If My Father Loved Me

September 1, 2017
After her mother's sudden death when she was 10, Sadie craved the attention of her emotionally and often physically distant father. A perfumer's nose, Ted had a gift for creating custom fragrances for women but was less successful in his financial and personal dealings. Sadie cobbled together a family of aunties out of Ted's many girlfriends, and later, after her divorce, of close female friends, including perennially single Mel. Now in her fifties, Sadie maintains a strained but cordial relationship with her father for the sake of her children, but his death upends her orderly London life. The appearance of Audrey, whose past relationship with Ted is unclear but who exerts a powerful influence on Sadie's troubled son Jack, leads Sadie to question some of the most basic truths about herself and her family. The answers she eventually uncovers change her understanding of her relationships with her children, Mel, and Paul Rainbird, a concerned teacher who becomes something more. Thomas (Lovers and Newcomers, 2016) masterfully juggles a large cast of characters with sensitivity and a great deal of empathy.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)