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The Family Tree [Paperback]

Carole Cadwalladr (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
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Book Description

Publication Date: 1 Feb 2006

On the day of Charles and Diana's wedding, Rebecca Monroe's mother locked herself in the bathroom and never came out. Was it because her squidgy chocolate log collapsed or because Rebecca's grandmother married her first cousin? Can we never know why we do what we do?

'This clever and moving debut examines three generations of the Monroe family and explores nature versus nurture...thoughtful and immensely entertaining' Observer

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Product details

  • Paperback: 480 pages
  • Publisher: Black Swan; New Ed edition (1 Feb 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0552772690
  • ISBN-13: 978-0552772693
  • Product Dimensions: 12.8 x 3.1 x 19.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 116,593 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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More About the Author

› Visit Amazon's Carole Cadwalladr Page
Carole Cadwalladr
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Product Description

Review

"

'This is a sublimely funny and clever first novel, and I predict that it won't be long before the extremely talented Carold Cadwalladr is required reading' 

" (Daily Mail )

"Hats off to Carole Cadwalladr. Such a pleasure to read. Unpretentious and serious, funny and moving. A rare find" (Monica Ali Monica Ali )

"'Half delicious romp, half calamitous chronicle of family breakdown... Every twig on this family tree quivers with life'" (Sunday Times )

"'Carole Cadwalladr's clever and moving debut examines three generations of the Monroe family and explores nature versus nurture...Thoughtful and immensely entertaining'" (Observer )

"'A rare treat, delivered with aplomb'" (Sunday Telegraph )

Book Description

Highly-acclaimed, intelligent and funny first novel about a woman exploring her family's history.
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Forget McEwan, read this 27 Jun 2005
By Fiona Cartwright
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!

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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Must read book. 15 Feb 2006
By Sally
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.

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars all unhappy families are alike... 5 Jun 2006
By A. Craig HALL OF FAME TOP 1000 REVIEWER
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
5.0 out of 5 stars 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 16 months ago by Judi Moore
1.0 out of 5 stars 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 on 8 Jan 2011 by Chantelle
3.0 out of 5 stars 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 on 12 Dec 2010 by M. Dunlop Ferraro
4.0 out of 5 stars 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
Published on 19 Sep 2010 by Louiseog
5.0 out of 5 stars 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 on 31 July 2010 by C. Bannister
5.0 out of 5 stars 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
5.0 out of 5 stars 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
5.0 out of 5 stars 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
5.0 out of 5 stars 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
5.0 out of 5 stars 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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