Morning, Noon and Night by Sidney Sheldon

[Hanananah]

I have never read any Sidney Sheldon before and had no idea what to expect when I picked this novel up at random. I was pleasantly surprised with Morning Noon and Night . I, for some reason thought I wouldn't enjoy it or would find it medicore but I was very wrong to have that judgement. Spanning 368 pages, I got through it in about 2 days.

 

The story starts with the death of world famous billionaire Harry Stanford. The rest of the story unravels the lives of his three children, Tyler, Woody and Kendall, who were mercilessly bullied by their father in their youth and are all eagar to get their hands on his fortune. The three children were sent away from eachother in their childhood as they were all sent to various boarding schools so they don't really know eachother and the only thing that makes them related is their family name. When their father dies they are over joyed at the chance to get their hands on his money. However, many years ago Harry Stanford had an affair with his children's nanny and got her pregnant, creating a massive scandal and forcing the nanny and her unborn child to move away. Julia (the product of the Standford/nanny affair) was raised without her father and had never heard anything from him.

 

The three Stanford children had gone their seperate ways, Tyler becoming a state judge, Kendall becoming a highly recgonised fashion designer and Woody becoming a nine hole polo player. Each of the Stanford children have their own difficulties in their personal lives, Tyler being homosexual, Kendall is being blackmailed for thousands of dollars and Woody is a herion addict after being admitted to hospital in a polo accident. All of these issues are equally focused on in a way which is engaging and easy to read.

 

Like I've said I really enjoyed this little book, it's nothing revolutionary to the world of literature but it was still a quick, enjoyable read and was something different to what I usually choose to read.

[bree]

I read a lot of Sidney Sheldon as a teenager - I remember this one! It's one of his better ones.

 

 

 

My favourite was If Tomorrow Comes - and the one I detested was Stranger In The Mirror

 

Spanning 368 pages, I got through it in about 2 days.

His plots are rather quick-paced - I remember how he ends each chapter - you just can't put the book down at that point, can you?

[chesilbeach]

I've only read If Tomorrow Comes and that was only because I loved the TV mini series from the 80s with Tom Berenger and Madolyn Smith, which oddly enough was repeated on one of the digital channels a few months ago and I spent a very enjoyable Sunday afternoon watching it all in one go!

 

Based on that book, I imagine they'd be good holiday reads for me, so I might well think of Morning, Noon and Night next time.

[Hanananah]

It was indeed quick paced, I was pleasently surprised with how much I enjoyed it too, I will have to pick up If Tomorrow Comes from somewhere and give it a go.

 

Another point with Morning, Noon and Night I really enjoyed all the unexpected twists and turns which were revealed with excellent timing. I thought I knew what was going to happen next but I was totally wrong in turn to a much better plot twist, I enjoyed that

[Hanananah]

Here's my full review of Morning Noon and Night

 

I picked this book up simply because I was bored and it happened to be there. I wasn’t expecting much from this book. I’d never read any Sidney Sheldon before and really didn’t expect to enjoy the book as much as I actually did. However I was bored and wanted to read something, so I read.

 

Morning, Noon and Night is a crime mystery novel. The plot is a lot more complex than the blurb made it out to be. It all starts off with multi-millionaire Harry Stanford being pursued by a group of three people. Harry, his dog, bodyguard and hired young lady friend set off to lose the followers. Leaving his hired lady friend behind, they board his boat. On this boat Harry dies in a freak thunderstorm, despite being advised by his captain that travelling in the conditions would be risky.

 

However this only takes up the first few chapters. The rest of the plot is based around Harry’s four children. Three of whom share the same mother, Harry’s wife. The other is the product of an affair Harry had with the children’s nanny, who after ran away with her child to escape the publicity after the scandal.

 

It is strongly pointed out that Harry was a poor father and sent his three children away to separate boarding schools and constantly lowered their self esteem when he did see them. Because of this his three children openly hate him and disconnect themselves as much a possible from his name. Tyler, the eldest son became a well known court judge, Kendall, the daughter, became a famous fashion designer and Woody grew into a nine hole polo player. When they hear of their father’s death, they are all eager to get their hands on their share of his money.

 

Everything seems set for the three of them to get an equal share of their father’s money, until Harry’s other child; Julia comes along to rightfully claim her share. This is as far as I’m willing to go with the plot as there are so many twists and turns in the novel, I do not wish to spoil them.

 

Morning, Noon and Night is amazingly well written with Sheldon leading the reader on to believe certain parts of the plot then suddenly chucking in a totally unexpected twist, making the story much more interesting. However, there are certain points where you question character’s motives throughout the novel but all these questions are cleared up rather nicely by the story’s conclusion.

 

I enjoyed the novel’s ending as it was bitter sweet with justice being served with an addition of disappointment. There is only one minor fault that I found with this novel and that is the romance between Julia and the family lawyer Steve. Personally, I found it to happen all a bit quickly and was the only part of the novel I found far too predictable. Throughout the story it is often pointed out that Julia is single. There is also an entire chapter containing some sort of montage of Julia going on various dates with men her flatmate knows, all leading to failure. Then all of a sudden once she’s in Boston she meets Steve with whom she has an instant connection with and proceeds to live with him whilst legalities are being sorted out. I’m not saying that the romance between the two is unrealistic; I just feel it was far too expected and easily predicted in comparison to the rest of the plot points.

 

Sheldon also does a fantastic job in character development. There are multiple chapters dedicated to each of the Stanford children, all are engrossing and even if they don’t seem it at the time, related to the overall outcome of the novel. These chapters make you feel somehow attached to the characters and have more sympathy with them when disaster strikes. For me, it was one of the best things about the book. All the children’s individual story lines link in with the overall plot. All of this is done pretty much flawlessly with a great flow to it.

 

I found Morning, Noon and Night a surprisingly entertaining read. It was also quick and easy, there wasn’t much you really had to think about you just had let Sheldon take you through. It was a definite change to what I would usually read but I’m very glad I did. It’s not a revolutionary piece of literature but it was enjoyable nonetheless and made me want to read more by Sidney Sheldon at some point.