It is truly coincidental that the day I picked up this book to read was the same day that Erich Segal was declared deal. I have always liked his books and my personal favourite was 'Doctors'. I was so drawn by the characters in that book that i started drawing analogies of the those characters to my classmates.
The book 'Man , Woman and Child' is a story which we would have come across in numerous Bollywood movies. It is basically about infidelity in marriage and it goes a step further when an illegitimate kid born of the affair.
The Beckwiths are a perfect family until Sheila Beckwith gets to know about her husband's affair in France. To complicate matters , he has a child out of wedlock and the mom of the child is dead. The rest of the story is about how the wife and children come to terms with this delicate situation.
The story briefly touches upon the lives of the various characters but none of them leave a lasting impression on you. It is a simple read with a shallow story and a kind of predictable ending. It definitely does not live up to the author's renowned books like 'Doctors' and 'The Class'.
You are right too PM, regarding Segal's work in "Class" ,this book is too predictable and filmy.