Reviewed by Grant Leishman for Readers' Favorite

Generations Intertwine: The Rest of the Story by Joyce K. Walters is a hard-hitting and emotional story of how one man’s indifference and casual callousness toward his relationship can affect not just those in the immediate vicinity, but can in fact create generational angst and pain. William Henry, a military veteran, discovered early on in his career, that deployment on missions often opened up the opportunity for romantic dalliances that could be kept secret from his wife and family. After his army career ended, William found an out-of-state job gave him the perfect opportunity to live a double life with effectively two families – one in Las Vegas and one in Colorado. What William had no way of understanding was how these two separate lives would one day intersect and the pain it would cause all those who professed to know and love William Henry.

Joyce K. Walters pulls no punches in Generations Intertwine. She is scathing, and probably rightly so, of William’s aberrant behaviour. Because this story is told almost exclusively from the perspective of the women in William’s family, it is totally understandable that this should be so. As a male reader, the story more than once gave me pause to stop and think, “How is it that so many men are able to rationalise away their cheating and conniving and live seemingly happy and fulfilled lives, while the women in their lives are left to carry the burden and suffering?” Although this book is presented as fiction, it’s hard not to believe that it is rooted in some part of the author’s life experience. They say truth is stranger than fiction and going by the coincidental generational intertwining in this story, it’s hard to argue with that. I believe any novel that makes the reader think and ask questions about themselves, and their morality or code of ethics, has done a worthy job. This book certainly does that, so kudos to Walters. A very good read.