This is one of those books I wanted to love. I have been trying to expand what I read and read more diversely. I love when a book sweeps me away to a new place and teaches me about a new culture. Unfortunately that, among other things, was missing for me in this book. The Golden Child is the story of twin brothers, Paul and Peter. One is loved and looked upon favorably. The other is an after thought. And one day he goes missing.

For me this story never really took off. I kept reading, hoping for a connection. It was a compelling concept. I look forward to discussing it with my book club. But I felt like the ending was rushed and the author didn’t give me time to digest it before the book ended abruptly. I ended up giving this book 2 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
How far will a parent go to protect ones’ child. What if you have 13 year old twin boys who have very different needs? Does a parent choose to advance one over the other? That is one of the questions that Clyde and Joy are asked to make in Golden Child by Claire Adam. Rural Trinidad, a meager house on stilts, an area with high crime and low opportunity for many. This is where Peter and Paul, twin boys grow up. Peter is beyond his years in intelligence and on the path to going to a great American school if the cards play in his favour. His brother Paul had a difficult birth and likely has a learning disability to contend with. Fewer choices lie in Paul’s future and he has been reminded of this his whole life. One day, Paul doesn’t return home after a day out. Suspicions abound in regards to what has happened and what actions should be taken. How the family approaches this decision affects the family forever.

Golden Child is a beautiful but heart-rending story with some of the most affecting language I’ve read in a while. I know it’s only January but I expect this book to be on my top lists of 2019.

Golden Child was chosen as one of Book of the Month's Club and is completely deserving of this honor. It explores the themes of family betrayal which all readers can likely relate to in a unique and amazing setting. Be prepared for lots of local dilect, but it really adds to the authenticity of the book.

I was very much looking forward to Golden Child; the second book in Sarah Jessica Parker´s new imprint. A Place For Us, the first, was my favorite book of last year. There are many similarities in that it is a character driven, slower novel that shows the intricacies of relationships within a family. I enjoyed the setting in Trinidad and many of the characters. This didn´t quite knock my socks off as much as A Place For Us, but the difficulties of the decisions made by the characters were fascinating, and heartbreaking, to read.

3.5 stars
Golden Child is the story of a family in a small town on the island of Trinidad. Twin brothers Peter and Paul, and their parents Clyde and Joy live in this land wrought with crime, heartache, and desolation. The story flashes back to the birth of the boys, describing circumstance that alters Paul’s life forever.
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I find stories like Golden Child so important and one of my favorite things about reading. When you immerse yourself in this story, you are transported to a world so different from your own, through such effective story telling you can feel what it’s like to be these boys, these parents. With little choice and sometimes little hope, with crushing hurt. Toward the end of this story the plot became very predictable, which was disappointing. While I understand the way this story had to play out, I would’ve loved the ending to be different.
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Thank you Netgalley and Crown Publishing for the advance copy.

Ok, I’m not proud. I will admit to requesting this book on netgalley because of the celebrity tie-in. This Is the second book chosen by Sarah Jessica Parker under her new job as a publisher for Hogarth and I was just flat out curious to see what I thought of her book picking skills.

The story takes place in 1980s Trinidad. Adam gets the mood exactly right - the sense of lawlessness, the lack of societal safeguards. Guard dogs patrol everyone’s yards. A teenage boy walks off after school and doesn’t return. His father alternates between being worried and furious. Anyone who has raised teenagers understands his emotions exactly.

The book then takes us back in time. Paul is one of two twins. While being born, the cord wrapped around his neck depriving him of oxygen and leading to him having learning disabilities. His brother, Peter, on the other hand, is a genius. We learn all about the struggles the family endures trying to give each son equal opportunities despite their different abilities.

It’s not until the ⅔ point that Clyde is faced with his big decision. And it’s so obvious what is going to transpire that there was no sense of suspense. The last third of the book is heartbreaking but predictable.

So, great sense of place, but beyond that, I was less than impressed.

My thanks to netgalley and SJP for an advance copy of this book.

Claire Adam's "Golden Child" is a book about love and sacrifice, where they intersect, overlap, and diverge. She weaves her way back and forth through time in a really interesting way. In a sense, most of the book takes place over a single night, though this isn't quite right. Perhaps it is better to say that the way the story is told makes you think that everything—this entire family's history—has inevitably been leading up to this one, particular night.

This was an interesting read for me. Set in Trinidad, Golden Child follows the lives of twin brothers and their parents. It starts in present day, from the father's third person perspective, when one of the twins doesn't come home in the evening. When the father, Clyde, embarks on the search his stream of memories transports readers back to the birth of the twins following their journey back to the point we started. The twins, one intellectually gifted and the other struggling with "normalcy", cause much chaos within the family dynamics and from there sprouts a story of a family with a winding, poor, and long road of tough times and an abundance of issues in their small chunk of Trinidad. We get perspectives from a motley cast of characters that makes up the extended family.

