Her Father's House

by Belva Plain

A young woman must come to terms with the fact that the beloved father who raised her is also the man who kidnapped her from her mother's home when she was a little girl.

Genres: Fiction, Romance, Chick Lit, Adult Fiction, Mystery, Family, Contemporary

390 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Belva Plain was a best-selling American author of mainstream women's fiction. Her first novel, Evergreen (1978) topped the New York Times bestseller list for 41 weeks and was made into a TV miniseries. At her death, there were over 30 million copies of her twenty-plus novels in print in 22 languages.

Reviews

[Diane Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read! An interesting and traumatic story but there were times i did wonder about the writing style...(paperback!)

[Kristen B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was not at all what I expected. My mother recommended it to me, and even gave me her copy to read. It sat on my to-read bookshelf for years. I guess I have learned my lesson...never judge a book--or your mother--by its cover. Wow! I know my mom tends to enjoy sentimentally sweet, somewhat predictable, feel-good stories...kind of like the ones you read at Christmas, or like a Hallmark movie. She also enjoys Christian fiction. So having those things in the back of my mind, in picking up this book and reading the title (Her Father's House...that sounds like it could be her Heavenly Father's house, right?) and in looking at the portrait of the author on the back dust cover, I just made an assumption. A silly assumption.

This is a wonderfully written, engrossing tale about a man who falls hard and fast for a charming beauty in New York City. He's a lawyer who is quickly making a name for himself, climbing the ladder of success, and so forth. Lillian seems to be a perfect match for him, and his life is charmed. Soon Lillian becomes pregnant and things start to fall apart...and he starts to question whether he really knows his wife at all. After some shocking revelations and careful planning, he makes a decision that will change his life--and the life of his child--forever.

The characters are more than believable; it's like they're your own friends, acquaintances, or family members. Belva Plain has extraordinary insight into the human mind and human nature. She writes it and you feel it, you see it, you're there. I felt Donald's pride, his astonishment, his shame, anger, fear, and hope. And I couldn't wait to find out how the story would end. Once I realized this novel was not going to be Christian fiction, I assumed it was a romance. Nope, not that either. I guess the best category for it is general fiction. Very good, general fiction. In looking up information on Mrs. Belva Plain, I learned that she died just a few years ago, at the beautiful age of 95. She wrote many, many novels, of which 22 were New York Times Best-sellers. I am most definitely interested in reading a few more of Mrs. Plain's gems. And I'm starting to wonder if I really even know my mother at all. :) 4.5 stars from me.

[Kira Nerys · Rating 2 out of 5]

Inheriting this from a friend's grandmother who was weaning down her collection, I knew from the start it wasn't my preferred genre of book. I told a friend about it as I was reading and she compared it to a soap opera, which is to say, I think Plain must be a wonderful author to people who love this type of fiction. As for me, I was disgruntled that the back cover implied the daughter would narrate the story, frustrated that the first half of the book portrayed a marriage that was obviously a bad idea from the start, and perplexed that the whole book evoked an earlier time than when it was set. I also struggled with some very old-fashioned ideals and morals ingrained in the story. On the other hand, I was very eager to learn how everything would end, and the entire novel maintained a suspenseful tone. It's not my cup of tea, and I wanted to note why so I'd remember in the future, but it was fun to dip my toe in this type of writing again.

[Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I put it down on page 46. I'm sorry to say it, but what drudgery!

This book (at least in the first 3 1/2 chapters) feels like 95% tell and only 5% show. 95% exposition and only 5% dialogue and action. Maybe it changes, but I couldn't hang in there long enough to find out.

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. It was different than books I usually read, but it was good.

[Chloe (Always Booked) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first time reading Belva Plain and I think she's just not for me. There was nothing bad about this book but I felt the writing style was hard to get through and made the book really slow. This was a 400 page book that could have been much shorter and succinctly written. I did feel for the main characters wanted to see a happy ending, so she did that well, I just felt like the plot moved so slow and it was not smooth reading. I thought Laura was annoying as an adult and I didn't like reading from her perspective nearly as much as her dads. Overall, if you're a fan of Belva Plain or more classically written historical fiction, I would recommend this one. If you're more of a contemporary fan, maybe not.

