IF SONS, THEN HEIRS

Multiple generations of an extended African-American clan grapple with racism, unfair land laws and each other in this multifaceted family saga.

Family may never be easy to maintain, but the Needhams have more than their share of complications. More than 20 years ago, Jewell (Needham) Thompson put her son on a southbound train and moved on to an affluent life with a wealthy white husband who helps her pass as white. That son, Alonzo Rayne, now 30, also came north to Philadelphia, but travels back to South Carolina to care for the grandmother who raised him—and to help keep up the old farm that she can no longer maintain. On this latest trip, he takes his girlfriend's 7-year-old son Khalil, who has recently started to call him "Dad," and a load of questions about whether he can commit to the boy and his mother. But the tentative reconnection of mother and son—prompted by the loving girlfriend who hopes to heal Rayne's family and her own—brings up a violent and hate-filled past. That legacy, along with outdated laws that may cost the Needhams their land, form the backbone of a complex tale of realistic adults trying to forge a livable present while coming to terms with their legacies. Cary (Pride, 1999, etc.) returns to some of the themes of her earlier books: the abandonment of children, perhaps for their own good, and the ways we knit family together—with great success. Jumping from viewpoint to viewpoint, the narrative remains lively and distinctive, and if some of the bombshells are easy to predict (particularly the tragedy of Rayne's uncle), they are still affecting. While racism and its long-lasting toll are constant themes, Cary never gets preachy.

A well-paced, entertaining novel woven of many strands that enlightens without becoming didactic.