Her Daughter's Dream

August 16, 2010
The concluding part of a multigenerational saga by Rivers (Her Mother's Hope) extends to the present day a family story that ultimately includes five generations of women. As the tale opens in the 1950s, Hildemara, a nurse, and her daughter, Carolyn, perpetuate a pattern of secret keeping, a communication failure that also characterized Hildie's relationship with her mother, the Swiss-born, ambitious Marta. The conflict and social experimentation of the 1960s draw Carolyn away from her family, and the cycle of family dysfunction repeats itself as Carolyn gives birth to and raises her own daughter, May Flower Dawn, who in her turn grows up and marries, hoping not to repeat the familial past. Rivers has written another page-turner, yet the sequel is not as successful as the earlier novel, which centered around the compelling character of Marta and took time to narrate events and make subordinate characters interesting. Nonetheless, this heartfelt and sweeping saga is as ambitious as its central matriarch and will sell well.

August 1, 2010

In Her Mother's Love, Rivers tells the story of Marta Schneider, a young woman who leaves her home in Switzerland to forge a new life in America. This sequel focuses on Marta's descendants. When Marta's daughter, Hilde, is quarantined with tuberculosis, Marta moves in to care for her granddaughter, Carolyn. The two form a special bond, even as tensions arise between Marta and Hilde. When a family tragedy threatens Carolyn's newfound freedom as a college student in San Francisco, she disappears for two years, returning home later with a daughter of her own, determined to help heal the deep hurt that has plagued her family for years. VERDICT Librarians new to the genre should become familiar with this popular and best-selling CF author. Her latest will appeal to those readers who like "clean" fiction with a romantic tone and well-developed characters, as well as those who enjoy family sagas.

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2010
Best-seller Rivers completes the five-generation Christian family saga she began in Her Mothers Hope (2010). Its 1951, and Hildemara is back in the hospital with recurring tuberculosis, so her mother Marta moves in to care for her grandchildren Charlie and Carolyn. Charlie is the light of their lives while Carolyn is neglected, with unfortunate consequences in her college years, including alcoholism and pregnancy. Single, unemployed, and with a baby to raise, Carolyn moves back home, where the past repeats itself. Her mother lays down the law for her daughter and takes over her granddaughter Dawns care, selfishly arranging matters to suit herself and pushing Carolyn away, much as her mother had abused her. It isnt until Dawn is an adult, heavily pregnant and missing her beloved army husband, who is serving in Iraq, that she realizes how each new generation of women has hurt her forebears. With her stepfather and mother-in-laws help, Dawn resolves to stop the vicious cycle. The concluding book in Rivers drama examines mother-daughter relationships in the context of faith, juxtaposed against a backdrop of world events.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)