Book reviews

The Vagabonds
Nicholas Delbanco Book Review

Read a book review online (click here to search reviews)
Books Movies  
Sci-Fi/Fantasy Mystery/Thriller Literature Romance Biography History
Nicholas Delbanco Books
New book search
Nicholas Delbanco Message Board
Get more information about this book
Plot Summary of The Vagabonds
"

Warner, Nov 2004, 23.95, 284 pp.
ISBN: 0446530026

In 2003, the three Saperstone childrens (Joanne, David, and Claire) return to their Saratoga Springs, New York hometown to bury their mom Alice. To their shock Alice left her children with a hefty inheritance from their deceased grandmother who gained her wealth in 1916 from the vacationing trio of “Vagabonds" Henry Ford, Harry Firestone, and Thomas Edison. Thus they have inherited valuable General Electric stock.

Forty something single mother Joanne needs the money. Claire, who needs the inheritance the least as she is married to a successful businessman though that relationship seems ready to collapse, resented that mom wanted David to live in her ancestral home; she always felt mom favored her little boy over her girls. David has his own problems like being unable to commit to a relationship. As each wonder what happened in 1916 they squabble over the estate.

The tale contains too many major threads to keep track of what is happening to the prime trio and others.

Harriet Klausner
"

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of The Vagabonds
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book? - thoughtful
Time/era of story - present (2000-2010)
Family, struggle with Yes
Struggle with: - inheritance
Internal struggle/realization? Yes
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Coping with loss of loved one(s) Yes
Loss of... - mother

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - homemaker
Age: - 20's-30's
Ethnicity/Nationality - White (American)
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Main Adversary
Identity: - none

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - Northeast

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - no torture/death
Unusual Style: - a lot of flashback and forwards - a lot of stream of consciousness - No single main character?
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript
Most similar books to The Vagabonds
A Stone Boat by Andrew Solomon
The Walled Garden by Catherine Dunne
Back Roads by Tawni O'Dell
Going Topless by Megan McAndrew
The House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III


Click here for more information about this book


Nicholas Delbanco Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
Harriet Klausner  

SCHOLARS:


Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
Three ways to search for Literature books!

1) One-click plot searches! Simply click on a plot or subplot below!

Animal story

Crime & Police story

Ethnic/regional/gender life

Exploring into the wild

Family, caring for ill

Family, loving relations

Family, struggle with

Internal struggle/realization?

Job/Profession/Status story

Kids growing up/acting up?

Political/social activism

Poverty, surviving

Pregnancy/Child rearing

Religion theme?

Romance/Romance Problems

Sports Story?

War/Revolt/Disaster on civilians



or 2) Simple lookup
(title or author)

or
3) Even more search options available with a Detailed Booksearch (click here)

Use our site!
Feedback
About us


Most recent discussions:

General Book Talk
Book writing discussion
Off-topic message board
Deric Longden 9:55:48 AM
Raymond E. Feist 3:57:02 AM
Suzanne Collins 11:54:27 PM
Suzanne Weyn 8:26:52 PM
Lynn and Gilbert Morris 7:15:28 PM
Ray Bradbury 6:33:06 PM
Jean M. Auel 5:21:13 PM
Robert Segarra 3:56:55 PM
George W. Bush 11:47:57 AM
Cornelia Funke 9:02:50 PM
Laura Ingalls Wilder 8:18:22 PM
Robert Stanek 4:31:31 PM
Rich Shapiro 5:03:32 PM
Christopher Stasheff 2:52:00 AM
Mildred D. Taylor 2:24:11 AM
Chris Crowe 12:42:04 PM
Erin Hunters 11:10:03 AM
Margaret Peterson Haddix 10:58:36 PM
Betty Mahmoody 6:37:45 PM
Slavomir Rawicz 5:05:23 PM

More message boards