The writing of Claire Adam is forthcoming and descriptive. Her storytelling structure and narration kept me engaged and intrigued in this plot of love, loyalty, betrayal, and honesty. At some points the descriptions of the socioeconomic climate of Trinidad become overly detailed causing a bit of a loss of focus for me. The humanity showcased in this book is what really kept me interested. The tough decisions made that led to powerful emotions, mistakes, and lessons learned were a beautiful lesson from a place that I don't know a lot about. I found myself researching the area, looking at maps, etc. to garner more understanding which is the mark of a good book to me. If you like intriguing fiction stories with elements of life lived in the best way someone can live it and be empathic towards that life, Golden Child will be for you.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The first few chapters were hard to follow, but the book became compelling once the boys were accepted into the catholic school where the priest saw potential in Paul. The ending was devastating. The book will stay with me.

I was very familiar with Trinidad before reading this novel. The flow and dialect feels authentic but isn't off-putting if it's new to you. A heavy novel that has a slow, deliberate pace. The characters feel fully fleshed out and the family drama drives the plot. It isn't my normal cup of tea but I found myself drawn to the story and stakes that Clyde, the father, has to deal with and the choices he makes. It would help to have a side note or context addendum for American readers about the East Indian influence that is in Trinidad and why the character names are obviously Indian.

Devastating. A moving and compelling story of family and loyalty, with an interesting spin on the nature vs. nurture debate.

Thank you Net Galley and publishers for an ARC of this book!

What a heavy read! It was slow to start for me. Lots of character development, which I really appreciated. By the end of the story I really felt attached to the characters!

This is a very well done story about family dynamics and injustice in life.

This book will pair well with A Place for Us.

Other than watching an episode of Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown series filmed in Port of Spain and being surprised at the Lebanese population, I know absolutely nothing about Trinidad, so I looked it up. There are two primary ethnic groups on the islands today, the Blacks who were brought in at the beginning of the 18th century to work the sugarcane plantations, and the East Indians who were brought in to work after the abolition of slavery in the mid 19th century, which answered my question about what kind of name Deyalsingh is and why they have an Uncle Vishnu. Oil is the mainstay of the economy and with the sugarcane plantations closed, agriculture is not longer a contributor. With these things in mind, I began to read and soon learned that the true economy is drugs and drug lords run the islands.

Clyde and Joy Deyalsingh are probably what would pass for middle class people. They have steady income from Clyde’s job at the petroleum plant and send their twin sons, Peter and Paul, to the Catholic school in Port of Spain. The live simply to ensure the boys have money for the bus rides and to buy lunch. Paul is thought to be retarded due to a lack of oxygen at birth, however Peter is considered a near genius and the head priest of the school has counseled Clyde to consider what colleges to apply to, starting with Harvard.

Peter loves school and is devoted to his schoolwork, but also to his brother whom he loves very much and keeps an eye out for. Clyde loves both his boys but recognizes Peter’s opportunity to use education to earn a better life and toward that end has a bank account in England that he religiously feeds. Joy encourages Peter to help Paul in everything to help him close the gap since he’s simpleminded, though as we learn he’s more likely dyslexic. For her, family is everything and she tries to get her mother, her brother and her three brothers’ families to get together as frequently as possible. But for one family member money is more important than family and perpetuates a betrayal breaks the family apart.

Clyde could use less of the family gatherings, but then they’re Joy’s family. He is a good provider for his family but he sees Peter as almost anointed and will do anything to see him move up to a better life, available through an Ivy League education. Which puts him square in the bullseye of the betrayal. “He is quite sure that back at the beginning, when the boys were born, he was determined, above all else, to be a good father. Now, somehow, he has ended up here, and there seems to be no way back.” He’s handed a “Sophie’s Choice.” In Peter’s quest for better and higher education and in fulfillment of his father’s dream, he is awarded the esteemed and coveted Gold Medal from the Ministry of Education, and thus we meet the “golden child” in this short and beautifully written book.

When twins Paul and Peter are thirteen-year-old, Paul wanders into the bush near the family’s house and doesn’t return. Since he was a baby and had a difficult delivery, Paul had caused Clyde consternation, especially in contrast to the extremely gifted Peter. Paul learns slowly, has difficulty in social situations, and relies heavily on Peter to navigate the world. When Paul doesn’t return, Clyde is convinced he’s up to mischief, but Peter and their mother, Joy, believe something else is going on. As Clyde learns the truth, he realizes he must make an impossible choice.

Golden Child is the first book I’ve read that was set in Trinidad and for that reason alone, I was excited. At first the dialect was a little awkward, but I quickly became acclimated to the style. The first half or so of the book is told from Clyde’s perspective, then there are sections told from Pauls’ and a teacher, Father Kavanagh’s perspective. Several times I felt sucker-punched (in a good way!).

To tell too much would be a disservice, but the book is extremely well-written and lyrical covering themes including the strengths and limits of parental love, the dangers of self-fulfilling prophecies, the bonds between twins, and the jealousies that fester among family members all set within the interesting context of Trinidadian society.

