[Genealib] Fiction with Genealogist Major character

[Ellen Jennings]

Family Tree by Barbara Delinsky will be released Feb. 7, 2007. Here is 
the prepub blurb from Amazon.com's site:

*Editorial Reviews*
*From Publishers Weekly*
When Dana and Hugh Clarke's baby is born into their wealthy, white New 
England seaside community, the baby's unmistakably African-American 
features puzzle her thoroughly Anglo-looking parents. Hugh's family 
pedigree extends back to the Mayflower, and his historian father has 
made a career of tracing the esteemed Clarke family genealogy, which 
does not include African-Americans. Dana's mother died when Dana was a 
child, and Dana never knew her father: she matter-of-factly figures that 
baby Lizzie's features must hark back to her little-known past. Hugh, a 
lawyer who has always passionately defended his minority clients, finds 
his liberal beliefs don't run very deep and demands a paternity test to 
rule out the possibility of infidelity. By the time the Clarkes have 
uncovered the tangled roots of their family trees, more than one 
skeleton has been unearthed, and the couple's relationship—not to 
mention their family loyalty—has been severely tested. Delinsky 
(/Looking for Peyton Place/) smoothly challenges characters and readers 
alike to confront their hidden hypocrisies. Although the dialogue about 
race at times seems staged and rarely delves beyond a surface level, and 
although near-perfect Dana and her knitting circle are too idealized to 
be believable, Delinsky gets the political and personal dynamics right. 
/(Feb.)/
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All rights reserved.

*From Booklist 
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/subst/partners/marketing/booklist.html/>*
The old and illustrious New England Clarke family has a new member, and 
she is not what the family envisioned. Elizabeth Clarke, a beautiful 
daughter born to Hugh and Dana, possesses definite African American 
traits, leaving the parents puzzled and the extended Clarke family 
scandalized. Hugh's parents believed that he was marrying down when he 
chose Dana, who has no idea who her father is and no desire to find out. 
Now, on what should be a joyous occasion, the birth of their first 
child, Hugh and Dana are struggling with issues of race, family, and 
trust. As Dana's family history and fidelity are questioned, Hugh, who 
thought he was above racism, now wants his wife to find out the truth 
about her heritage. While Dana searches for her father and Hugh's family 
pressures him to find out for certain if the child is indeed his, Hugh 
must confront the truth about himself, his family, and their racist 
attitude while also trying to reconcile his own attitude toward his 
daughter. Delinsky often writes with insight about complex family 
matters and here adds thought-provoking concerns about race in America 
to the mix in a novel that will stir debate and inspire 
self-examination. /Patty Engelmann/
/Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved/