Run: A Novel by Ann Patchett

Well, I am mixed about this book. I did not get the title until about half way into reading and it really (IMO) did not have that much to do with the storyline. The book jacket summary states that Doyle (the father in the story) needs to protect his children, all of his children. Somewhat cryptic, which I like, but the story begins with the story of Doyle and his wife and how they became parents, which pertains to the entire story. However; they diverge into a bit of history of a statue that plays a very small role in the storyline and a dream-like sequence to explain how the biological mother of the two boys became the mother of another child. A bit too far-fetched for me to focus upon. The basic story was pretty good but the constant additions of characters that had no real explanation ruined it for me. She left many available background stories out and only briefly touched on others. It felt incomplete to me, I felt unsatisfied at the end, where the characters seemed to jump from being young (11, 20 and 21) to being grown up and mature, without any real explanation.
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