Daybreak

by Belva Plain

The doctor's office is cool, white, sterile. But the doctor's words are searing: blood tests prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Margaret and Arthur Crawfield's beloved, dying son is not their child. Now they must face Peter's death and the shock of having a son they have never met. Grieving, yet compelled, they begin a search that will tear two families apart.

Laura and "Bud" Rice share an elegant home and two children, brilliant, handsome Tom, and cherished, chronically ill eleven-year-old Timmy. But after nineteen years of marriage, Laura's respectable husband is a stranger—and the reason for Tom's escalating involvement with a group of campus bigots. Suddenly the Crawfields enter their lives and shatter their fragile world. As the Rices' quiet Southern town explodes with hate and violence, the two familes must embrace—or be destroyed by—the shattering truth.

Genres: Fiction, Romance, Drama, Novels, Womens Fiction, Adult, Jewish

480 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1994

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

[Bodosika Bodosika · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first book by Belva Plain and it was Good.It has to do with prejudice, racism,and identity and also family oriented.This author knows how to tell a story.

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost tossed this one, not sure what compelled me to pick it up, but I'm glad I did.
What I found was a well crafted small-town family drama about racism, prejudices, and identity. It does often take a turn toward the melodramatic, but I wouldn't expect anything less from a Belva Plain. This is definitely one of her better books,

[Lynn Geth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read almost all of the books that Belva Plain has written. I love the way she writes and this book is amongst her best. The story is timeless and gut wrenching. Good writing is if there is a character who is so disgustingly awful that you feel like killing them or so pitiful that it brings you to tears. That's what Belva Plain does. She makes her characters so real that they incite genuine feelings in the reader. I loved this book!

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This really should be 3.5 stars. Not quite a 4 star book, but I really enjoyed reading it.

[Aurélie Laské · Rating 4 out of 5]

Livre sympa, divertissant et qui fait un peu réfléchir. On sait pas comment on réagirait à la place des différents membres de la famille, vu qu’en plus ils sont tous hyper bien décrits et on a donc les idées et caractères de chacun. Il y a aussi tout qui s’oppose dans cette situation et c’est ça qui est hyper bien fait. Dur à expliquer, mais en vrai sympa. Et la fin était choquante et pose des vraies questions éthiques.

Seuls points négatifs : euh choquées par les morts, ils ont pas dosés (y en a que deux mais le deuxième était vraiment vraiment pas obligé ça brise le coeur) + le fils qui change d’avis ça s’est fait d’un coup, la transition était brutale, mais bon au moins elle s’est faite.

[Patricia Bourque · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say...This author, Belva Plain, really knew how to craft a story. Well developed characters, a strong plot line, unexpected twists and turns and a zinger of an ending. Not to mention that it's very apropos of what's going on in the news today. I've read many of her books and they've all been five stars. What a story-teller she was.

[Mum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps the most stunning thing about the novel was when it was published- 1995. There are a lot of dark issues in the book but I could not put it down. I’m still thinking about the book and wondering if it were set in the present, what would change.

[Rainbowgardener · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't love this book. It was well intentioned, trying to show what's wrong with racism and bigotry. Basically all the white racist, white supremacy characters turn out to be neo Nazis and or KKK members and despicable people. The African American and Jewish characters are saintly. The characters are kind of wooden stereotypes and the story is melodramatic and not very believable. Throw in a couple of saintly sick/ dying/ dead children to tug at your heartstrings and there you have it.

The basic plot driver is that 19 year old Tom and his parents suddenly discover that Tom is not biologically the child of his parents. He and another infant were switched at birth and no one ever knew until now. All kinds of grief, anger, hysteria, histrionics ensue and everyone starts turning their lives upside down. At one point Tom's mother, the one who has raised him since he was born, quite reasonably points out it is just like adoption which people do all the time. Tom says no, it's nothing like that. I don't see why not or why everyone couldn't just act as if the Rices had adopted Tom as a baby and now have found the bio parents and do whatever they would do in that case.

But of course, like his father, Tom is an anti Semite white supremacist and his bio parents are Jewish, so now he has to hate himself and experience being hated by all his erstwhile friends.

[Candy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! This is my kind of book, very well written.

[Lois · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was not one of Belva Plain's best. Her writing is superb, and there were plenty of riveting plot twists right up to the end. But the ending was too rushed and the theme of racism was too overt. Several strong themes were at play throughout: babies switched at birth, racism, cystic fibrosis, religion and politics. Four stars for how the author manages to juggle all of those effectively.

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book which, had it not been a book club book, I would not have picked up.

Skipping and skimming skills were valuable.

