Family Tree - Susan Wiggs

Family Tree

By Susan Wiggs

  • Release Date: 2016-08-09
  • Genre: Fiction & Literature
Score: 4.5
4.5
From 661 Ratings

Description

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author comes a powerful, emotionally complex story of love, loss, the pain of the past—and the promise of the future.

Sometimes the greatest dream starts with the smallest element. A single cell, joining with another. And then dividing. And just like that, the world changes.

Annie Harlow knows how lucky she is. The producer of a popular television cooking show, she loves her handsome husband and the beautiful Los Angeles home they share. And now, she’s pregnant with their first child. But in an instant, her life is shattered. And when Annie awakes from a yearlong coma, she discovers that time isn’t the only thing she’s lost.

Grieving and wounded, Annie retreats to her old family home in Switchback, Vermont, a maple farm generations old. There, surrounded by her free-spirited brother, their divorced mother, and four young nieces and nephews, Annie slowly emerges into a world she left behind years ago: the town where she grew up, the people she knew before, the high-school boyfriend turned judge. And with the discovery of a cookbook her grandmother wrote in the distant past, Annie unearths an age-old mystery that might prove the salvation of the family farm.

Family Tree is the story of one woman’s triumph over betrayal, and how she eventually comes to terms with her past. It is the story of joys unrealized and opportunities regained. Complex, clear-eyed and big-hearted, funny, sad, and wise, it is a novel to cherish and to remember. 

Reviews

  • Real life problems and solutions.

    4
    By pen0723
    Although it’s difficult going back and forth in time, the story is compelling and brings the reader into the complicated issues people face. Life, love and family are always the basis for happiness.
  • Loved it

    5
    By GA Booklover
    I loved all the characters who became real to me as I read and Experienced their journeys with them. Excellent read.
  • Love this title

    5
    By Mauilyne
    Beautifully written story about love and family I didn’t want it to end
  • My favorite so far

    5
    By 5sonz
    I'm a huge Susan Wiggs fan, but this is my favorite so far. I like the way the characters are developed and the very descriptive way in which the setting is brought to life. I can almost become part of the story. Clean with no offensive language of gratuitous sex scenes. My only disappointment in this story is that i do not feel the situation with Annie and Martin contact was clearly explained as to how it was corrected. But i definitely recording it!
  • Third time is not always the charm - never give up

    5
    By Mary Rhonda
    Much of this story is heart wrenching. Annie and Fletcher never seem to catch a break. I did enjoy how it was written; the going back and forth. This helped explain the different relationships. This story is about real people with real problems who believe they are doing the right thing. Ultimately, it was a wonderful happily ever after.
  • Family tree

    4
    By Pdmann05
    Susan Wiggs comes THROUGH AGAIN WITH A GOOD READ.
  • Lovely story

    5
    By dlth
    I'm an audio listener to books as I commute to & from work - I found myself listening while cleaning house, cooking supper, bedtime - lol! It is a very sweet story - real written - my first from Susan Wiggs - I'm her newest fan!
  • Family Tree

    5
    By Chardez54
    Wow awesome beautiful love thought provoking magic so many more words to describe this wonderful story . This is the first book I've read by this author she's a hidden diamond I just found. So now I'm on my way to find another book by Susan Wiggs to read because I know I won't be disappointed. Truly an amazing writer.
  • Ugh!

    1
    By Swag boy 3
    Tedious, repetitive and predictable. Beyond boring, unless you are interested in the production of Maple Syrup. Don't waste your money.
  • An intriguing introduction to Susan Wiggs writing,

    4
    By glhince
    Told in a series of flashbacks and dream-like sequences, the story of Annie Harlow is one rife with choices of one thing over another, and resulted in a large bag full of what if’s. Waking from a year in a coma after an accident, Annie realizes that she’s no longer pregnant, married or has a show. Her husband had been having an affair, and when she was injured, he moved up and on with his life, ignoring her. She’s back in Switchback Vermont, where she grew up and learned her love of cooking from her grandmother. The little town she grew up in is loaded with memories, good and bad, and plenty of choices made that weren’t always the best. Looking back on those choices, where she has been, and how other influences set her on paths to left and right. What she has now is new options: a chance to reconnect with her first love, and perhaps even a chance at discovering the answers to the what-ifs that creep in to everyone’s life. I was expecting a simpler and lighter story, full of the newly gained second chances coming to Annie. When you add in the return to her hometown where everyone knew the child she was, the coming home is tempered by the memories, reflections on choices and a truly emotionally vulnerable Annie, with a chance to form her life in ways she desires. There is a certain heaviness to the overall tone that I didn’t see coming in a story that essentially boils down to a second chance at all of the decisions made years ago, to get a different result. A perfect choice for a book club read: many eyes and experiences on the story will heighten the insights into the story, provide alternative reasons for choices and even a chance at shared commiseration at the low points. An intriguing introduction to Susan Wiggs writing, I was tearing through the pages as I hoped for her happy ending. I received an Arc of the title from the publishers for purpose of honest review via Avon Addicts. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.