The Color Of Secrets by Lindsay Ashford

If I'm being entirely honest I found the whole book rather depressing.  Tragedy after tragedy gets heaped on this family and it did begin to wear me down.  There are moments of beauty and hope but whether it was just my general mood when reading making the tragedies stick in my mind or if they really are all prevalent I'm not sure.

The basic premise of the story is that it charts the story of two generations of one Midlands family from the second World War through to the 1970s.  It does capture the changes in society very well from a racial integration point of view and also covers attitudes to single parenthood, adultery and poverty.  Unfortunately, to do so it generally gives us a pretty bleak looking life with little in the way of brightness - except in a small Welsh village that seems rather excepting of difference.

There are no surprises in the book either, you can forecast precisely what is going to happen next and, it invariably does.  Not necessarily a bad thing.  What is a bad thing is that it tries to be a bit of a "sweeping saga" and fails, mainly because once we lose Eva's voice (to be replaced by her daughter Louisa) we really lose the heart of the book.  The sections dealing with interracial relationships are strangely bland, almost prettified for the reader, I suppose having read books contemporaneous to the opening period you expect a much harsher reaction to the issue of skin colour than is actually depicted.  There are some exceptions but generally it feels a little sanitised for a more modern reader - I do appreciate that there is a tough line to be drawn in dealing with these issues but that should be crossed in the nature of authenticity.

To be fair, the plot cannot really be discussed without giving away major spoilers.  Probably why this has snuck in as a solid 3 Star read rather than a little lower.