Custody [Hardcover]

Nancy Thayer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 5, 2001

When Kelly MacLeod becomes a Massachusetts Family Court judge, she is determined to do what is right. But what is right when one's deepest personal emotions clash with the law?

Anne Madison, a respected state reformer with political aspirations, wants custody of her 12-year-old adopted daughter Tessa, as does Randall Madison, a prominent physician. Tessa, caught between warring parents, on the brink of her own sexuality, wonders who her birth mother is, and tries to please those she loves at a cost that just might be too high.

How does one balance public service with private desires? What does it mean, legally and emotionally, to be a family? How does one move past anger and sorrow toward compassion and wisdom? How do adults learn to temper their own wills with the best needs of the child?

In order to must answer these questions, Kelly MacLeod must judge her new and mysterious lover, her own past, and the complications of many kinds of love.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Women who like to read about other women's troubles will enjoy Thayer's 14th novel (after Three Women at the Water's Edge; An Act of Love; etc.), which features a novice family court judge confronting a family melodrama of her own. Just as Kelly McLeod is appointed to the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court bench, she meets and falls in love with a man whose life proves as complicated by past mistakes and present entanglements as her own. Randall Madison is battling his controlling soon-to-be ex-wife (a frigid registered nurse running for political office) for custody of their 12-year-old daughter, Tessa. Curious about her birth (she was born to a surrogate mother) and on the cusp of puberty, Tessa needs all the parenting she can get. Randall also must deal with his aging widowed father and a former lover who won't let him go quietly. Kelly is engaged to a wealthy lawyer she doesn't want to marry and must cope with her half-sister, a difficult teenager who is the daughter of Kelly's long-estranged, now-dead mother and the stepfather responsible for that estrangement. Thayer turns Kelly's easy-to-guess secret into the basis of an often engrossing tale, meticulously detailing along the way the web of court procedures developed to handle family conflicts and explaining how conflicts get resolved despite their uncomfortable fit with those procedures. Ingenuity at tackling first the court case and then Tessa's unhappy situation turns Kelly from a run-of-the-mill modern heroine into a model of negotiation. Thayer's view that motherhood requires eternal patience and parenthood an unending supply of time and money imbues the book with her trademark compassionate realism.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Kelly McCleod is about to take her seat for the very first time as a family court judge. What she doesn't realize is that the man she loves is sitting in her courtroom petitioning for a divorce from his high-profile, political wife and requesting custody of his adopted daughter. A flashback recounts how Kelly meets a stranger in a cemetery and strikes up a relationship with him without the two ever revealing their true identities. As the relationship blossoms, Kelly wrestles with how much to share with the mysterious man, how to break off her current engagement, and whether it is really possible to fall in love with someone without knowing the person's real name. The plot and characters are fairly conventional until Thayer throws a twist into the story--Kelly begins to suspect that the daughter of the man she loves is the baby she gave up when she was in college. Filled with glimpses into family court proceedings and custody battles, this is an easy read with a predictable happy ending. Carolyn Kubisz
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1st edition (November 5, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312277342
• ISBN-13: 978-0312277345
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #243,051 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Engrossing family drama, July 9, 2002

By 

Patricia Kay "author and avid reader" (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Custody (Hardcover)

If I'd been writing this book, I wouldn't have started with the teaser scene Thayer chose (and it was extremely confusing that the date at the top of the first chapter was an error--it should have read September 2000 rather than August 2000--who did the line edit, anyway?). After reading that first scene, I didn't want to go back a month and read what led up to it. I suspect that's why some readers found the beginning slow going. If Thayer had just started the story earlier and told it chronologically, it would have been a more satisfying read. Frankly, I didn't want to know what she revealed in that first scene. I'd have preferred to find out who the man in the custody case was on my own. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Thayer's strength is characterization, and these characters were three-dimensional and compelling. Ann was particularly fascinating, and Tessa was wonderful. I was a bit disappointed with the end of the book, though. Thayer wrapped things up a little too quickly, I felt. We never did get to see Ann's turnaround. I just couldn't buy into the idea that a woman so driven and obsessed would so quickly acquiesce to the changes wrought by the judge's decision. I also wanted to see more of how Tessa felt afterwards. Still, I would recommend this book and anything else Thayer writes.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Touching, Complicated Custody Battle, April 28, 2002

By 

Jill Clardy "So many books, so little time...." (Redwood City, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Custody (Hardcover)

Kelly McLeod, newly appointed family court judge, has been defending clients for years, but now on the other side of the bench she feels even more responsibility to do the right thing. She has seen many families ripped apart by divorce and ugly custody battles. She is engaged to marry rich, handsome Jason, but is delaying setting a date for their marriage.

During one of her weekly visits to her mothers graveside, Kelly meets a mysterious stranger who is also visiting his mothers grave. They have a frank and startling conversation, and during the following week she cant stop thinking about him. They meet again the following weekend, and she becomes even more intrigued by this handsome, earnest, charismatic man.

The story also involves Anne Madison, political activist running for state representative on a health care platform. Anne is battling for full custody of her 12-year-old daughter, Tessa. Randall Madison, successful physician, also wants custody of Tessa, and feels that he would provide a better home because of Annes many neuroses and her obsessive-compulsive behavior. Tessa is caught in the middle of wanting to please both of her parents.

Kelly, Anne and Randall must all learn to deal with past sorrows, and put aside anger to move on and do what is best for Tessa as well as for themselves. The book is an interesting and moving exploration of the damage that can be done to children and families as a result of divorce and custody battles.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Bit of a Stretch..., August 17, 2002

By 

Elizabeth J. Verrill "Le Chef" (Hampstead, NH United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Custody (Hardcover)

While I agree witht the other reviewers concerning the characters and ending, my chief complaint was the dialogue. Found it stilted and artificial (does anyone really say "Yes, I am beset with problems") Early scene in cemetary was so artificial, I had to push to proceed, but Tessa was a pleasure. Would try another book by Thayer, but this didn't make may favorites list.