SPOILERS AHEAD:
This book is about a man named Donald Wolfe marries a beautiful party girl named Lillian. They have a daughter together and quickly realize they are not a good match. She is fast paced and wants to live the high life with glamorous parties, etc. He is a man content with a quiet family life. They split and he's not much of a father but then he bonds with the nanny and hears how neglectful Lillian is being to their daughter. So he decides to kidnap her, give them both new names, and try to start a new and better life for them. His new name is Jim and the daughter's new name is Laura. This is where the book could've ended honestly. Why didn't he just do it the legal way and build a case against Lillian? He was a lawyer so it could easily be done but instead he chose to steal her and live a life of worry and secrets.
Anyway, he met a girl on the train that gave him her name and number and said if he ever needed anything to call because she and her husband had a farm. Long story short, he ends up going to that town with Laura and befriends the woman, her husband and son, Ricky. He makes a place for himself in the town and establishes a reputation as a kind, compassionate man. The husband eventually dies and he and the woman get together. Because Ricky has always called her mom, so does Laura. They get married and Laura calls Jim and the woman mom and dad just like a normal family. She does know that she's not her real mom, but Jim makes up a story about who her real mom is. His new wife knows about his secret and helps him by getting a picture out of a stock photo album and they give it to Laura and tell her that's her mom. Jim lives in paranoia and worry that he will be found out but years go by and he's in the clear.
Flash forward and Laura is an adult, engaged to a law student named Gilbert. She is a med student and is very smart and beautiful. I thought she was really annoying. Her perspective is told through journal entries and I just didn't care about her life. She and Ricky had a weird love affair multiple times (even though they were step siblings and grew up together as such- she was 2 when they became a family). I was so weirded out and thought the taboo-ness of this should've been addressed.
In the end, Gilbert finds out the family secret and sells the story to the press. The press starts hounding her and she is furious because she never knew. Jim is taken to jail and faces 20-30 years for kidnapping. At first Laura wants to meet her mom and is hateful toward Jim and his wife but then she comes around realizes her mom sucks and she had a great family. Lillian has been married and divorced multiple times, climbing her way up the ladder and not really caring about anyone on the way. There's some time spent in the trial and all that, but tons of character witnesses come forward and say how much Lillian is neglectful and Jim/ Donald is awesome and so he gets off. Laura also breaks up with Gilbert because she realizes they're not a good fit (not because he completely betrayed her and sold her out for a little self recognition) and I think she and Ricky will probably end up together.
I loved Jim and wanted him to be okay. He was naive and stupid and didn't seem nearly as educated as you'd expect from a lawyer, but I still liked him. Gilbert was a douche and Laura should've left him as soon as she found out, but Laura was annoying. I don't think the story was very believable, but I'm not mad I read it.

[Danthony74 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good. It is just that it takes Belva Plain 400 pages to say what could have been said in 200 pages

[Jo-Ellen Lampere · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another good story by Belva Plain...her family stories are a joy to read.

[Debbie Koester · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Her Father's House" by Belva Plain. Donald Wolfe marries this "perfect" woman only to discover she's not. They divorce, but she has his child. He realizes she doesn't take good of their child and he takes the child and makes a new life.

[Wei Cho · Rating 1 out of 5]

It seems like I am a terrible romance-book picker. So far, there isn't anyone that I had like. And this one goes into the lot too. The premise for the story sounds interesting, a teenager discovers that her father was the one who kidnapped her from her real mother because she was unfit for both of them. Sounds okay, but the reasons leading to this conclusion are somewhat illogical and nonsensical.

First of all, why would Donald take his wife to a party where there are beds in the garden or something. Doesn't make sense. Anyway, the wife only wanted wealth and fame, nothing else. She didn't love her husband nor anything else, just money. And she's pregnant and the father decides to take the baby girl away and raise her in secret with a loving step-mother.

It is a tender story of acceptance, love, and honesty. But it was told in such a sluggish pace that I quickly lost interest in the book. I felt it was more of telling than showing. There was no dialogues or actions from the characters. Sometimes I wonder if the characters were doing anything at all while I was reading through the nonstop enormous chunks of paragraphs that described things or situations, and especially tried to explain what the scene was about. Who would not get bored at this rate? But yeah, I finally finished reading the book and the ending dissatisfied as much as the beginning.

[Tamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

It has been years since I have read a book by Belva Plain. A friend of mine loaned me the book and I am so glad that she did. I must make sure to read more of Belva Plains books in the near future. This story is about a young, successful man that falls madly in love with a beautiful but very deceptive woman. They marry and he soon learns that she is nothing but a fake, trying only to climb the ladder to wealth. As time passes she becomes pregnant and during the pregnancy he feels less and less like he knows this woman he married. Prior to the baby's birth they divorce and a beautiful baby is born. He is allowed visitation and does so. In time he learns through a wonderful nanny that the child is not being taken care of. He learns that his ex wife who is now remarried, is having affairs and is never home. Over time he comes up with a plan to take his daughter away from this uncaring woman. He had met a woman on a train in NYC shortly before he makes his plan and decides that they will go there. It is a small out of the way town and no one should find them. As the story unfolds, we learn more and more what a terrible person this woman is. He has to create a life for himself and his daughter and he makes a great one for them. This story makes you want to read more and more. Highly recommended.

