Title: The Sins of the Father

Author: Jeffrey Archer

Pages: 300 +

Dear reader,

I come to you with the news that I made an error 😦 , which only harm this book review slightly. I forgot that I hadn’t written the book review yet and already handed in the book to the library. However, I still have a good recollection of the story, so I will do my best not to disappoint.

In book 1 (review 004-2024) we learnt of the main characters childhood storylines right up to the point where Harry Clifton goes to sea to learn of shipping before he will volunteer for the war. Giles Barrington continues his studies at the university, but then soon tries to join the military units as well. Emma Barrington could not marry Harry, due to the suspicion that Harry might share the same father as Giles and Emma. However, she is already pregnant and therefore retreats to the Scottish estate.

In this book we see how Harry uses a different identity, Tom Bradshaw, to enter the United States, after being rescued from the Atlantic. The identify is that of a sailor from his sunk vessel who had not survived the attack. Upon his arrival, he is taken into custody, since there was a warrant out for the arrest of a certain Tom Bradshaw. The family lawyer of the Bradshaw family arrives, hears his story and then makes with him a deal, whereby he will go to jail for going AWOL on the marines. He pleads guilty and is sentenced to six years in Lavenham prison. There, he manages to befriend another Irishman who is helpful to inform him of how to survive in prison and get the good jobs. Later, he will become the new librarian and start writing a novel of his time in prison. The former librarian is released and requests Harry to send him his diaries, as he enjoys them so much.

Emma has given birth to a son, Sebastian, and raises him at their estate in Scotland. Her grandfather has taken over the daily business of the shipping company, since the Barrington father fled after the marriage was terminated in book 1. She is not convinced of Harry’s death, but wishes to go to America and speak with the few people that met Harry on the ship. She takes up a job on a ship as a desk clerk to pay for her trip and ends up in America within a few weeks. She discreetly finds out the three staff members names that helped Harry when he was rescued, before he supposedly died on the ship, and goes to visit two of them. There, she realizes that Harry is not deceased, but has taken on the identity of a Tom Bradshaw and that he was imprisoned upon their arrival. She gets in touch with the Bradshaw lawyer, confronts him of the false allegations, but does not manage to help Harry’s case. Thus, she decides to reach out to her aunt who is located in New York, in the hopes that she may know of people willing to help. She is in luck, since her aunt has a nephew that is also a well-known lawyer. They find out that a certain book was published by a former inmate from the particular prison where Tom Bradshaw is located. The story told is similar to Harry’s shipwreck and finally imprisonment. They start building a case against the man, but are turned down by his lawyer. Thus, they go to the publisher, plead their case and facts and manage to convince him that the current author is a fraud.

Giles has not been successful to join the military due to his family inherited illness, being colour blind. However, he is determined to make his contribution and heads to another sign up office and omits telling them of this illness. He is permitted to join and sent for training. After his training he is sent to join the forces in North Africa. There, they need to protect the local regions which could potentially help cutting Germany off from getting oil for their tanks and ships. Giles and his unit are a very effective one and he even manages to fend off a stronger German offensive that awards him a grand title and medal. However, in another battle, they are overrun and he blacks out after they are hit by several shells. He wakes up and finds himself in a prison camp in Heide. There, he dedicates his time to obtain a high ranking job, a sommelier, to the camp head. On New Year’s eve, the camp heads celebrate the passing of another year and drink excessively. Giles and another camp mate use this opportunity to steal some of the captain’s and driver’s clothes and drive off with the car. They successfully manage to get to the Schaffhausen border with Switzerland. Being high rank they push ahead of the line and are even let through. However, when they are almost across the neutral zone, they soldier who stamped them through receives a call and immediately they start shooting at them. Giles successfully manages to cross the border towards the encouraging hands of the Swiss border control, but his friend has no such success.

Harry has been offered a choice. Being a former soldier, he can either continue sitting out his sentence in prison or he can join the military and America’s recent entry to the war. He decides for the latter and is assigned to a task force that operates behind enemy lines. A unit that uses a variety of sabotage tactics to make the entry of the Allied forces onto occupied territory slightly easier.

Emma, with the help of the publisher and her aunt’s nephew, have managed to have the false author not to receive the financial benefits of the published writings from Harry’s time in prison. Harry will now be entitled to those earnings.

After the war, Harry is brought to a hospital close to the Barrington estate, where his family awaits his recovery anxiously. Now that he has returned, the question of inheritance is once again a topic to land on the table. Either Harry is also acknowledged as a candidate to the Barrington estate, and as the first-born the realistic choice, or he is not a candidate, in which case he becomes free to marry Emma, his long lost sweetheart.

This is where I will end the review so that you may find out how this decision is to be made in novel 3.

Summary:

The book clearly catches the reader up on the important events from book 1 and how the story for each character continues. Each character struggles in their own way against the challenges posed to them. However, they all show great determination not to let these overcome them, but make them define who they are.

The book will receive a rating of 4.15/5.

Link (German): https://amzn.to/3YhmujH

Link (English): https://amzn.to/3Lk0G40