Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Book review: The Shadow of Your Smile - Mary Higgins Clark

The Shadow of Your Smile by [Clark, Mary Higgins]




















Title: The Shadow of Your Smile

Author: Mary Higgins Clark

FICTION

Genre: Thriller

Ranking: 8.0 out of 10.0

Buy: Yes

Borrow: Yes

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003HTNCO2/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Summary:  When a deceased nun, Sister Catherine, becomes a candidate for sainthood , Monica Farrell, a 31-year-old Manhattan pediatrician, becomes the target of those who don't want her to inherit what's left of a fortune created by her unknown grandfather, Alex Gannon, with whom Catherine had a secret love child before she took up holy orders. That child, given up for adoption, became Monica's father. Monica must now testify whether a boy became cancer-free due to prayers to Sister Catherine so she can qualify for beatification. 

Olivia Morrow, Catherine's 82-year-old dying cousin, meanwhile wonders whether to tell Monica she's Alex's granddaughter. Spiritual questions are mixed with down and dirty deeds as Gannon Foundation funds are revealed to have been steadily siphoned off by greedy heirs and trustees who will stop at nothing, even murder, to hide their criminal misbehaviour.

Main review: 

Mary Higgins Clark brings us another bestselling novel that she “prepares so carefully and executes with such relish” (The New York Times Book Review) about the search for identity by the daughter of a man adopted at birth, who may be the inheritor of his large fortune.

At eighty-two and about to die, Olivia Morrow knows she faces a tough choice: expose a long-held family secret, or take it with her to her grave. 

Olivia has in her possession letters from her deceased cousin Catherine, a nun, now being considered for beatification by the Catholic Church—the final step before sainthood. In her lifetime, Sister Catherine had founded seven hospitals for disabled children. Now the cure of a four-year-old boy dying of brain cancer is being attributed to her. After his case was pronounced medically hopeless, the boy’s desperate mother had organized a prayer crusade to Sister Catherine, leading to his miraculous recovery. 

The letters Olivia holds are the evidence that Catherine gave birth at age seventeen to a son, and gave him up for adoption. Olivia knows the identity of the young man who fathered Catherine’s child: Alex Gannon, who went on to become a world-famous doctor, scientist, and inventor holding medical patents. 

Now, two generations later, thirty-one-year-old single pediatrician Dr. Monica Farrell, Catherine’s granddaughter, stands as the rightful heir to what remains of the family fortune. But in telling Monica who she really is, Olivia would have to betray Catherine’s wishes and reveal the story behind Monica’s ancestry. 

The only people aware of Olivia’s impending choice are those exploiting the Gannon inheritance. To silence Olivia and prevent Monica from learning the secret, some of them will stop at nothing—even murder. 


Clark’s riveting novel explores the conflict between modern medical science and religious faith, and the search for identity by the daughter of a man adopted at birth.
Further reading suggestion: Just Take my Heart - https://www.amazon.com/Just-Take-My-Heart-Novel/dp/141657087X

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