THE WHITTAKER FAMILY REUNION

THE WHITTAKER FAMILY REUNION
Author: Shirley A. Roe
Copyright 2008
Real Time Publishing, Limerick, Ireland
ISBN: 978-1-906806-51-4
Trade Paperback $15.95
199 pages
Historical Fiction

To become a memorable family living in the St. Louis, Missouri area in 1881 requires luck, hard work, courage, loyalty, and a commitment to living each day to the fullest. These are the qualities you see in almost every member of the Whittaker family.

The book revolves around Martha and Jeremy Whittaker who are looking forward to the reunion of their family. Martha is really the step-mother of the three grown men, Abraham who is coming from Mississippi, Ezekiel who is returning from England, with Isaac who lives with his wife and children nearby. Through an arranged marriage, Martha married their father, who later was killed. Martha established a strong relationship with the boys who all respected and loved her. Eventually, Martha remarried. To complicate the family though, she married her former husband’s brother and then gave birth to a daughter, Anna. This is their story and involves their extended families, joys, and problems.

THE WHITTAKER FAMILY REUNION is actually the third book in a series following the books, OF DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES and A CALL TO FAITH AND FREEDOM. This book does work as a standalone but it does rely somewhat on events and characters from previous books. Sometimes the number of characters in the chapters seemed to be a bit much, but it is understandable if the characters’ stories were in the previous books. Also, this particular book ends with a cliffhanger, requiring you to want to continue to read the next book in the series which should come out some time this year.

Shirley A. Roe spends her time traveling with her husband while researching for her novels. She lives and travels between Southern Ontario, Scotland, and Florida.

The novel was well-written and the story is quickly read. The characters are believable and the pacing is quick. The historical events seemed realistic and the time period was accurate. Overall, THE WHITTAKER FAMILY REUNION is an enjoyable and memorable book to read. I look forward to reading the previous two novels and the next one in this series.