm. Robin's parents live nearby, raising crops on their own acreage, and so does Robin's troubled brother, Joe, and his needy wife, Lindsay. Trollope does an excellent job of describing the dynamics of farm life, both the unremitting labor and the encroachment of modern techniques. As usual, she conveys the nuances of marriage, in which lack of communication can breed tragedy. After another family death and Robin's unexpected attraction to Judy's flaky London flatmate, Zoe, the novel becomes a crucible of change, realistically describing how brave people pull themselves together and move on. In addition to crafting an absorbing narrative, Trollope charms with her depiction of several young children, whose speech and behavior are captured with clarity and endearing fidelity. (July) Forecast: Trollope's devoted readers are rarely disappointed, and this new novel will add to her reputation for writing psychologically nuanced fiction that's commercially viable.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Readers of Trollope (Marrying the Mistress, Other People's Children) have come to expect the unexpected, and this latest novel is no exception. It begins grimly, with the funeral of Caro Meredith, wife of a dairy farmer in the English Midlands. Caro's death is merely the prelude, however, to a series of shattering events for those she left behind from husband Robin and daughter Judy, a magazine "subeditor," to brother-in-law Joe and his wife, Lyndsay, to Robin's parents, Dilys and Harry. The arrival of Judy's unconventional roommate, Zoe, brings a measure of openness to this emotionally closed family and gives Robin some small amount of the love that he lacked throughout his marriage. Nevertheless, despite the transformative nature of tragedy, particularly for Judy, who chucks her London life, and Lyndsay, both of whom become farmers, the novel lacks the leavening that characterizes most of Trollope's work, and some readers may find it heavy going. Buy where Trollope is popular.
- Francine Fialkoff, "Library Journal"
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A popular British novelist departs from her usual setting of middle-class locales to frame her latest novel on a family farm in the Midlands, among the solid working class, an appropriate setting for the theme of change and resistance to change to be worked out. The story opens with the funeral of Judy's mother. Caro was an American who came to the area by way of an unusual path and never quite fit in, but even after her death she remains a strong influence. Judy's father chose long ago to be a dairy rather than crop farmer like his father and brother. "Things are done the way they've been done because that's the way it's done" could indeed be the family motto. Into this picture comes freethinking and independent Zoe, Judy's new roommate in the city. Her presence not only shakes foundations but also manages to rock everyone to his or her core. The abrupt, tidy conclusion brings a new order. Even though this novel is not up to Trollope's usual standards, her fans will be satisfied. Danise Hoover
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Viking Adult
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0670899992
• ISBN 13: 9780670899999
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304