3.5 ( )

The first half of the book is told in the narrative voice of Dana, the secret daughter. This is a good choice as we understand that her mother is a good hard-working devoted mother and we learn her perspective of her father and Uncle Raleigh. She carries the storyline through to her turbulent teenage years and her desire to meet her sister. The narrative then changes to Chaurisse, the legitimate daughter of James and Laverne Witherspoon, who along with her mother, is totally unaware of the double life James is leading. It makes for an interesting scenario when the two girls become friends. An enjoyable read with a distinct African- American flavour. ( )

I liked the beginning and the premise of it a lot more than I liked the second half of it/the end of it (there wasn't really an end, tbh). I think it had the potential to be a really good novel and there were some really good moments. The characters were 3D and well developed. That being said, it didn't really feel like anything happened, even when things did happen. I got bored toward the end and kept checking how much I had left. I fell asleep reading it like four times. But good effort and writing. ( )

This is the 2nd book that I have read by Jones. As with "An American Marriage" it allows me an insight into the Black experience and makes it easier to understand the viewpoint of the world from that of people with different experiences and histories. This story concerns a bigamist James Witherspoon and how he deals with his 2 families. One is his wife and daughter and the other is his other relationship and the daughter. The difference is that the other woman Gwen and her daughter Dana know about Laverne(the wife) and Chaurisse the daughter. Dana and Chaurisse are the close in age and are the narrators of the book which is done in 2 parts. This is effective because you see things from both sides. The prose is excellent and you get the picture of a man, James) who wants everything. He gives what he can to Gwen and Dana but as the years go by it is not enough. Eventually the truth is exposed with not surprising consequences.I thought that James was the ultimate villain in what ended up in the story. Jones does not sugar coat this into a happy ever after but I did think the ending was abrupt. I do recommend this book and also " An American Marriage". ( )

Was fühlt ein Kind, das weiß, dass sein Vater sich nie offen zu ihm bekennen wird? Das mit dem Wissen aufwächst, zur Zweitfamilie zu gehören, und das Leben der Halbschwester und ihrer Mutter, der Erstfamilie beobachtet, in dem Wissen, dass deren Wünsche und Bedürfnisse immer an erster Stelle stehen werden? Wie ändert sich die Gefühlslage mit Einsetzen der Pubertät, wo die Eltern und ihre Handlungen und Entscheidungen nicht mehr hingenommen werden, ohne kritisch hinterfragt zu werden?

Eine interessante Ausgangsfrage für einen Roman, der hier aus der Sicht der Kinder geschildert wird - zunächst aus der Sicht der Zweittochter, dann aus der Sicht der offiziellen Tochter, die lange nicht weiß, dass sie tatsächlich nicht die einzige Tochter ihres Vaters ist.

Der Roman hat mich gefesselt, ich konnte mich gut in die beiden Mädchen hineinversetzen. Die Gefühlswelt der Erwachsenen blieb mir verschlossen, allerdings lag das im Wesentlichen daran, dass sie aus der Sicht der Mädchen geschildert wurden. Selbst die Ereignisse, die zu der Bigamie führten, schildert die Zweittochter so, wie sie sie von ihrem Umfeld erzählt bekommen hat.

( )