(56)The Good Father by Diane Chamberlain

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

The Good Father 
by Diane Chamberlain 

Publication Date: April 24, 2012
Pages: 384


Diane Chamberlain is one of those authors that is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.  Her novels are so thought out, so well written, that I always find myself emotionally invested in the characters.

The Good Father is her newest novel and will suck you in so fast, you won't know what hit you.

Travis became a father at the age of eighteen.  He did not plan on becoming a father at such a young age and he certainly did not plan on being a single father, ever.  But he would rather be a single father raising his daughter than seeing her be adopted by a family that may or not love her.  Being a single father is tough, but he has his mother helping him out with childcare and they live with her, giving young Bella a happy childhood even though her mother is not in her life.  Tragedy strikes and on the same day Travis loses his job, his mother dies while saving Bella from a fire that also leaves them homeless.  The promise of a job leads Travis and Bella to Raleigh, where they meet Erin.  A woman recovering from her own tragedy. When the job falls through Travis becomes desperate, he is willing to do whatever it takes to feed and clothe his daughter, but is it enough to put a roof over their head.  Will the risk he takes tear apart the tenuous hold that he has normality?  Will it land him in jail or worse?


It is rare that we read about single Father's in Women's Fiction.  Maybe it is because the authors obviously gear their stories towards women. But I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed Travis.  He was a young man who was trying so hard to do the right thing while fighting the incredible odds against him.  Yes, he made a few stupid choices, but once he realized how stupid they were he desperately tried to rectify them.  The end of The Good Father was somewhat predictable, but no more so than you will find at the end of any Picoult novel.


I am not sure exactly what it is that causes me to love Diane Chamberlain's books more than Jodi Picoult.  They essentially use the same formula, chapters told from alternating prospective.  There is usually a moral dilemma of some kind in each of their stories, yet for some reason I find Chamberlain's books to be so much more enjoyable.  Bottom line, if you are looking for a good book that will tug on your heartstrings without being excessively syrupy, well then I recommend any novel by Diane Chamberlain, but especially The Good Father.

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