Love Child: A Novel (edition 2011)

by Sheila Kohler

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51	5	503,619	(3.36)	None
Fiction. Literature. HTML:*An enthralling new novel from the highly acclaimed author of Becoming Jane Eyre.* Sheila Kohler's memoir Once We Were Sisters is now available. The compelling story of a forbidden marriage, a baby lost, and a love triangle gone horribly wrong, Love Child centers on Bill, a South African woman whose life has been defined by the apartheid-era, class-riven society in which she lives. Under pressure to make her will, Bill is forced to think about the momentous events and decisions that have made her an extremely wealthy if somewhat disillusioned woman. To whom should she leave her fortune? As Bill relives her past, we learn that this is a simple question with a complicated answer. In elegant, sensual, and nuanced prose, Kohler skillfully explores the space between our dreams and our reality, between our hopes and our disappointments.… (more)

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Member:	PopcornReads
Title:	Love Child: A Novel
Authors:	Sheila Kohler
Info:	Penguin (Non-Classics) (2011), Edition: 1, Paperback, 256 pages
Collections:	Your library
Rating:
Tags:	sheila kohler, love child, historical fiction, fiction, south africa

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Love Child by Sheila Kohler

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Showing 5 of 5

Well that was disappointing! Quick read, got through it in an afternoon. It was so beautifully written, until you reach the last couple chapters and it almost feels as if the author handed it off to a high school student to finish. Could definitely have been a much better ending. (

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Jen-Lynn | Aug 1, 2022 |

A quick read about a woman seemingly spoiled and petted her whole life, though the reader finds out soon enough there is another reality and quite a sad one. I liked this but it was a bit more telling than showing and I thought the ending underwhelming.

In the afterword, Kohler said she based the main character on her mother and I want to know more about that! (

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laurenbufferd | Nov 14, 2016 |

Have you ever bought it book for its cover? For the way it feels in your hand? This was one of those books for me. I really liked the way the book went back and forth in time. Usually I find that distractive, but this was done well. I enjoyed the story and found myself thinking how far we have come in life in terms of female personal freedom and rights. I would have been much happier with a stronger ending. It just.... ended! It was a quick, good summer read. Not fantastic by any means, but good! (

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LASMIT | Sep 7, 2011 |

Bill is the daughter of a diamond evaluator and a semi-invalid mother in South Africa in the 1920’s. Her role in the family is being her mother’s helpmate, and it has been that way since she was 10 years old. Bill is known as the prettiest of the three daughters and her father’s favorite. She enjoys the effect she has on men of all ages. When she visits her father at work one day, she catches the eye of one of the other diamond evaluators, Isaac, and sets her cap on him. http://popcornreads.com/?p=1495 (

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PopcornReads | Aug 17, 2011 |

Reviewed for SHELF AWARENESS - posted 7/1/11
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ar/readers/2011-07-01/love_child.html (

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Florinda | Jul 1, 2011 |

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Historical Novel Society Editors' Choice (Literary)

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Love Child

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Someone rings her doorbell in the heat of the December day.

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Fiction. Literature. HTML:An enthralling new novel from the highly acclaimed author of Becoming Jane Eyre. Sheila Kohler's memoir Once We Were Sisters is now available.
The compelling story of a forbidden marriage, a baby lost, and a love triangle gone horribly wrong, Love Child centers on Bill, a South African woman whose life has been defined by the apartheid-era, class-riven society in which she lives. Under pressure to make her will, Bill is forced to think about the momentous events and decisions that have made her an extremely wealthy if somewhat disillusioned woman. To whom should she leave her fortune? As Bill relives her past, we learn that this is a simple question with a complicated answer. In elegant, sensual, and nuanced prose, Kohler skillfully explores the space between our dreams and our reality, between our hopes and our disappointments.

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The compelling story of a forbidden marriage, a baby lost, and a love triangle gone horribly wrong, Love Child centers on Bill, a South African woman whose life has been defined by the apartheid-era, class-riven society in which she lives. Under pressure to make her will, Bill is forced to think about the momentous events and decisions that have made her an extremely wealthy if somewhat disillusioned woman. To whom should she leave her fortune? As Bill relives her past, we learn that this is a simple question with a complicated answer. In elegant, sensual, and nuanced prose, Kohler skillfully explores the space between our dreams and our reality, between our hopes and our disappointments.

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