The structure of the book is irritating to begin with, but after a while the story carries the action forward.
The author considers that the movement back and forth in time is similar to the way we all learn about family stories, scandals, etc.

“the most important thing for me above everything else are the characters and the story” confides author, Carole Cadwalladr, during a book review by The Daily Mail. Her first book ‘The Family Tree’ was the first book our group chose to review.
It was agreed generally that the plot was good because it was realistic and unpredictable, but not everyone enjoyed reading it. Cadwalladr herself admits:
“I'm a very impatient reader and if I'm not dragged into the story very early on I'm inclined to give up and I really held this in mind when I was writing The Family Tree.”
One group member never made it past page 60 and most readers agreed that they might not have preserved with the lengthy book if it had not been on the group’s review list. The consensus was ‘too much book and not enough plot’.
The descriptive passages were useful, not overly emotional and not over-laboured. Structurally the book was not helped by the use of extensive footnotes and an erratic chronological order of events in the short chapters. Sudden, short bursts of information were hard to digest.
Major themes in the story are the dysfunctional family, nature or nurture and racial prejudice. The ending is effective and unexpected. This makes the book a worthwhile read.
The main character, Rebecca, is actually part of her husband Alistair’s research. His behaviour and attitudes do not change in the course of the book, but hers do.
Rebecca’s mother, Doreen, has manic depression (bi-polar disorder). This is made apparent through Doreen’s response to the royal wedding of Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer. Therefore the story had to be set in England.
Most members of the group would recommend ‘The Family Tree’ to a friend. They said it is enjoyable although it takes a while for the reader to establish a rapport with the characters.

Cadwalladr has published no further books. The group mainly agreed that she put so much work into this manuscript that she would have to write about a different subject completely with any subsequent novel.