The Year that Everything Changed

August 22, 2011
The latest from Bockoven (Things Remembered) offers vibrant characters and a contrived plot. Dying of cancer, wealthy businessman Jessie Reed wants to find the four daughters he abandoned and explain why he left them. He enlists the help of his attorney, Lucy, to find daughters Elizabeth, Rachel, Ginger, and Christina, so that he can see them before he dies. Despite their reunion, Jesse dies before he can explain himself. However, Lucy (who was in love with Jessie) had asked him to tape his life story so she could know him better. Risking her legal license, Lucy tells the sisters that Jessie's will gives them each $10 million, but only if they meet once a month for the next six months to listen to the tapes. Though they never knew of each other's existence before, the sisters agree, hesitantly bonding with each otherâand the man who left themâwhile struggling with their children, husbands, and lovers. Given the staggering sums of money involved and the bland secondary male characters, the book lags at times. That said, readers will find the daughters captivating.