Tolbecken

For five generations, dating from 1753, the ancestral home of the Tolbecken family had grown and the land had dwindled;  the house had become a mansion and the land a town block. By the end of the 19th century, not only the land, but the fortune of the Tolbecken family was diminishing, and, fiber by fiber, the roots were snapping, as the tree that supported their old life began toppling toward the earth. 

The patriarch of the family, Judge Rufus Tolbecken, has pinned a great deal of hope on his grandson, Jared, who struggles to find himself as he faces family and social expectations about where to go to school, what career to follow, what friends to choose, and how a gentleman behaves. Along the way, he and his French step-sister fall in love, yet marry other people and face life an ocean apart.  As the external trappings disappear, Jared and his family reshape former values, forge new bonds, and, in the end, become closer to each other and the voices of their own hearts.

There are several parallels between the events in this book and the life of Shellabarger himself.  Just like Jared, Shellabarger was raised by his grandparents, attended Princeton, and fought in World War I.  Because Shellabarger lived through these events, description of student life at Princeton prior to World War I, President Wilson and his antics after the war, and even the details of a ledger of a well-to-do family at the turn of the century are authentically and compellingly conveyed.

Modern readers may find the story a bit hammy and the plot predictable, but the book is a well-characterized, well-written family saga and, given a chance, the story might grab your heart, tighten your chest, and then breathe life back into you in the end.