"Insightful look at a family"
In Crandall, Connecticut the Ehrlich family leads such a
perfect American existence they even become featured in an
issue of Southern Connecticut Life magazine. Libby owns
and runs an antique business. Her spouse Peter is a highly
regarded cardiac surgeon at Crandall General Hospital.
They have two teenage daughters, sixteen years old Claudia
and thirteen years old Ellery, who seem happy and are doing
well. However, their perfect lifestyle shatters when the parents
return from a trip abroad to learn that their younger
daughter is carrying the baby of the boyfriend of her older
sister. All four Ehrlichs are forced to look closely at
the relationships with one another and as a family because
if Southern Connecticut Life magazine did a feature today
they would find a shattered dysfunctional family leading
the perfect American nightmare. TWO DAUGHTERS is a look at how an event can destroy trust,
commitment, and caring in what seemed like a devoted
group. However, the problem with the story line is that
Marlene Fanta Shyer tries to focus on too many major issues
that could each stand on their own as the prime theme.
Alcoholism or teenage pregnancy easily could have served as
the key focus, but by using a shallow glance at each
element, Ms. Shyer's novel fails to grip the audience.
Libby's first hand account at times can be intriguing, but
never quite pulls the audience into the deep emotional
trench that the characters find almost impossible to escape. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted April 12, 2002
|
