You can see why Mel and David were good for one another. Why she would think of him when she needs somewhere safe. At first there’s a lovely sense of care and lingering love that seeps into their interactions that help you to understand why David stands by her even as his understanding of her comes undone. Theirs is nonetheless the least interesting dynamic, well done though it is. Family Trust presents a fantastic and complicated tangle of relationships and Mel and David are easily outshone. Rachel especially was so compelling. And no matter the twists of narrative it was hard not to think on her. 

I was surprised by the wide stretch of time encompassed by the book but it soon became one of my favourite elements. I loved seeing the seeds planted. It allowed for some excellent exploration of characters and was enticingly voyeuristic though the catch up in between the larger time skips could be clunky. 

Unfortunately some more care could have been taken with the editing. Errors like ‘piped her interest’ or ‘adjourned the walls’ come up every few chapters and as its intrigue heightened they only increased. I understand that the timeline settled towards the end but the sub-heading being dropped in conjunction with the rise in errors felt like the effort had become too much. It was David’s criticism of the family’s reaction that was most frustrating though. It’s not by itself a bad choice to have them behave this way but their calmness is at odds with the tension which it does dampen. Even so, I enjoyed Family Trust. 

Thanks to iRead Book Tours and Peter Wilson. I leave this review voluntarily.