| Created 007.11.16; Updated 2007.11.16 |
This article originally appeared in British Weekly.
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The Dilemma…so Much Family Drama SANTA MONICA, CA (British Weekly) 10/08/07 — Francesca Channing stops working to have her first child Jack. After Jack is born, her husband doesn't want her to go back to work. Bard is twenty-two years older than she is. He has certain ideas of what a wife should do. Bard is a wealthy, charismatic man used to getting his way. He's hard on his wife and kids. She goes along with his demands to stop working, but what's she to do with her days? The baby has a nanny and the houses have housekeepers. More... |
Francesca becomes involved in charity work. Bard buries himself in his business, an aspect of his life where he has completely shut her out…putting a strain on their marriage. They have a second child, a daughter Kitty. Francesca can tell something's wrong with her. Her husband, the nanny, and the child's doctor keep telling her the baby is fine. But, Francesca knows there's something wrong. She takes her daughter to a specialist without telling anyone.
The marriage has many dilemmas. Their relationship is tested by Bard's rages. His adult children create problems for the couple. Liam, the eldest son, doesn't get along with his father and wants to hurt him as much as he can. When he finds a way to do it, he happily adds another dilemma to Francesca's life.
Bard's sometimes shady business dealings catch up to him. He asks his wife to lie about his whereabouts on a particular day if asked. Will she? Or, will she tell the truth?
Francesca faces many dilemmas in this novel by Penny Vincenzi. In fact all the characters do. The book covers about twelve years of Francesca's life, most of it with her husband. The book could be edited down and still work. The intricate plot twists become tedious. In chapter twenty-three, we finally get to the biggest dilemma. I would have liked to see this dilemma earlier and how it plays out after.
Penny Vincenzi is well known in the UK for Women's fiction. She's written twelve novels since 1989. She was a journalist for the Mirror, the Times, Daily Mail, Vogue and other publications. The dilemma was first Published in the UK in 1996.
The Dilemma, Hardcover: 662 pages Publisher: Overlook Press
(October, 2007) Language: English ISBN 978-1-58567-949-6 $25.95