Family Acts
Aug 30, 2007
Louise Shaffer
Family Acts
Publication Date: August 2007
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Family Acts has two stories set in the same location but at different times.
The setting is a 1oo plus year old theater/hotel set in a forgotten small Georgia riverfront town. A town that had been becoming more downtrodden and empty with each passing year, but now is slowly being taken over by developers. Unfortunately developers that want to get rid of the old and bring in the charmless new.
The main story is about Randa, Katie and Randa’s 11 year old daughter. Randa lives in L.A. and is a “star handler”. On call 24 hours a day, driving stars to rehab, calming their fears when their dress rips on the red carpet, etc. She is totally caught up in her client’s wants and needs and this consumes her life. Katie is a soap opera writer living in the shadow of her deceased famous soap star mother. She also lives in her mother’s New York apartment, works on her mother’s old soap and has only once branched out on her own, writing a play that went to off off Broadway.
They both receive letters from a small Georgia law firm informing them that they have inherited the theater. Neither know from whom. They have no family that they are aware of as both were raised by single parents who held their previous lives tight to their chests.
Once in Georgia they promptly receive an offer from a developer wanting to tear down the theatre and from here their story deepens. Do they take the money and run back to their boring, unsatisfying, yet established lives or do they take a chance to do something new? Another big mystery is how are they related to each other, if at all, and why do they now own this piece of Georgia property when they’ve never even been to the South.
The second story in this book is about the Venable family - owners of the theatre for 100 years – and what they did throughout the generations to keep the theater open and in the family. There are some very dark secrets in this family.
Both stories lead to a conclusion explaining how Katie and Randa came to inherit the theater together and where the future of it stands.
It’s a nicely written story, one that allows you to feel the characters. A good read.
