Degrees of Love

by Rachel Basch

Book Overview

Jack Keliher and Lily Sterne lead ordinary lives. But when their eighteen-month-old daughter, Katie, is accidentally burned while home alone with Lily and rushed to the hospital, their ordered world begins to unravel. An emergency room physician's report brings the state to take temporary custody of Katie, setting in motion a bureaucratic ordeal in which Lily and Jack are faced with every parent's worst fear: that their child will be taken away from...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393332322
• ISBN13: 9780393332322
• Release Date: April 1998
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 284 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

a banquet of emotions

This is one of those books that you just won't be able to put down!! It is emotional from so many angles- the reader can't help put feel for all those involved equally at the same time. And, on a very different note, for anyone who knows the passion that can surround the art of cooking and restaurant life-you will surely enjoy this text. Ms. Basch nails down well the romance that surrounds the creation of wonderful foods. (You're all going to want to take cooking classes!) Somehow she brings together the sorrow of this family with the eroticism of food and makes it work very well. Enjoy!!

Chilling and Involving

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. One of my own personal parental fears is having my child taken from me by the state, so I often found it an unsettling read. While the characters of the children could have been developed a bit more, this is a minor point in what is a thoroughly absorbing story. In addition, I found the author's observations about marriage, spouses, and family to be quite insightful.

Double whammy: burnt child and being wrongfully accused

This story went straight to my heart and hit a deep nerve. I couldn't believe what this family had to endure--one of my greatest fears that everthing wonderful about my life could go sour in the blink of an eye. Well written and thought-out. There was one thing that bothered me: when the mother was warned that Ben was very upset and needed counseling, why didn't she immediately act? Otherwise, worth reading!

This book is unforgettable. A fascinating read.

I literally couldn't put this book down. I read it one sitting, staying up late into the night to see it to its conclusion. As a parent, I was horrified at how the wrongful allegations of abuse affected this family and by how difficult it was for them to defend themselves. At the same time, I was moved by the complicated nature of a mother's love for her children. The descriptions of familial relationships in this book (husband/wife, mother/child) ring so true. What a great novel. I can't stop thinking about it.

A novel depicting vivid characters and situations.

Rarely do we see a novel that depicts the characters and situations so vividly. In "Degrees of Love" I believe I am sitting in the Sterne household living the tragedies and struggles that have befallen them. All of the contributing characters from the youngest to the oldest are developed to the fullest and Ms. Basch wants us to know them!"Degrees of Love" depicts a believable heart-wrenching story even if one has not lived the events spoken of. The human relationships, the candor and the honesty make a wonderful and refreshing read of the human condition.