What an unexpected story. Another book on my summer 2011 list covered the web of connections, this book covered how families don't know each other. I didn't like Laura at the beginning of the book.

Young love - soul mates; bigotry; KKK; family...

What would you do if you found out your baby was swapped at birth? Nuture vs Nature. I think the Crawfield tried too hard. Bud would not beleive the situation - I expected there to be a death, I didn't expect it to be Bud - It created the opportunity for Laura and Ralph. I didn't feel bad that Bud faced a brutal end; his death and the cause for his evening meetings took me by great surprise - I felt bad that Earl (the dog) was part of the tragedy. I was hard to be sympathetic of Tom. He almost deserved his girl friend's (Robbie) rejection - unjust as it was. He was a good big brother, both to his sick little brother and he grew into his new younger sister.

How'd the babies get switched? I expected it to be an unknown mystery - again never expected the source - other readers may have made the prediction...

[Diana Nagy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seriously, is there a better author out there than Belva Plain? The last book I read of hers, titled Evergreen, became the best I've ever read in my life. This book....another great one. I just loved that every book of hers has the best story line you could possibly imagine. And there's always a good ending somewhere. This story was fantastic and so great....I can't possibly give it enough praise. Now I'm excited to read another one of many titles that I have on my shelves...I'm sure its going to be great as well! Daybreak....highly recommend!

[Lyndy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up at a free library and after reading the first couple chapters, the subject matter was so off-putting that I almost took it back. At the risk of having nothing to read on vacation though, I powered through and I'm glad I did. The story could have been written in today's climate and was very well told. I'd give five stars except for the beginning situation and how it was never really addressed as being wrong.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It is the story of a young man of 19 who, along with 2 sets of parents, finds out he was switched at birth. Lots of interesting dynamics as one set of parents is Jewish and the other set has ties to the KKK. The author kinds of wraps everything up too neatly but it was a great story.

[Marta Poludnik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the kind of book I usually read but it was the only book sitting around where I was at the time. It turned out to be very different from what I expected. The story was so captivating that I finished the book in a day. Good read indeed.

[Paige · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this book originally at 12(?) in a condensed Readers Digest format. It is a fascinating story with so many parallels to what is happening in the US (politically and racially) that I found my hand covering my mouth multiple times. Easy read, not light hearted but fascinating all the same.

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the worst books I've ever read.

[JANET · Rating 5 out of 5]

I REALLY ENJOYED THIS BOOK. IT HAD A LOT OF TWISTS AND TURNS AND DEALT WITH SOME VERY DIFFICLT SUBJECTS.

[Beni · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was very good. Interesting how one young man had to deal with a significant change in his history which brought about a significant change in what he believed about himself and others.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

New author for me, I will read more of her work.

[Cindy Wiedemer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to say this book surprised me. One main way is that it's a rare book that had me thinking about it when I wasn't reading. Mostly curious about what was going to happen, but also about the actual story. This book does delve fairly deep into the history of some of the characters which in the moment felt unimportant and a bit boring. However as I continued found why this background was relevant. I will say I did predict the ending long before I read it, mostly because 1 scene felt weird and out of place to the story. Perhaps most readers don't notice I of course have no way of knowing, but as I read beyond that scene my mind kept thinking on it and wondering what was the point, the ending explained it and I had guessed right. I am sadly fairly good at predicting endings in movies and books but sometimes it's a disappointment that I guessed correctly. Either way, this book was deep, thought provoking, interesting, well thought out, well written and as I mentioned, had me thinking about it when I wasn't reading. The themes could be upsetting to some, but it's an interesting perspective on humanity and what makes us who we are. I Definitely recommend it. I didn't give it 5 stars only because it's not one I would reread, but did enjoy it a lot.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book. A 19 y.o. and his parents, two sets of parents as it turns out, learn he was switched at birth. It's rare but it happens. A Jewish baby goes home with a Methodist family whose father is secretly a member of the Klan. The young man has already begun aligning himself with right wing causes. The mother is more to the left, a woman who loves and accepts everyone for who they are, no regard to race or religion. A younger son, age 11, has cystic fibrosis and is in and out of the hospital. The other baby, destined to soon be diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, goes home with the Jewish family, who are also extremely wealthy. This baby doesn't reach age 19, he does before then but died a faithful, practicing Jew. The book explores all the dynamics between the parents of different political persuasions, the young man who is anguished over learning he's Jewish plus he's in love for the first time, and the two sets of parents.

It had always been assumed the switch of the babies had been an accident, a careless mistake by a nurse. But in fact it wasn't, it was a deliberate switch. I did not see that end coming.

