Everybody's Son: A Novel

Anton is the abandoned son of a single, drug abusing black woman who becomes the adopted son of an influential, wealthy white couple. Clearly this is a story that weaves race and class, haves and have nots together. I found it to be a compelling if not terribly realistic story. I connected quite well with Anton and found him to be an interesting and likable character. I had a harder time connecting with Anton's adopted dad, David. I couldn't get a strong sense of who he really was. Anton's adopted mom Delores was likewise hard for me to get to know. Both David and Delores seemed unbelievable and stilted.
Still, I would recommend the book. It is a story for our times. It hints at what it means to be a black man in America today. One of the most insightful moments in the book is when my favorite
character says to Anton: "I can't tell if you're the blackest white man I've ever met or the whitest black man." It is an interesting point to ponder. I feel for Anton. Through no fault of his own, I don't think he knows who his tribe is. For much of the book, I'm not sure it occurs to him that it might matter who his tribe is. Things unfold as they tend to do in life and the reader is left to wonder if , by the book's end, Anton has created his tribe . Honestly? Honestly, I would love to go have breakfast with Anton and see how he is doing these days.

At first I had difficulty adjusting to Ms. Umrigar's use of male perspectives as well as American ones in Everybody's Son. Her characters have historically been female and predominantly Indian. She is my favorite author, and I told my husband about a third of the way through the book that I was worried because I couldn't "hear Thrity's voice". I'm glad I continued, because once again I became caught up in the magic of her storytelling. In Everybody's Son (the title is perfection) she has given us a jaw dropping gem of a book, covering the difficult subjects of race, privilege, foster care & adoption, being biracial, politics & power, and more with a grace few have achieved. But then that's the writing of the Thrity Umrigar I know and love.

Thirty Umrigar, a favorite author, has written another winner with her latest book, Everyone's Son. It's a novel that takes a look at race and privilege in America.

The story begins in the 1990s with a 9 year old, biracial boy who is left locked inside of a hot apartment with sealed windows with little food while she goes out to smoke crack. The boy is forced to break a window after a week while he goes to search for the mother he loves.

The boy, Anton Vesper eventually ends up being raised by a wealthy, politically entangled couple, The Colemans, whose only child has died. Anton has all the advantages race, power and money can afford and the Coleman's will do anything it takes to make sure Anton never returns to his birth mother -- but at what cost?

A compelling look at wealth and morality - Be sure to read it. 4.5/5 stars

I loved Thrity Umrigar's Everybody's Son. And doggone. It's the sort of novel I find most challenging. Which means to me, of course, that it’s the kind of novel most likely to pay the reader back for accepting the challenge. In the manner of The Light Between Two Oceans, the story begins with a heartfelt choice that arrives fully loaded with terrible ramifications that play out over many years.

The story asks the question, “What happens when a person’s best impulses and worst flaws collide?” It’s an empathy workout. I felt for everybody. I agreed with everybody. My heart broke for everybody. And felt uplifted, too, by the complexity and grace of the way we human beings can help heal one another. Everybody’s Son is also its own kind of delight: a pleasure to read, beautifully crafted, suspenseful, insightful. A novel as alive as the world we live in and satisfying in the best possible way.

My book club discussed this enjoyable book about a biracial child who comes to live with a white judge and his wife in an affluential neighborhood. We had a lively discussion regarding race, power, morals and ambition. This emotional novel is the first non-Indian themed book by a wonderful Indian author we've read and reviewed previously. Comparison between the biological mother and the adoptive father make for a lively debate. I really cared about the main character who we meet at age 7. We continue to observe his life as he faces emotional challenges yet grows into a caring and successful adult strong enough to handle larger truths revealed towards the end of the novel.

The book's premise is somewhat far-fetched: a child of a drug addicted mother from the projects becomes outstanding in every way, and his mother allows her childs' adoption against her best wishes because the adopting father and his best friend (the judge) conspire illegally to bribe her. However, I thought the book did bring forth important issues surrounding foster parenting and personal reasons adults have for adopting children; in addition the book showed issues in the adoption of black children from the projects into a white privileged environment and the concept that children will often return to love their biological parents.

This book was crap! The first two thirds was unbelievable and poorly written. The characters were not believable. The underlying intent was naive and the author used a bludgeon on her readers. The last third of the book had some life to it but I never trusted that this author could salvage this story - and she didn't. I'm sorry I read it.

A look into what happens to people when a broken, powerful, rich white family with good intentions (?) tries to resurrect a black child whose mother is trapped in the throes of addiction.

A nine-year-old black child is locked in his home alone for seven days as his mother chases her crack addiction. So we think. He is saved by a white knight—a State Governor who lost his son in an accident. Everybody’s Son is a riveting look at what may happen when race, good intention, and politics; are thrown into a simmering pot together—leading to questionable decisions as a fine line between unconditional love, projections, and ownership, are cloaked together in the shadows. What’s right or wrong get’s smashed to pieces as identity is slowly stripped from the young boy—missing pieces from his life become lost in misguided love. In the end, the boy who belongs to everyone finds he truly only belongs to–

The character development covers up secrets, conflicts, struggles, value clarification, and ,eaves you wondering about what’s next in the end. All her books lea e you guessing.
Couldn’t put this down.

The story has no absolutes. Complicated. Do good intentions make you right? If you do evil to save someone , are you awarded an automatic pass? What price does one pay to bestow White Male Privilege ? Excellent read

When he was nine, Anton was abandoned by his mother, a crack addict. After a week alone in a stifling apartment, he climbed out the window and fell to the ground only to be rescued by police and child protective services. He was subsequently fostered and adopted by David, the scion of a prominent political family. Along the way, David pulled some strings to make sure that Anton would not be returned to his mother. This wonderful book is Anton's story. Thrity Umrigar, once again writes a great book. Highly recommended.