This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Reviewed by Christian Sia for Readers' Favorite
The Family Speaks by Kirk Ward Robinson is an extensive, multi-generational family saga that focuses on Blaize Speaks, a fiercely stubborn Appalachian matriarch with a terminal illness, and the children she raised in the poor town of Bilbo, Tennessee. The story follows the fractured lives of her offspring: Tommy, an army surgeon struggling with trauma; Timewall, a man broken by prison life and who seeks purpose on the Appalachian Trail; Ridley, a singer and songwriter with a violent past; Priscilla, a prodigy lecturing at Stanford; and Robbie, a prisoner finding faith in prison. As the COVID-19 rages, Blaize’s health condition forces the scattered children to confront their pasts, the secrets surrounding who fathered them, and embark on a journey toward redemption.
Kirk Ward Robinson delivers a fascinating portrait of the Speaks clan, creating each character with remarkable specificity and giving each sibling a voice so authentic that the story feels like a chorus of truly lived experience. Blaize is not a saint, but a flawed survivor of addiction and abuse, and her toughness protects and hurts at the same time. The multi-perspective structure in The Family Speaks and the controlled plotting gradually tighten the diverse narrative threads, accelerating the pace as Blaize’s illness brings the siblings toward an inevitable reunion. The storytelling is superb, and it balances the gritty realism of the struggles of each character with moments of surprising tenderness, translating the stubborn, often unexpressed love that binds this broken family against all odds. If you loved the sprawling, multi-voiced The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver or the raw delivery of Douglas Stuart’s Shuggie Bain, then this book is one you shouldn’t miss.
