The Children’s Crusade by Ann Packer is a novel about four kids growing up with an unhappy mother and a stable father south of San Francisco on a piece of property that would eventually become very valuable. We meet them first as kids, then later as adults when one wants to sell the house they grew up in.

Although the title is misleading, it is an engrossing and well written family saga. Packer has a way of delving into family dynamics and showing a situation from many different points of view. However, other than the Father, I didn’t really like any of the characters, and by the end I found the book tiring.