The Auerbach Will Book

Delicious! Juicy! Oh, so yummy! No, this isn't a review of a dessert, but this book is a lot like dessert for your brain. Best of all, this book by Stephen Birmingham is not just empty calories; it is intelligently-written with a carefully-crafted plot and colorful characters, albeit some of them are somewhat one-sided. An ingenious structure that is perfectly executed catapults the plot back and forth in time.

Taking place primarily in New York and Chicago, this is a multi-generational family saga beginning in the early 1900s. Jake and Essie Auerbach marry against the wishes of both their families. They are ostracized by Jake's extremely wealthy family to Chicago, where eventually Jake becomes a huge business success, due in no small part to his wife. Yet with this spectacular, showy wealth comes searing heartbreak. Years later, their ungrateful and greedy children want to change their mother's will as Essie approaches her 90th birthday. And divisive secrets long buried, hurtful family tensions, intense rivalries and the destructive power of money come bubbling to the surface, threatening to destroy everything the Auberbach family has attained, including each other.

"The Auerbach Will" is the perfect escapist read!