Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite

Ties That Bind is a women's fiction novel written by Debbie White. Patsy had a lovely husband, Charles, and the two of them worked together at their private investigator's business until they retired. In fact, that business was how they first met. Patsy had graduated from secretarial school and was looking for a better paying job than the first one she got after graduating. Charles interviewed her and, when an investigator job opened up, she seemed the perfect fit for it and even found Charles his new secretary. They had three lovely children, Peter, Charlie and Carole, and Patsy stayed at home while they were young to raise them. There was always a sadness she felt, and a need to understand more, however, about her own childhood. While she adored and loved her adopted father, Irma, her adopted mother was cruel and cold, and her half-sister, Teresa, followed Irma's example and treated Patsy poorly. According to the family story, she was left as an infant in the family's house, and any trail that she could follow to find out about her birth parents seemed impossible. That is, until her kids had grown and there was all the time in the world to go back to the little town where she had grown up to see if they could use their professional investigative talents to finally uncover the truth about her family.

Debbie White's women's fiction novel, Ties That Bind, is a well-written and bittersweet novel set as a narration by an elderly woman to her daughter, who is writing it all down for the two of them to share. Together, they relive the good and bad memories of Patsy's early life, and the heady romance that flourished between her and Charles. As the two women revisit those bygone days, the reader can't help but get a sense of renewal and healing of any old slights or hurts from their past relationship as mother and daughter. While the tone of this work is steeped in poignancy and regret for the all-too-rapid passing of time, there's so much to enjoy in Ties That Bind, especially those early days in Patsy and Charles' life when their professional and personal lives meshed so perfectly together. Ties That Bind examines the dynamics of family and aging, and it does so via a moving and sincere narrative. It's highly recommended.