[Meghan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had high expectations for this book and was severely disappointed. The plot was very promising, about a daughter who discovers, as an adult, that her loving and devoted father had kidnapped her when she was two. One of the major problems with the book is that she was still two years old half way through the story.

This book had a lot of potential, but the author ruined it on so many levels. In fact, for those interested in writing, it was a helpful read on what NOT to do, because there were so many various, differing examples of poor writing. After about half way through the story, when I had accepted the fact that the book was a let down, I paid close attention to the flaws for my own purposes, and that was the only reason why I finished it.

[jeffrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting premise is ruined by bloated and leaden prose, sluggish pacing, telegraphed events, unbelievable characters and lazy writing. As one reviewer said, the whole story could have been told in half the length. The writer all too frequently begins sentences, "Still...", "On the other hand....", "yet...."

[Meghan Pellerin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un des plus beau livre que j'ai lu.
J'en suis restée marquée et je le relirai c'est certain.

[Jeanette · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sad, heartwarming story that will keep you reading into the night. Donald Wolfe, a successful New York attorney, marries the beautiful and captivating Lillian Morris after a short courtship. Soon he finds that Lillian has many secrets and as they come out Donald begins to realize marriage to her is unbearable. By now they have a daughter, Bettina, are divorced, and Lillian has married an older, wealthier man. His visits to his daughter only occur on Sunday afternoons in the park with the nanny, Maria. As Lillian climbs the social ladder she spends little if any time with Bettina. Maria confesses to Donald that Lillian neglects Bettina and cheats on her husband. Soon she is divorced and on to another man. When she is involved in a car accident while coming home from a party, with Bettina in the car, Donald decides to take matters into his own hands. Giving up everything he has, including his identity, he takes Bettina, now two years old, with him as they venture across the country to settle in a small town in Georgia. AS the years go by, Donald, now known as Jim, is constantly looking over his shoulder, as the search for Bettina, now called Laura, has continued. Eventually his past catches up with him. Does Bettina, now a medical school student, return to her mother? Does Donald go to prison and lose the new, wonderful life he has built? You must read the book to find out. It is Belva Plain at her best.

[Jessica DeWitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Belva Plain was one of my favourite authors when I was a teenager, and it has been quite a while since I've read one of her books. I was immediately reminded of what a good writer Plain is when I opened this book. However, I did find the first half of the book, when she is building the relationship between Lillian and Donald, to be much better than the second half of the book. Spoilers ahead...
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I didn't care for the way in which the end of the book focuses so much on Lillian's sexual and dating activity rather than on the fact that she was negligent, seemingly uninterested in motherhood, and neglectful. Three men writing about how they didn't approve of her sex life and thus she was unfit mother made me cringe. Lillian could have dated around and slept with dozens of men and still be a good mother, that wasn't why she wasn't a good mother and that wasn't why Donald kidnapped Bettina.

At least, at the very end, Plain returns to thinking about Lillian as a complex human who had a reason for the choices that she made. I would have loved to learn more about Lillian's perspective.

[Gloria Piper · Rating 5 out of 5]

The girl doesn’t know until she is an adult that her parents are not who they seem. Her mother, thought dead, isn’t. Her father, thought pristine, isn’t. The shock of the news hits her with such force she feels betrayed and doesn’t know who to blame. A quiet simple life has unraveled, and nothing will ever be the same. The tale is told by the girl and by her father.

I love how the author treats these characters. Though they vary from the lovable to the despicable, she portrays them with understanding and compassion. There is a realistic tenderness to her writing but also a strength and energy that pulls us into the story and keeps us engaged. Her approach is refreshing, leaving one feeling clean after the telling. It gives me the image of a great movie that’s born to be a classic.

[Monica · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the weirdest books I've ever read. The author seems to want to justify a parent (the father) kidnapping his child from her mother ( his wife) whom he has judged to have questionable morals). The entire plot (which is basically a cover-up of a kidnapping) is rife with self righteous anecdotes by the kidnapping Dad and a sophomoric narrative tone regarding both the aftermath of improprieties by wealthy ladies with minds of their own, and how sheltered and orphaned (though quite fraudulently) farm girls can make it big in the big city. Crazy...wont be picking up another Belva Plain book, I'm certain.

