The Real Mother [Mass Market Paperback]

Judith Michael (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 29, 2005

Love is never the end of the story,
only the begining.

Mack Hayden, volatile and dangerous, shows up, all smiles, on Sara's doorstep. Sara has been struggling to build a new life for herself and her ten-year-old brother Doug and teenage sisters Carrie and Abby, after she was forced to give up her dreams and come home to Chicago to take care of them.

Now Mack, the brother who had abandoned them three years earlier, is threatening to undercut everything she does. Swinging dangerously from kindness to mystery to cruelty, he begins to win over the children with expensive gifts and fascinating stories, challenging Sara's efforts to keep the family together.

With events at home and at work seeming out of control, Sara desperately needs an ally. She finds one in Reuben Lister, a transplanted New Yorker, lonely and guarding his own secrets. Dealing with both the past and the present, Reuben and Sara discover a closeness neither has known before, as they find for themselves what truly makes a family.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The bestselling pseudonymous husband-wife duo Judith Barnard and Michael Fain return (after 1999's A Certain Smile) with a formulaic novel set in their hometown of Chicago. Saintly 27-year-old Sara Elliott works as City Greeter (aka "Everybody's Schlepper")—a job that swiftly, conveniently introduces her to both arch-villain Lew Corcoran and romantic hero Reuben Lister. Sara meant to be a doctor, but her paycheck provides for three adolescent half-siblings, ever since their mom, Tess, had a disabling stroke that landed her in a nursing home. All the other grownups have checked out—Sara's father died; Tess's second husband ran off; and Mack, eldest child of Tess's second marriage, has also vanished. Now Mack comes back, playing havoc with the kids' emotions and assaulting Sara's primacy. The novel is generally short on shades of gray, but Mack is coal black. When he isn't saying "shit" or "fuck" to his appalled, delighted sibs, he talks in odd litanies of three: "A fine robe finely made that feels fine." Ages before Sara catches on, the reader is certainly certain of the certainty that he's working with Lew to squelch Reuben's low-income housing project. Curiously, Chicago itself never comes to life, although Greenwich Village is finely drawn when Sara visits Reuben on his home turf. Alas, Mack burns down the house while she's trysting, but that's the kind of middle-America melodrama that Michael's readers seem to love.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Sara Elliott has forgone her dreams in order to raise her three younger stepsiblings. After her stepfather disappeared and her mother had a stroke, she gave up medical school, came back to Chicago, and took a job as a greeter for the city, helping high rollers find homes. Almost simultaneously, two men enter her sphere, and each has an agenda. Mack is the long-lost brother who left when things got difficult. Reuben is Sara's client but has the potential for being more. The children are ecstatic that Mack has returned, which Sara resents. And she finds it hard to trust him. He never talks about his past; his furtive actions do nothing to raise her expectations, and she doubts that he'll stick around. Reuben, on the other hand, is steady as a rock and seems to care about her and her emergency family, although he, too, is concealing something. As things progress, Sara must decide what is best for her as well as for those she mothers. In spite of the many complex family issues raised, this effort feels a bit lackluster for the popular husband-and-wife duo, but there is enough conflict, glamour, and intrigue to keep their fans happy. Patty Engelmann
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Avon (November 29, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060599308
• ISBN-13: 978-0060599300
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #792,190 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars THEIR WORST BOOK EVER!!!!!, February 5, 2005

By 

Hollis F. Neutz - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Real Mother: A Novel (Hardcover)

I have never written a review before. I am an avid reader and have read Judith Michaels books for years. This book is so bad I feel compelled to let other people know. I was so dissapointed in this book that I couldn't even finish it. The language was so foul. It is written so poorly and in such an immature fashion. This book has no depth. This book is offensive and a waste of time. It reads like they had to get a book out really fast to make a house payment or pay off some bills. I am so upset that I spent money on the hardcover version that I am going to try and find their website and let them know how offensive this book is. They have written such great stuff in the past and I was so happy when I saw a new book by them. I feel angry that they wrote such trash and had the nerve to actually put it in the book stores. No matter what you do, don't buy this book. It would be a waste of your hard earned money. I wish someone had warned me.

Thanks for listening.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars My Least Favorite Judith Michael book, August 1, 2005

By 

BookwormLD (Upstate NY, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Real Mother: A Novel (Hardcover)

I finished the book because I wanted to see how everything shook out in the end, but I skimmed large swaths of pages. As other reviewers have written, there were too many unanswered questions and too many plot points that just didn't make enough sense. And I was irritated by the irritating way Sara's irritable brother Mack spoke. (Yes, I'm parodying it in the previous sentence.) No one talks that way! And in this day and age, given its slang meaning, who would name a character "Pussy" in a work of mainstream fiction?

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Awful, December 14, 2005

By 

Love to read (The Berkshires, U.S.A) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Real Mother: A Novel (Hardcover)

I wish I read these reviews before I wasted my money! Offensive and boring. I liked their books before but I guess they are going downhill. Save your money.