Erin's Reviews > The Wakefield Legacy: The Untold Story

I can’t not give this five stars. I read this, plus its companion novel, over and over again as a teen and young adult. I love how it depicts the flow of history: one generation leading to the next with major historical events acting as mere background noise to the more immediate family drama. Combined with the companion novel, I began to see the complexity and coincidence of history, which proceeded to shape my entire life.

It’s probably been twenty years since I last read this. And yet I remember each person’s story - the estranged family members, the circus, the out-of-wedlock pregnancy, the jazz clubs, the world wars, the near-drownings. And what’s more, I remembered the other book, too. Shadows of that other genealogical tale have been lurking in my memory all this time.

And despite the breathy descriptions of all the beautiful characters, and the insta-love relationships, I am pleasantly surprised by how much I still enjoyed this. Superficial beauty notwithstanding, there are some strong women featured here, one who works as a journalist while her husband is out of work, a single mom who raises her son on her own, an eighteen-year-old POW. And issues of standing up for what you believe in and fighting for what’s right are sprinkled throughout the book.

There was also rather a lot of death.

My deepest thanks to Marianne who shares my appreciation for these books and who found this one long after my own copy was lost.