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Read Crossroads (2008)

Crossroads (2008)

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Genre
Rating
3.43 of 5 Votes: 1
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ISBN
0385336845 (ISBN13: 9780385336840)
Language
English
Publisher
random house publishing group

Crossroads (2008) - Plot & Excerpts

When Cassie Wright, heir to the foremost company in a thriving New England town adopts a child she names Gwendolyn, she also keeps a very big secret of the child's origins. Years later, once Cassie has established her abilities running the company and her daughter is in her teens, a jealous young woman turns their relationship upside down by what she reveals. Jewel Fairchild is from humble origins, but her beauty is her ticket into the world she desires. But her envy and jealousy motivate many of her actions, and in the end, will these qualities be her ruination? When she tells Gwen the story of her birth parents, is she doing so innocently? Or is their a more powerful and dark emotion governing her actions? For years, the lives of these three women continue to intersect in numerous ways until finally, years later, each of them arrives at various crossroads when decisions will move them in one direction or another, sometimes irrevocably altering each destiny. Belva Plain's characters are alive and real, with flaws and strengths, captivating the reader and pulling each of us in to these lives as they unfold. We root for one or another at certain points along the way, but the key to this story's strength lies in how each character elicits our empathy. We can understand how and why they behave the way they do, as the author unveils back story over a period of time. In the end, the women are all altered by their experiences, some of which have been horrific, but they stand tall in a newfound strength gleaned from their life lessons. "Crossroads" is an absorbing and entangling tale of greed, jealousy, and betrayal, and earns five stars for me.

I'm glad this was a short book. The plot was painfully predictable and boring. Maybe it's because the author looks like a Queen Mum wannabe, but it was completely devoid of any kind of edge, humor or excitement. It's based in modern times, but I may well have been reading something from the early 20th century based on how chaste the language and content is! Good lord, I'm an adult, give me a "grown up" book. I found the main characters to be as boring and dull as the story itself. This author seems to lack any ability to develop an interesting character with depth. It seem to me that the only way she thinks you can do so is to lay out their every though - at nauseum ... as if the reader is too stupid to read between the lines and understand them on their own. I really liked the ending ... and not the written ending, because it was possibly the most non-eventful ending I've ever read ... I just loved that I could stop reading it and move on to something worthwhile.

What do You think about Crossroads (2008)?

Gwen Wright, daughter of wealthy entrepreneur, Cassandra Wright, is introverted and holding a secret. Her chance meeting with Jewel Fairchild, beautiful,confident and making a meager living, kicks off a life-long feud that dramatically changes their lives both good and bad. I listened to the audiobook and at first thought this story was based in the early 19th century and later realized that it was a contemporary novel. It is interesting how this book could actually be interpreted in another time. I enjoyed this refreshing novel which didn't contain all the sex, drugs and violence that many contemporary books do.
—Sharon

READER WARNING: CROSSROADS by Belva Plain has also been published as RED LEAVES. The only differences being that the mother in Red Leaves is called Jean instead of Cassandra and Gwen's name is spelled Guin in Red Leaves. That being said, let me get on to the review. Similar in some ways to her earlier works Eden Burning, Random Winds and Evergreen but lacking in the skillfully balanced bittersweet insights and heartwarming truths that beguiled her readers and brought her a legion of devoted fans, this offering tells of relationships between mothers & daughters, husbands and wives and takes the reader into the world of dirty dealings, family secrets, nasty gossip while addressing the "grass is always greener in someone else's yard" variety of jealousy. Like Bernie Madoff, Tiger Woods and the Real Housewives of New York City the characters inhabiting the pages of CROSSINGS could just as easily occupy space on Page Six of the New York Post or appear as the "flavor of the week" in The National Inquirer. In short this book is more soap opera than literary masterpiece, and while it does do a passable job of whetting your appetite for the more provocative aspects of human nature it is definitely not of the caliber we have come to expect from Belva Plain.
—Sandie

As you are reading this book – you might be reminded of your favorite soap opera on TV because it reads something like a soap opera. There is a rich girl and a poor girl – the poor girl marries for money and the rich girl marries for love; and the lives of the two girls intertwine for years with loads of jealousy, betrayal, family secrets, nasty gossip, and dirty dealings. But with that beginning, let me say that it was as easy read and the anticipation of what might happen next kept me interested in reading. Although there is nothing deep or meaningful about this book, it did keep me interested in finding out how each of the characters would act as they each reach a Crossroad in their lives and have to make a decision on which path to take. I looked at other reviewers and many people thought the book was too predictable – I guess it was, but for filling up time while you sit waiting to see a Dr. or something similar, it filled the bill.
—Virginia Myers

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