I’ve finished some books recently which each had a good dose of family drama going on. The stories took me to a yeshiva in Israel, a farm in Canada and the remote countryside of Northumberland.

First, my favorite read from the three was Who by Fire by Diana Spechler. I received this copy from the author but that didn’t influence my decision. Actually, all of the books were ARCs so there you go. Anyway, this story explores what happens to a family after a child is kidnapped. As years pass by how will each person develop and what will their relationships be like.

There are three main characters in the book, Ellie, the mother who wants to control her children, Bits, the daughter who has a wild streak, and Ash, the young man who clings to religion seeking answers. At times I wanted to yell at some of these characters and tell them to stop making such bad choices but ultimately these characters felt very genuine. They were flawed but they were just trying to find some comfort after their tragedy. The author also manages to throw in some interesting twists at the end which I really liked. This was really a great read and I recommend it, especially if you need a book for discussion, I think this would be perfect. Here’s my review.

However, I felt a little bit less sympathetic towards the characters in The Almost Archer Sisters by Lisa Gabriele. Two sisters will struggle to reconcile their relationship after one of the sisters, the wild one, crosses a line.

Peachy, the girl who married, is a mom to two boys and basically leads a normal life, thinks about getting some revenge on her sister but she’s got everyone telling her that her sister made a mistake. While I can understand issues of forgiveness when it comes to family. I mean, it’s family what do you do? I still couldn’t figure out why her sister acted the way she did. I did like the end however, and it made me feel a bit better about the resolution. Here’s my review.

Finally, the book I mentioned recently which started off as a blog, Wife in the North by Judith O’Reilly. The writer is a big city girl, specifically London. She loves the city, she has a successful career, friends, etc. but upon her husband’s urging the family, two boys and a baby on the way, moves to Northumberland.

There were some things I liked such as the descriptions of the country and the author’s honesty. The move was a big adjustment, and I would say especially for her because it seemed that her husband spent most of his time working in London and she was left on her own. But that honesty was sometimes a bit too much. I don’t know, but I can’t handle that much venting all the time. Here’s my review.

Have you read these books? What did you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts.