Fraser's Line by Monica Carly

Fraser's Line by Monica Carly
Buy Fraser's Line by Monica Carly at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Women's Fiction
Reviewer: Sue Magee
Summary: An engaging story about roots and family relationships. The adult characters lack subtlety but this is balanced by two adorable children. A reasonable holiday read.
Buy? Maybe	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 232	Date: April 2009
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 978-1438960067
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When Edie died Fraser was devastated. They'd been married for thirty one years and he'd been devoted to her. Nothing had been too much trouble and he'd been quite prepared to watch her flirt with other men, to shine in any company. He was, after all, the man she went home with. Her death had come suddenly and weeks later he was still in a state of shock, but he knew that he would have to sort out her affairs and he enlisted the help of a casual acquaintance to support him. He was in for some painful shocks.

Edie had not been what she seemed – at least not what she seemed to Fraser – although it was obvious, the more he looked, that other people had not been quite so keen on her. His younger daughter obviously bore some sort of a grudge, or was it that she knew a dreadful secret? His elderly mother kept hinting that there was something that she needed to tell him, but he couldn't decide whether it was important, or just her mental confusion that was getting the better of her.

It's Angela Gabriel (a neat play on names, there) who helps Fraser not just to come to terms with Edie's death, but to accept her for what she really was. In the end it's a dreadful accident which forces the whole family to reassess their values and priorities.

If you like complex characters and an involved plot this is not going to be the book for you, but if you enjoy a tale told without the need for artifice then this story about people's roots and how backgrounds can affect lives even generations down the line is an enjoyable holiday read. Fraser's father was Polish and although he had lived and married in England – was the father of two young children – he felt obliged to go and support his countrymen in the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Marjorie, his wife, was left to bring Fraser and his sister Margaret up on her own after her husband was killed by a German bullet.

When he met Edie they seemed to have so much in common when she explained that she was of Dutch parentage, but had been brought to England after loosing her father in the German bombing at the beginning of the war and her mother contracted TB. But what effect would they have on each other, on their children and even on their grandchildren?

The story is well told without wasted words and the plot is neatly built with writing which is confident and a delight to read. The adult characters lack subtlety – Fraser is too naïve to have survived in business for long and his younger daughter has no redeeming features – but I found the grandchildren endearing. At six years old the twins are worlds apart with Kate showing all the signs of making a good mother hen and George playing the scamp. I'd love to have seen more of them!

I'd like to thank the author for sending a copy of the book to the Bookbag.

For another story about family relationships we can recommend The Prodigal Sister by Laura Elliott.

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