Hope Road

The Will of Wisteria by Denise Hildreth ***

Denise Hildreth’s novels never cease to be both engaging and witty. Her newest book follows in that line. The Will of Wisteria is the tangled tale of four grown children and their lives for one year after their father’s death. Clayton Wilcott, a Southern multimillionaire plantation owner, experiences a change of heart late in life, and dies with regrets about how he influenced his children’s lives. In an effort to shape their futures, he makes their large inheritances contingent on the fulfillment of specific requirements - namely, that each one spends a year doing charitable work of some sort, without relying on trust funds or their profitable businesses.

This is an intriguing plot setup, and the four characters are very memorable. Elizabeth is a successful lawyer whose bitter memories cut her off from love and friendship. Jeffrey is a cosmetic plastic surgeon who is both a cad and a neglectful father. Mary Catherine enjoys world traveling and convincing herself that her new husband loves her for more than her money, and Will is a lazy frat boy who can’t seem to believe that the terms of his father’s will are anything more than an elaborate prank.

The first half of the book is slow-paced, and the second half is fact-paced as the characters are faced with twists and turns on their year’s journeys. Again, the characters are memorable and the story is engaging. However, the plot becomes harder to keep up with in the latter half of the book, with a lot of action and heavy dialogue and seemingly less attention to the charming pace and details that drew the reader’s attention in the beginning. I almost feel as though the story would be better onscreen than it is on the printed page.

Still, The Will of Wisteria is an enjoyable read, one with both good storytelling and true heart. The characterization is vivid, which can be difficult to accomplish in a book that tries to integrate four stories as this one does. I think this novel pulls it off well. It is an honest and inviting story.

Recommended age level: 18+. This book pulls no punches with describing everything involved with the Wilcotts’ lives. Compared to secular fiction, it is discreet, but there are still quite a few details and descriptions that would not be appropriate for young readers. I felt that quite a few of those segments were unnecessary.