Customer Reviews

Crossroads

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When Cassie Wright, heir to the foremost company in a thriving New England town adopts a child she names Gwendolyn, she also keeps a very big secret of the child's origins. Years later, once Cassie has established her abilities running the company and her daughter is in her teens, a jealous young woman turns their relationship upside down by what she reveals.

Jewel Fairchild is from humble origins, but her beauty is her ticket into the world she desires. But her envy and jealousy motivate many of her actions, and in the end, will these qualities be her ruination? When she tells Gwen the story of her birth parents, is she doing so innocently? Or is their a more powerful and dark emotion governing her actions?

For years, the lives of these three women continue to intersect in numerous ways until finally, years later, each of them arrives at various crossroads when decisions will move them in one direction or another, sometimes irrevocably altering each destiny.

Belva Plain's characters are alive and real, with flaws and strengths, captivating the reader and pulling each of us in to these lives as they unfold. We root for one or another at certain points along the way, but the key to this story's strength lies in how each character elicits our empathy. We can understand how and why they behave the way they do, as the author unveils back story over a period of time.

In the end, the women are all altered by their experiences, some of which have been horrific, but they stand tall in a newfound strength gleaned from their life lessons.

Crossroads is an absorbing and entangling tale of greed, jealousy, and betrayal, and earns five stars for me.

READER WARNING: CROSSROADS by Belva Plain has also been published as RED LEAVES. The only differences being that the mother in Red Leaves is called Jean instead of Cassandra and Gwen's name is spelled Guin in Red Leaves. That being said, let me get on to the review.

Similar in some ways to her earlier works Eden Burning, Random Winds and Evergreen but lacking in the skillfully balanced bittersweet insights and heartwarming truths that beguiled her readers and brought her a legion of devoted fans, this offering tells of relationships between mothers & daughters, husbands and wives and takes the reader into the world of dirty dealings, family secrets, nasty gossip while addressing the "grass is always greener in someone else's yard" variety of jealousy. Like Bernie Madoff, Tiger Woods and the Real Housewives of New York City the characters inhabiting the pages of CROSSINGS could just as easily occupy space on Page Six of the New York Post or appear as the "flavor of the week" in The National Inquirer.

In short this book is more soap opera than literary masterpiece, and while it does do a passable job of whetting your appetite for the more provocative aspects of human nature it is definitely not of the caliber we have come to expect from Belva Plain. Just 2 1/2 stars.

Gwen Wright, daughter of wealthy entrepreneur, Cassandra Wright, is introverted and holding a secret. Her chance meeting with Jewel Fairchild, beautiful,confident and making a meager living, kicks off a life-long feud that dramatically changes their lives both good and bad. I listened to the audiobook and at first thought this story was based in the early 19th century and later realized that it was a contemporary novel. It is interesting how this book could actually be interpreted in another time. I enjoyed this refreshing novel which didn't contain all the sex, drugs and violence that many contemporary books do

Good summer read. This is the first Belva Plain I have and will read more of hers I am sure.

In Wrightstown, New England, twice widowed Mrs. Cassandra Wright (Ms. Is too trendy though using her maiden name is not) is the CEO of Wright Glassworks. A family tragedy forces Cassie to take in her relative, one years old Gwen. She raises Gwen as if she is her own daughter and the child thrives in the affluence of her surroundings.

Jewel Fairchild works as a receptionist at the Glassworks with ambition to marry wealth. Whereas the adult Gwen is at best plain looking; Jewel is vivaciously beautiful. Envious of Gwen, Jewel achieves her goal by marrying affluent businessman Jeff while Gwen settles on steady middle class worker Stan while coveting Jeff. When Stan uncovers questionable practices at his place of work owned by Jeff, they and their wives will be forced to confront their inner demons.

This contemporary comparative character study is fun to follow as readers will contrast Jewel with Gwen, and Stan with Jeff. Although Jewel is more of a caricature of the scheming gold-digger, Gwen a bit too introverted to carry the story line and the husbands two and half dimensional, the dynamic CROSSROADS relationships between the lead quartet make for an interesting drama for fans of Belva Plain.

Harriet Klausner

Gwen Wright is raised after a tragic accident takes her parents by Cassie Wright. Gwen flourished in her new life of privilege and wealth. She may have all sorts of wealth, but this plain young woman falls in love with a rather lower income man and marries him. Gwen's mother CEO of Wrights Glassworks provides her adopted daughter with all that she could want, protecting her in a strange manner.

Jewel Fairbanks is conniving with a capital "C" and will do what she must in order to marry wealthy. She works as a receptionist at the Glassworks and her paths occasionally cross with Gwen's and with each meeting she becomes more and more envious of plain little Gwen. Eventually, Jewel succeeds in marrying wealthy and soon these two couples lives become ensnared with secrets and lies. Life in a small town becomes smaller and the drama and betrayal these two couples have to deal with just might bring the end to one of the relationships.

Where to start. Both female leads fall short. Gwen is too perfect which makes her almost obnoxious, and Jewel is so conniving and evil she's predictable. And in the end this reader really didn't care what was going to happen to either character. I won't go to say they're both too stupid to live, but there was just no connection to either of them for me. I would have liked to have seen a little growth in their development as this story spans a good deal of time. In the end this story is mildly entertaining although a tad predictable...I know there is that word again but it is apt in this case.

I see there is some controversy as to whether Belva Plain actually wrote this book but I think it's a moot point. It reads like it was written by a rank amateur- really poor. From the silly phrases like, "...more's the pity"- I mean who says or even thinks that today???- to the trite descriptions- oh, boy. Yes, if you have absolutely nothing else to do, you might want to read this book. Be sure, though, to borrow it from the library! Also, the "femme fatale" character is named Jewel FairCHILD in the text while on the book jacket she is Jewel FairBANKS. Come on- is anybody on the job? It kind of shows disdain for the reader, in my humble opinion.

It's really hard to believe that this novel was written by Belva Plain, the author of one of my favorite books ever, "Evergreen." The writing in "Crossroads" is simplistic, the characters are not well developed and don't seem like real people, and the plot is pretty thin. I met Ms. Plain once at a book signing and she is truly a lovely person. I really admire her for continuing to write well into her 80s. However, I can't recommend this particular book--unfortunately, it's just not up to par with some of her other novels.

Belva Plain has been writing novels for a long time. Unfortunately, this one didn't hold my attention and I found myself putting the book down frequently for lack of interest. The author has many good novels to her credit but this wasn't one of them.

As always Belva Plain's books are interesting from beginning to end. I have never read one of her books that failed to captivate me.