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52 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Wonderful New Voice for Women's Fiction!, January 5, 2001
Seventeen years earlier, Michelle Turner had fled Montana, pregnant and alone, to begin a new life in Seattle. Now she's returned, to donate a kidney to her father despite their nearly two-decade estrangement. Accompanying her is her surly teenage son, Cody, who is not happy about leaving his friends in Seattle in the middle of the school year. Michelle''s father, Gavin Slade, was an Oscar-winning actor who moved to Montana long before it became the northern mecca of the rich and famous. Gavin had been an absent father for most of Michelle''s life until her mother died when she was a teenager and she moved to his Montana ranch. There she met and fell in love with a boy from the wrong side of the tracks, Sam McPhee, who was working for her father as a ranch-hand. Unbeknownst to Michelle, Gavin had hastened the retreat of Sam and his alcoholic mother, Tammi Lee Gilmer, before Michelle had the opportunity to tell him he was going to be a father. Over the years, Michelle had lost touch with Sam who had become a world-class rodeo champion to earn money to pursue another dream. The last person she expects to see when she returns to Crystal City, Montana is her old love. Sam had returned to Crystal City, unaware that Michelle had left. One of the main reasons for his return was the chance he might run into her again. He has never forgotten his teenage love. Unaware of Cody''s existence, he is surprised to find Michelle has a teenage son. When Cody comes to Sam'sranch to work off damage done in a fender-bender, it doesn't take Sam long to see himself in Cody and he confronts Michelle. Was she ever going to tell him the truth? And how are they going to tell Cody before he finds out from somebody else? This isn''t your normal "secret baby" story full of misunderstandings and longtime secrets left untold. It''s more a story of the reactions of people to the secrets which are now revealed. Susan Wiggs has added very interesting secondary character to this mix including Sam''s ex-alcoholic mother, Tammi Lee, a rather tragic character who is trying desperately to turn her life around; Sam McPhee, who, although always the movie star but, in the autumn of his years, is becoming more aware of the needs of the people in his life rather than in his own. Cody is pretty much a typical teenager --- surly, defiant on the outside - hiding a rather sensitive young man on the inside. Add to this Michelle''s unconventional but caring friend Natalie and readers are all set for a wonderful read with never a dull moment. Wiggs''s description of western Montana places the reader firmly in the fictional town of Crystal City which is in the Swan mountain region not too far from the real town of Big Fork, SE of Kalispell and north of Missoula. She is able to set the scene so beautifully that even readers who have never been there can experience the grandeur that is "Go'd's country." This is Wiggs''s magnum opus - the break-out single title release for the popular, award-winning author who has been known primarily for her historical romances. She does single-title contemporary so well it's as if she invented the subgenre. At over 500 pages, there''s something going on all the time, and the novel never suffers from any lags in the action. The book is so seamless and tight the reader nears the end before they are aware of it. What a dazzling read from a well-loved author. I can''t recommend this one enough and certainly look forward to other contemporary stories from Ms. Wiggs.
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37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fasten Your Seatbelt!, January 14, 2001
The You I Never Knew is fascinating book by Susan Wiggs. Don't make the mistake I made and think it's just another "I'm not going to tell you that you're the father of my child" book. Ms. Wiggs has taken a cast of characters, the past and present, and written a book that will keep you tuned in from page one. Michelle Turner fell in love with Sam McPhee. She was just a kid, the daughter a famous movie star Gavin Slade. He was the son of an alcoholic, a kid with big dreams, no money, and no future. They fell in love, she became pregnant, and he skipped town not knowing about the baby. Fast forward seventeen years, their lives are about to clash, each not having seen the other for seventeen long years. Michelle is returning to her hometown to donate a kidney to her father who is seriously ill. With her is her sixteen-year-old son, Cody. Michelle has made a success of her life without any help from the father of her son or her own father who turned his back on her when she told him she was pregnant. Cody is a rebellious kid who is testing the boundaries. He has gotten in with a bad crowd and is making poor choices. Lives are about to change forever as the three come to grip with the past. There is no way to adequately describe this book. Susan Wiggs has written an enthralling tale. I was particularly captivated with the scenes involving Sam and Cody. For those of you who have teenagers going through rough times, you'll recognize the tough love approach used in this novel. This was a great book. My compliments to Susan Wiggs for writing such a fascinating story. Someone told me this was Ms. Wiggs' breakthrough novel from historicals to contemporaries. If this is the case, what a breakthrough it is!
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Reconciling the past, January 19, 2001
The men in Michelle Turner's life have always been a source of tremendous heartache. Father, boyfriend, son, they were her persistent source of joy, pain, and sorrow. Despite their love for her, they were destined at one time or another to disappoint her. She was driven away by the father she idolized and barely knew when she needed him most. She faced the untimely desertion of the young man she dared to love. And thanks to the surly son he unknowingly bestowed upon her, she is slowly coming to the realization that she is, in a strange inversion when it comes to parenting, repeating her father's mistake. But Michelle is getting something many people don't: a second chance. Her father's illness has her determined to help him initially out of obligation. With her son in tow, she arrives in Crystal City, Montana only to discover her father trying helplessly to breach the gap between them, her ex-boyfriend who has far surpassed her expectations for him, and the truth about her own bitter disappointment in herself in the face of the dream she sacrificed for the three men who are the center of her world. Susan Wigg's venture into the genre of mainstream fiction is a huge success. The story of strong-willed, disillusioned Michelle and the three men who dominate her life will pull at heartstrings and occasionally move you to tears. Michelle is clearly at the heart of this novel and the author explores her relationship with her father Gavin Slade, an aging Hollywood icon, Sam McPhee, her ex-boyfriend, and Cody, their son. Through Michelle, Wiggs explores the multi-faceted feminine dynamic many women will be able to relate to. The pressure of living up to the expectations of a distant, yet revered father and the tragedy of sacrificing one dream to finance reality are issues Wiggs broaches in this extraordinary story. The author also gives us a great deal of insight into Gavin, Sam, Cody, and even Sam's mother, who is a recovering alcoholic. By doing this, she adequately balances out the perspective in this story. In addition, we also come to realize the misunderstandings between these characters and the mistakes made, not just by the men in Michelle's life but also by Michelle herself.
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