If anything, I wish there had been slightly more sociological context to the narrative. Also, the ending felt a little abrupt and manufactured. Still, I recommend reading this book. At times, it’s a difficult read, but it beautifully rendered with valuable insights.

In this highly anticipated second release from the SJP for Hogarth inprint, we follow the story of twin brothers in Trinidad. One brother is born with what the family determine to be birth defects which impair his learning, and the other is academically gifted and his family set his destiny on greatness. Determined to keep their boys together despite their vastly different abilities, the family pulls no stops in ensuring both get to attend the same exclusive school in Port of Spain.

While the bulk of the narrative takes place while the boys are in early childhood, an event occurs when they are twelve years old that transforms the narrative. One boy goes missing in quite horrific circumstances, and what transpires in terms of the family reaction to this is where the magic of this narrative rests.

For me though, this plot twist came too late in the narrative for it to allow the reader to meaningfully engage with it and it’s aftermath. While explosive and deeply disturbing, its timing was all off and it either needed to come earlier in the book, or the book needed to have been extended to accommodate it.

That said, I loved the prose and sense of place in the colorful and visceral descriptions of Trinidad, and look forward to seeing what this author writes next.

3.5 🌟

I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. And I gave it a good go - I really did - but the flow was choppy, the characters not very well developed. Maybe it was because it was in present tense - maybe because the tempo was slow. I really wanted to know what happened to Paul but at some point I didn't care and I couldn't force myself to continue reading. I apologize for this to the publisher and author.

Lindas Book Obsession Review for “Golden Child” by Claire Adam Published by SJP for Hogarth, an imprint by Crown Publishing Group, January 29,2019

Claire Adam, Author of “Golden Child” has written an intense, heart-breaking, emotional, riveting, captivating, and suspenseful novel that takes place mostly in Trinidad. The Genres for this novel are Fiction, with a touch of Historical Fiction, and Suspense. Sarah Jessica Parker has chosen “The Golden Child” as one of her picks, as she likes “bringing stories from far away closer” The author describes her characters as complex and complicated, perhaps due to the circumstances.

The author vividly describes both the poor and rich sides of Trinidad. Symbolically there are elements of good and evil, and jealousy and betrayal that is devastating. In Rural Trinidad, Clyde, and his wife Joy live a simple life. They live near the bush, and often go without water. The happiness in their life is when they have twin sons. Peter and Paul are born, and their family surrounds and helps them. Peter seems to be the “good” baby and Paul is “fussy” and has more problems. As they grow up, Peter is extremely smart and called a genius. Paul has a knack for getting into trouble, and causing his parents to worry on more than one occasion. Joy wants both boys kept together in school so Peter can keep an eye out for Paul.

Paul goes walking in the bush one day and never returns. The family is devastated. Clyde is given news that crushes him. Clyde has to make sacrifices and choices. No father should ever be presented with such decisions. I would highly recommend this novel for those readers who enjoy an intense, and emotional story. I received an ARC from NetGalley for my honest review.


PUBLISHED BY LINDASBOOKOBSESSION

I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book seemed to have everything I like in a story and from the description it seemed like it would be very character focused. I became distracted when the story focused more on Clyde and not on his twin sons. I could not stay connected to the story, even though I wanted to know what happened to Paul.

Maybe this is a book I needed time to read more than snippets, and maybe I needed a quiet spot to take it in (I have been reading it in between this and that).

I did not finish it and rather moved on to another NetGalley choice. I will try it again.

I just now finished GOLDEN Child by Claire Adam. Noticing 1 star ratings, I hesitated and put the book aside to read closer towards the publishing date.
Having a friend born in Trinidad changed my mind glad it did.

The story of Paul and Peter, twins begins at their birth, Peter arrives in this world a healthy boy followed by Paul who's birth is overshadowed by a more difficult birth which will follow him throughout his life.
Both boys are loved, by their mother and father, including a large extended family comprised of Aunts, Uncles differing in social status which will play a deciding role in Paul's and Peter's lives.
Although the story takes us deep into the underbelly of Trinidad, it is a tale easily imagined in places were crime infringes upon the innocent, a feeling I had throughout the novel.
Claire Adam's pen brings Paul and Peter right off the page into ones heart, crying while reading a novel doesn't happen often, I cared for these boys deeply.
Reality drives this story, its strength lies in the truth the author brings to the page, perhaps not quite comfortable for everyone...hence the 1stars. For me this novel rates a solid 5 stars.

A must read

3.5 - 4⭐️s?? Not a plot-driven story, though there is drama.

This is the second book published by Sarah Jessica Parker's imprint, SJP for Hogarth. Like the first book, A Place for Us, this is a debut novel. Claire Adam was born in Trinidad and now lives in London.

Clyde, Joy and their twin boys, Peter and Paul, live in a house on stilts in Trinidad, with dogs that they hope will protect them from menacing forces. Peter is a bright and dutiful son. Paul had a difficult birth that seems to have dulled his abilities.

When the boys are young teenagers, Paul goes missing.

This is a deeply affecting novel about impossible choices.

I copied my Goodreads review here.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for this early copy.