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The Abingdon Book Group read Family Acts for January.
Family Acts is a novel that contains several stories. Two complete strangers, Katie Harder, a New York City scriptwriter and Randa Jennings, a Hollywood business manager, are left an old theater in Georgia. They have no idea how they are connected either to each other or to the theater and on the one hand the book is their story - how they discover those connections. On the other hand it is the story of the Venable family who owned the theater from the 1800s. In particular it is about Juliet, the first Venable owner, her daughter, Ophelia, and Ophelia's niece Olivia. The chapters move between the present and the past, and there are a lot of characters and events that can cause the reader some confusion. In general the book group liked this novel, although some felt there was such a lot going on in it that it could have almost been made into two books. The ending was more trite than some liked with the very convenient introduction of love interests for Katie and Randa. However, don't be put off. The author obviously knows the theater well and the Venable theater is a character in its own right. Anyone who is interested in genealogy or family dramas would enjoy this novel. It is fascinating to discover how the past connects to the present.

Labels: actors, family acts, Georgia, louise shaffer, theaters