Review: The Cufflink by Susan Bolch

Deceit, sacrifice and honor are at the heart of The Cufflink, a riveting multi-generational family saga by Susan Bolch.

Frederick “Fred” Maier Green is the third child born to a Latvian immigrant and his wife in Philadelphia in nineteen twelve. Life for young Fred is a series of resentments aimed at his much older siblings, both musical phenoms, as his parents lavish most of their attention and hopes on them.

However, things take an unexpectedly tragic turn when Fred’s brother dies from tuberculosis, perpetuating his sister’s downward spiral into an abusive marriage. Suddenly, Fred becomes the symbol of hope for his family – and he doesn’t disappoint, excelling at school and earning a full scholarship to college and then to law school.

Attending a dinner party while in law school, Fred meets Nate Klein, a wealthy and powerful Philadelphia businessman, and becomes smitten with his beautiful daughter, Deborah, who Fred eventually marries when he finishes law school. Fred’s seemingly charmed life abruptly comes to an end when one of his father-in-law’s companies is accused of being in violation of the U.S. government’s tire rationing program.

Before an investigation can begin, arson destroys the evidence, with one of Fred’s missing cufflinks subsequently putting him at the scene with no alibi. With his law career on the line and potentially facing jail time, Fred’s unscrupulous father-in-law makes him an offer he can’t refuse – but it comes at a monumental price that will haunt Fred for the rest of his life…

The Cufflink is a wonderful family saga that follows several generations of the Green family through wars and strife. At its core is Bolch’s main protagonist, Fred Green, who is engaging and sympathetic. Fred is a man of substance who has sacrificed much for his family. Through his eyes, readers are exposed to the Great Depression, the Holocaust, the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the liberal sixties. As Fred enters adulthood, we see how his upbringing and the value his parents put on education shape the man he becomes, especially in later life. It’s difficult not to be moved at times by the elegant simplicity of Bolch’s narrative, as her story conveys a multitude of emotions. Just as the narrative spans decades, the story covers all those wonderful foibles that make up human nature.

Writing a multi-generational saga like The Cufflink is no easy task due to the number of characters, and for the most part the author succeeds. However, while some characters have major roles throughout the story that are fully fleshed-out, others appear larger than life for a limited time and then fade away with little resolution. In cases where certain characters have become integral to the plot, it would have been preferable to have some type of closure for their story.

That is as much a testament to Bolch’s storytelling – as each character leaps off the page, readers will become engrossed and attached to all the players. Bolch more than makes up for this issue by staying true to her plot, letting it flow organically, and never straying off the book’s core themes. Simply put, the novel is about family and society, secrets and deceit, which Bolch conveys masterfully.

In The Cufflink, Bolch has created a rich and meaningful family tapestry that will be sure to resonate with lovers of epic family drama.