[Deda · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars. I enjoyed the storyline in this book, but there are three main reasons why this book only gets 3 stars from me: the title, the writing style, and the editing. The title implies a spiritual or inspirational read, but it is not. Although I greatly appreciated the lack of foul language and the avoidance of descriptive sex scenes, the writing style fell flat for me. The editing was a distraction throughout the book. This book was recommended to me by a patron who warned me the title & cover don't fit the book so I may have been expecting a more gripping read when it's more of a slow burn.

[Sally Jennings · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was completely drawn in by this tale about a man who fell in love with a person he had just met only to discover after marriage that she was nothing like he thought. Her ideas of life so different from hi and her morals leaving much to be desired.
A pregnancy, a divorce,and finally falling in love with his baby girl.
For several reasons he feels his child is in a very bad environment.
The story was well written and enjoyable. A father’s willingness to give up a great law career to protect his child.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Growing up in a small farm community, Donald is dazzled with life in New York City as a lawyer. He falls in love with Lillian and they have a child. The couple divorces and Donald wants their child to grow up in a moral atmosphere, which is far from Lillian's life style. Donald plans and executes a kidnapping of his child and they form a new life in a farming community. The child grows up to became a medical student where she meets Gil, a lawyer, who discovers their past and tells the district attorney. Full of lies, emotions, loyalty -- this novel will touch the reader's heart.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Donald Wolfe is an up and coming lawyer with a bright future ahead of him. After a whirlwind Romance he marries someone he believes is the Girl of his dreams. They have a beautiful child together. The marriage then begins to fail. Donald has a difficult decision to make, one that will change not only the rest of his life, but that of his child as well, but he feels he has not other choice.
While this was a good story it was not one of Belva Pain's better books.

[Ginny Thurston · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the writing in this book... especially the descriptions. Most of the plot involved more angst than I really wanted, but by the third section, I could not put it down. The ending left too many questions unanswered, but I will not go into details...do not like to spoil a book. The first person narrator switched with the third person narrator was a bit jarring at times, and when the diary was thrown into the mix, it became a bit tedious.

[Karen Grimes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. But, you must get past the first 100 pages for the exciting parts to emerge. There are many twists and turns that grab you so that you feel compelled to keep reading to find out what happens. It’s a love story, a family story and a mystery that threatens to tear a family apart. Belvia has done it again and created a story that gets harder and harder to ignore once you have bonded with her characters.
I will continue reading her.

[Barbara Dutton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this book. The narrator was ok.

This was my first book by this author since I was very young. I remember enjoying her early books.

I don’t get the ending. While the book dragged on and on a bit, the ending seemed rushed. Did the dad get sentenced to jail? Why didn’t the daughter reunite with her birth mother. What happened to the girl’s fiancé? Did they remain engaged? And, if so, how could she? Or did she begin to date her stepbrother?

I also don’t understand the title.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't think I'd like this book, but it grew on me. I'm a sucker for books about really good people who make tough moral choices. In this case, a successful NYC lawyer gives up his career to make sure his daughter has a good upbringing. His act of love changes his, and his daughter's, life. The ending was satisfying and even included some sympathetic insight into the woman he was so desperate to rescue his daughter from. A good read.

[Jennie Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I really enjoyed the storyline of Her Father’s House—it’s compelling, emotional, and full of moral dilemmas about love, loyalty, and truth. That said, it’s clear the book was written in a different era, and some of the perspectives and dialogue feel dated by today’s standards. Still, the heart of the story and the way Belva Plain draws you into her characters’ lives kept me turning the pages.

[Ann Hill]

Lilian and Donald met and got married. However they were very different and the marriage did not last. Lilian was pregnant when they got divorced. Donald was not too interested in his daughter at first until he kept meeting up with daughter and her nanny in the park. A bond formed . Donald though was distressed when he heard tales of his former wife and the neglect of his daughter. Desperately Donald ran away with his daughter. They had a good life together until the past caught up.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has been a long while since I have read a Belva Plain novel. Still love her style. When Bettina's father learns his toddler is being neglected he kidnaps her and starts a new life far away. The family is always conflicted with the lie they live and after years the gig is up. He is arrested and their world falls apart. No spoilers here.

[Taylor Segen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read Belva Plain years and years and years ago. I found this particular novel I had not read and it took about 60 pages for me to get back into the groove of Plain's style. then I started to again enjoy her work. Although her work isn't all that old, it still has a feel of better days when social responsibility and ethical standards meant something.