Family Games - Hardcover

The story of a family reunion, told with wit and compassion by an accomplished novelist (Kelly Park, 1992, etc.). The 1980s have been a difficult decade for the Malpas clan, and when Blanche Malpas is invited to a traditional family Christmas by her mother, she is skeptical. She wonders why Sybil, self-made matriarch and martyr, continues her efforts to reunite a hopelessly irreconcilable group of relatives. Despite her doubts, Blanche takes her baby son to Minions, the family home in Cornwall. Also there are Tony, her imperious professor father, for whom Blanche's son, who was born out of wedlock, is a source of contention; Teddy, her sweet but weak-willed brother, and his children; and flighty Lydia, Blanche's sister, with her ``friend'' Freddie. Things begin calmly, if with a minimum of goodwill, but the quiet (along with Sybil's heirloom soup tureen) is broken upon the arrival of three uninvited guests: Daniel, the father of Blanche's son; Katrina, Teddy's estranged wife; and Aunt Tasha, Tony's itinerant twin sister. Tensions run high, and Sybil is hard- pressed to keep everyone happy--herself included. She exchanges harsh words with Tasha; Katrina and Teddy come to blows over the custody of their children; Blanche and Tony resume their long-waged war of wills. Revelations range from the unexpected to the startling, the most shocking of them related to the mystery of Blanche's parentage. Finally, there are the reconciliations: Sybil with Tony, Blanche with Daniel, Teddy to his divorce, Lydia with herself. Blanche and her father, acknowledging the inevitable complexity of relationships, manage to overcome their differences- -or rather their similarities--and discover their deep and abiding love. A poignant love story on many levels, with characters and relationships that are both multidimensional and believable. Stubbs treats the tale of a family's resurrection with delicacy and insight. (First printing of 40,000) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Funny, honest dialogue and a cozy, gossipy plot that is as complex and convoluted as real life make Stubbs's ( Kelly Park ) latest novel satisfying. Sybil Malpas invites her children and grandchildren to Cornwall to spend what, for a variety of reasons, may be their last Christmas together at Minions, the 17th-century farmhouse that has been their vacation home for nearly 40 years. The family assembles: headstrong daughter Blanche, an unwed mother, brings her infant son and temporarily abandons her feud with her father, the brilliant and irascible Anthony; recently separated son Edward, still reeling from his wife's departure, arrives with his two children; and beautiful, dependent daughter Lydia surprises the others by bringing a likable woman friend instead of another one of a parade of "moneyed and moronic" male beaux. At the close of the Malpases' impromptu Christmas Eve open house, three unexpected visitors appear, Magi-like, at the door. One is Natalie, Anthony's imperious twin sister; another is Katrina, Edward's estranged wife; the third is Daniel Kidd, the father of Blanche's child. Their arrival spurs the revelation of a number of the family's long-held secrets. Though their bold, outrageous gestures provide much of the tale's drama, curmudgeonly Anthony and his imperious sister are basically romantic caricatures, but this minor flaw is unlikely to keep readers from enjoying their antics or the more down-to-earth behavior of the other members of the captivating Malpas clan.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.