Family Reunion [Paperback]

Carol Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 2000

Odile Annesley has been in self-imposed exile in France for 40 years, following a family tragedy. With her 80th birthday approaching, she contacts her scattered grand-children with details of her will. The five very different grand-daughters spot the perfect opportunity for a get-together.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Set in present-day London and Provence, this suspense novel by the popular author of The Neighbors is part juicy family melodrama, part stirring suspense story. On the eve of her 80th birthday, reclusive Annesley family matriarch Odile writes to each member of the Annesley clan from her sprawling farmhouse in Provence, communicating details of her will. In response, Odile's five granddaughters plan to travel in convoy to the French homestead for a surprise visit to their estranged grandmother. The trip is deferred until the midpoint of the novel, as the granddaughters are reacquainted with each other. Clemency, the eldest, is comfortably married with four children and lives outside London; Elodie is a single and raunchy dress designer living in Paris. Madeleine, residing alone in London, is a Norwegian "ice queen"; Isabelle, at the other end of the spectrum, is a plumpish student at Oxford. Finally, Cherie is a single mother, poor and resentful of the Annesley entitlement, from which she feels excluded. This motley crew arrives in Provence to find the farmhouse quite desolate and the garden disturbed by a freshly dug grave. The terror heightens as two more Annesleys are murdered and the group uncovers bloody secrets buried in the family's past. Though the novel's denouement fails to convince, its plotting is otherwise solid, its characters rounded and its pacing sprightly. As with Smith's previous romantic suspense novels, it should find eager readers.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Central to Smith's multigenerational thriller are the five adult granddaughters of Odile Annesley, who is approaching her eightieth birthday. After fleeing the family 40 years ago, Odile curiously reaches out to the women by letter, supposedly to discuss her will. Strong-willed Clemency decides this is the perfect opportunity for the granddaughters to strengthen their relationships with one another and to pay a surprise visit to Odile in Provence--a cousin's road trip. Meanwhile, murders begin taking place in the Annesley family, and a strange, handsome man makes an appearance in the lives of the granddaughters--in some cases, a very intimate appearance. Dashing back and forth through family history, transporting readers from Paris to London to America, and injecting sizzling romantic interludes, Smith uses her considerable storytelling skills to keep readers with a taste for melodrama and suspense on the edge of their seats. If the tale turns a bit too implausibly gothic toward the end, it really doesn't matter--by then, everyone will be well under the spell of Smith's fabulously frightening family. Jenny McLarin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 401 pages
• Publisher: Time Warner Paperbacks* (June 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0751525774
• ISBN-13: 978-0751525779
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,758,391 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a good modern gothic, February 28, 2001

By 

tregatt (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Family Reunion (Hardcover)

The "Family Reunion" is a rather good old fashioned novel, crafted somewhat on the gothic genre: for decades Odile Annesley has had nothing to do with her family. After the death of her favourite son, Odile abandoned her family to concentrate on her art. And for all these years, no one seems to have any contact with her. Now as she approaches her eightieth birthday, she sends her remaining relatives her will. This inspires her five remaining granddaughters to plan an impromptu visit to their grandmother in order to celebrate Odile's birthday, and to heal all breaches. The gothic touch comes into play when the reader realises that someone seems to be hunting down members of the Annesley clan and killing them off one by one, and that a mysterious young man, who may or may not be an Annesley relative also seems to be stalking the granddaughters. What will Odile's grandchildren find when they reach her estate in France, and will the mad killer and menacing stalker follow them there?

I found this novel to be an interesting and enjoyable read, except for a couple of points. As with "The Neighbors", Carole Smith has peopled this novel with an assortment of characters that run the gamut from eccentric to rather obnoxious. All were quite well developed but unfortunately there just a little too many Annesleys, and I had to keep checking with the family tree to keep all the aunts and cousins and wives straight! Fortunately, about a third way through the book, a character explains all the familial relationships, so that the book was saved for me. And if it wasn't for the fact that I never warmed to the 'hero' of the piece, or that the only chracter I identified with was killed off (which probably says more about me than the quality of the book), I probably would have given the book a higher rating.

This is quite a good modern gothic novel, with just the right mix of a menacing atmosphere, peculiar and eccentric characters, and family secrets to keep the reader glued to the pages. A rather enjoyable read.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fine novel of psychological suspense, January 26, 2001

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Family Reunion (Hardcover)

Though years have passed since the tragedy and Odile Annesley, now eighty, remains in exile in Provence, refusing to have anything to do with family members. However, the octogenarian sends her will to her family. This, in turn, prompts a response from Odile's five adult grandchildren, who want reconciliation before grandmere dies. The quintet agrees to visit grandmere together without asking or warning the former Annesley matriarch.

However, before journeying to Provence, the five sisters first become reacquainted with one another. After a brief period, they arrive at the forlorn remote farm house that grandmere has made home for about four decades since she fled her beloved spouse and children. However, reconciliation proves deadly as history repeats itself and someone wants to eliminate the Annesley heirs.

FAMILY REUNION is an exciting suspense thriller that takes off in the second half of the novel. Much of the first half of the story line is dedicated to introducing the five siblings. This proves a bit slow, leaving the audience to wonder if the book is a character study. However, the device ultimately pays dividends when the group reaches Provence where the action begins (second half of the novel). With a little patience, readers, especially fans of Carol Smith (see THE NEIGHBORS), will enjoy this novel, but must give it a chance as character development takes up a sizable portion of the plot.

Harriet Klausner

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Terribly complicated novel filled with plot inconsistencies, June 14, 2001

By 

Lisa (Jersey Shore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Family Reunion (Hardcover)

This book is terrible! There are so many mistakes in this book, I don't even know where to start. The family tree is so complex, that not even the author seems to have been able to keep it straight. In addition the plot takes so many twists and turns and so many of them dead end that it is hard work keeping the story straight. And the ending is predictable. A character ("Ashely") identified as Odile's grandson on the family tree is called a great-grandson in the text. The novel describes events that take place in 1999, yet Odile's birthdate is given as 1918, when the characters are supposed to be coming together to celebrate her eighteth birthday. And when a character talks about an event in the 60's, she describes it as almost thirty years ago? Last time I checked, that should be almost forty!!! In addition Henry's son is named Harry Jr. Aren't Henry and Harry different names? How did he (Harry) get to be a Jr. I couldn't put this book down - mainly because I wanted to see what would be wrong next. These errors bothered me so much, I got up to write a review at midnight - and I've never written a review before.