Family Business - Hardcover

From the author of In Her Own Image comes a capable, though not especially inspired story spanning three generations of a newspaper family. When Jock McLean and his shady partner realize they aren't going to hit it big in the Colorado silver boom of the 1920s, they sell their worthless mining stake in exchange for stock in a small newspaper. Following Jock at its helm is his son James, and bearing closely on the heels of her father and grandfather is young Yarrow McLean, whose singleminded bid to run the paper is only briefly sidetracked by an unhappy wartime marriage. Eventually, Yarrow's grit and determination win her ownership of the New York Telegraph, an enterprise besieged by tough unions. With occasional aid from her long-time lover Elliot, a dealmaker of equal drive, she persists in her attempt to build a news empire, only to find as she reaches its pinnacle that the seeds of divisiveness that her own ambition has sown within the family threaten to ruin all of their lives. Murdoch's well-deployed inside knowledge of journalistic dynasties adds spice and credibility. Yet the passing decades are barely marked here, and the joys and tragedies that befall her characters are treated in such a cursory fashion that the novel is disappointingly shallow. 75,000 first printing; $100,000 ad/promo; Literary Guild alternate selection; author tour.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The business of the title is the McLean newspaper and telecommunications network, and this novel chronicles its birth and growth from the 1920s on, intertwined with the life of its grande dame, Yarrow McLean. The story is standard fare: family fights, corporate wheeling and dealing, and an enduring, tempestuous love affair with a married man. But the author has added historical interest to the recipe with the Depression, union strikes, the Vietnam controversy, and technological advances in the newspaper industry. Yarrow is a full character: smart and determined, she is also vulnerable to self-doubt. By the author of In Her Own Image . Literary Guild alternate. A.M.B. Amantia, Population Crisis Committee Lib., Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.