[Michelle Akers-dicken · Rating 3 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed the story told of the two families affected by their sons being switched at birth. There were a lot of twists and turns but I thought some of them were predictable.

In the end, I feel like Belva Plain's "Daybreak" was too cheesy for today's reader (and I tend to gravitate toward cheesy!). I also don't feel like she accurately described the "youth of the 1980's". The college aged students who were significant characters spoke and thought in the lingo of the 1940's or '50's making the story less than believable, for me. I guess I also don't remember race issues being as terrible between the Christian's and the Jewish or the Natzi American's (or is it the KKK?) versus the Jewish. I grew up in the 1980's and honestly didn't know these prejudices existed. I wasn't exactle kept in the closet either!

[Bowerbird · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a book to read when all the "Black Lives Matter" demos are going on! Although the story-line concerns the mix-up at birth of two baby boys, it highlights the problems of racism in the USA. (And the evils of racism continue to cause so much trouble not just in the States but world-wide.)
Prejudice against Jews as well as blacks has damaged the otherwise well respected characters in the story. It rears its ugly head at the college attended by Laura and Bud's son, Tom. Threatening notes are distributed anonymously. Newspapers filled with hateful bias are printed and Tom is one of the contributors. Meanwhile Laura's concern seems to go unheeded. Of course it all starts to come to a climax as the mix-up is eventually discovered. Maybe the ending is a bit too carefully tied up, but this is certainly a book worth reading.

[Luka Onee-san · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book talks about racist topics and shows how racist people can go to extreme.
I was a bit scared to pick up this book, because I cannot stand child abuse, loosing child and every bad thing happening to the child. But since we had "children" being 19 years old, well, I actually enjoyed the story.
I loved Belva's "Karma served cold". I seriously enjoyed when Jew hater found out he was Jew himself. And then got annoyed at people he didn't want to see just shoving themselves in his face. That was most annoying part. And I didn't like "Killing somewhat bad husband" idea so the mother who has different political views should get a husband "she deserves". That was... just Yuk. Really, the couple agreed on everything except political views and the author decided she will kill the husband, so the woman can get a man with same political views as she. But again, who am I to judge?
Other than that, the book was very much enjoyable.

[Andrea George · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my New Year's resolutions is to read more of the books on my tbr list. I found "Daybreak" by Belva Plain at the semi-annual "Friends of the Library" book sale. I've enjoyed previous novels written by Belva Plain, and "Daybreak" was no exception! Even though this novel was originally published in 1994, the plot, characters, and setting are still relevant in 2025. There are families that go through life with secrets, beliefs, feelings toward others, and hatred amongst themselves, that is not always apparent to outsiders. "Daybreak" is such a novel. Ms. Plain has a marvelous talent of connecting her characters and weaving a story that has her readers engaged from the first page to the last.

[Mariana Fuentes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Le di esta puntuación a este libro, ya que la lectura fue muy agradable, rápida y fácil; su redacción es buena y resuelve y da explicación a todos los problemas a lo largo de la historia, es decir, no deja nada inconcluso. La autora de este libro Belva Plain es descendiente de judios que emigraron desde Alemania, esto se ve reflejado en el libro ya que una de las familias tiene esta misma procedencia. El libro en mayor parte me hizo sentir rabia, debido a la forma de ser de uno de sus protagonistas, ya que tenía una forma de pensar que no era capaz de aceptar algo diferente, llegaba muchas veces a ser hiriente.

[Karry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was dubious about this book; I had never read anything by the author. However, it was such a wonderful surprise. If you like twists and turns this is the book for you. It starts out with one woman and her husband, it then moves to a completely different woman and her life story and they connect in a most unusual way. Then there's another twist and yep, another twist and then there's a wallop of an event that sends the reader spinning. It's a wonderful read and I'm so glad that I jumped on the train and took the ride.

[Linda Griffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an easy to read book and I like Belva Plain’s writing. The time setting seemed off. It seemed like the 60’s. The switched babies was believable but being married to a Klan member for so long and not knowing it seems hard to believe. Even what Bud openly shared with Laura was not compatible with her values so don’t understand how she would even marry him. There were some things that didn’t seem believable but acceptable for a story.

[Angie · Rating 1 out of 5]

We recently moved and at our new house, we do no have the bookshelf space we had before. So I am working on boxes of books from my garage and trying to go through some of the books I have had for a long while but never read. Belva Plain books are some I am working through. I don't know where I got these books, but I would like to give them back in order to get rid of them. In this book, the main female is married to someone who joined the Klu Klux Klan. Really???? Do not waste your time....