The Senator's Children
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3.5 • 4 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
"It's hard to look so deeply into other people's lives that you really understand them, except perhaps through fiction, and that is what Montemarano has done here, with deftness and subtlety." —The New York Times
In a country that loves second chances, are some transgressions simply unforgivable?
Sisters Betsy and Avery have never met, but they have both spent their lives under the scrutiny of prying cameras and tabloid journalists. Their father, David Christie, was a charismatic senator and promising presidential candidate until infidelity destroyed his campaign and his family’s life. In the aftermath, Betsy grieves her broken family, while Avery struggles with growing up estranged from her infamous father yet still exposed by the national spotlight. Years later, as David’s health declines, Betsy and Avery are forced to face their complicated feelings about him—and about each other. With delicacy and empathy, Nicholas Montemarano brings these sisters together in a parallel of grief and grace.The Senator’s Children brilliantly distills the American family under pressure.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In the extravagant latest from Montemarano (The Book of Why), charismatic Pennsylvania senator David Christie has a brief affair while campaigning for president, and the exposed liaison forces him to quit the political scene. Stakes are further raised when his mistress becomes pregnant. David's family was already shaken seven years prior to his infidelity when his wife, Danielle, an alcoholic, got in a drunken car accident, killing their 16-year-old son. David and Danielle's 10-year-old daughter, Betsy, then became the glue that holds the family together. Even more drama happens as Danielle gets cancer and David develops Parkinson's, eventually moving to a nursing care facility. Betsy and her half-sister Avery, David's child with his mistress, have been aware of each other all their lives but have never met. Betsy has been damaged by a life in the headlines; Avery, who only knew her father from afar and had a mother both excited and bitter about her situation, is visiting David in the home but keeps her identity secret. Montemarano contrives yet another crisis to bring the two sisters together. The predictable result of their meeting is followed by the inclusion of a final scene from an idyllic day in 1977, seven years before the fateful car accident started the Christie family's decline. This final scene is unnecessary, and a confusing conclusion to the story.
