- Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: Plume Books; Reprint edition (29 Nov 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0452286948
- ISBN-13: 978-0452286948
- Product Dimensions: 13.7 x 2.2 x 19.9 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,797,039 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
" 'A real delight to read...such a delicacy of touch...very funny...hugely enjoyable.' MARGARET FORSTER 'Funny, fast and fresh...' MONICA ALI"
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Monica Ali
Funny, fast and fresh. . . . Hats off to Carole Cadwalladr. It was such a pleasure to read. . . . A rare find
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I read this book in a single sitting and then when I finished it I started it all over again. And it's even better second time around. The Family Tree is that rare rare book that has you turning the pages but also makes you think. I loved the storytelling and the sharpness of the dialogue and description, but I loved even more the many profound and subtle observations that Cadwalladr had to make about family and relationships and the weird and wonderful ways in which we are our parent's children and our grandparent's grandchildren.
She juggles plot-lines and characters as well as subjects as diverse as DNA and Marxist interpretations of Dallas. Yet it's never weighed down by them. I read 'Saturday' by Ian McEwan immediately before The Family Tree and couldn't believe how pompous and boring it was. McEwan's subject is neuroscience and he lays it on with a trowel. Cadwalladr, on the other hand, also uses science to illuminate her story but is never pretentious or preachy. Instead of clobbering you over the head with her intelligence, she uses humour to undermine your preconceptions. Guess which one will be shortlisted for the Booker?
It makes me cross that novels as wonderful as this get overshadowed by the Big Boys in the Big Boys Club. Read it!
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Highly recommended. I cried really hard (full box of tissues) for the last hour of this book and there are big belly laughs all the way through (the first is within about 30 seconds reading time from the start of the book). I think a testament to how good this book is the fact that when I finished it I really didn’t know how I felt about. I had to spend a few days mulling about and thinking it over and considering it before I formed my opinion. Cadwalladr is very subtle in her writing and doesn’t pummel you over the head with her points so I people reading it will take dramatically different things away from it depending upon their interpretation.
None of the characters are entirely sympathetic but they are so human and so well depicted as personalities that you care deeply about them with all their faults. The weaving in of genetics and cultural studies is witty and accessible and the depiction of the 70s is a real gem.
A great book, I would suggest buying a big box of tissues, commandeering the sofa and clearing the weekend for this one, definitely 5 stars.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Neither the title nor the cover does this novel justice - it's much cleverer and funnier than chick-lit (even at its best). Readers who loved Kate Atkinson's Behind the Scenes at the Museum, Hilary Mantel's Giving Up the Ghost, Jane Gardam's Crusoe's Daughter - in fact all those good and great novels about three generations of Northern women - will devour this. It works on many levels: as the tale of Rebecca's distintegrating marriage and decision to keep a baby rather than have a second abortion, as a meditation on whether we pass down psychological traits as well as physical ones, and as an excoriatingly funny portrait of lower middle-class life in the 1970s. The Monroes are a family divided by class, temperament, money and looks, and as the narrative weaves across past and present to the mysterious marriage of two cousins we get an inkling why Doreen and Aunty Suzanne hate each other so much. Eventually,you realise the novel is constructed as a kind of detective story, full of false clues and tiny revelations, particularly about family breakdown. The 1970s details are lovingly recreated with particularly amusing footnotes about popular TV shows. Highly recommended.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The Family Tree
Loved this. Best read of 2011. Obviously, I've come to it rather late ... and was fully expecting Ms Cadwalladr to have written another fab book by now. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Judi Moore
Amateurish and unbelievable
I'm amazed this book got so many good reviews because I found it almost impossible to stick with but have had to do so for a book club. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Chantelle
Burry Port Bookworm's Group Review
"the most important thing for me above everything else are the characters and the story" confides author, Carole Cadwalladr, during a book review by The Daily Mail. Read more
Published 17 months ago by M. Dunlop Ferraro
Oh how familiar
Being of a certain age I felt that this book was the story of my childhood!
Its focus on the marriage of Charles and Di made this even more powerful. Read more
Its focus on the marriage of Charles and Di made this even more powerful. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Louiseog
Wow a thought provoking yet funny book!
I liked the look of a review I read for this book soon after it came out but didn't get around to buying it until recently. Once I started it I was hooked. Read more
Published 22 months ago by C. Bannister
Brilliant - thoroughly enjoyable, where's the follow up please?
I'd had this book for a while and not got round to reading it. Once I started, however, I just couldn't put it down. Read more
Published on 9 Dec 2008 by Katie H
480 pages of "Don't bother me, I'm reading"
A friend gave me The Family Tree for Christmas. I started it on Boxing Day and couldn't put it down - I had to restrain myself from galloping through it in one go. Read more
Published on 31 Dec 2006 by Y. Hewett
The Family Tree by Carole Cadwalladr - much more than a tale about 3...
Three generations of women make their way through the obstacles that life throws at you - yet another family saga, I thought. But no, this book is so much more. Read more
Published on 14 July 2006 by H. Ashford
Thoughtful, funny, provocative
I loved it, truly, it's one of the most moving and thoughtful books I've read for a long time with moments of real humour as well as pathos and it's still swirling around my head... Read more
Published on 8 May 2006 by pippapjackson@hotmail.co.uk
GREAT book, lousy title
I almost didn't read this book on account of the title - thought it sounded a bit bland - but sooo glad I didn't let it put me off. A really exceptional read. Read more
Published on 20 July 2005 by Susan Thomas
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