This book holds the interest of readers and is one to which many people can relate, as it evokes feelings of sadness, happiness, concern and even anger. Shem and Saran live contentedly with their mother, Sara, on an island in the Caribbean, their father having disappeared from their home when Shem was six and Saran was two. The last thing anyone has heard about him is that he joined the United States Army. Six years on and having apparently adjusted to a life without a father, their world is shattered when their mother takes ill and subsequently dies. Shem's godmother offers to keep them, but...