Sam's Will.

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

For Rotchin, the grief caused by her father’s death was immediately followed by the shock of learning that she had been named as his executor, responsible for implementing the provisions of his will.

Sam Solomon (1913–1989) was a leading Canadian designer and manufacturer of women’s ready-to-wear clothing, plus he was an artist and art collector. His business was located in Quebec and he had a home in Florida, in an area where “women wear their tiaras well.”

In this memoir Rotchin recalls the chaos of the 13 years it took to settle Solomon’s very substantial and complex estate. She details many of the complications arising from joint ownership of an office building, the collection of tax rebates, distributing his art collection, and selling the Florida home. Along the way she had to deal with confusing U.S. and Canadian tax laws and a lawsuit from a former employee claiming he had been promised part ownership of Solomon’s business. Added to this is pressure from an eclectic mix of characters, including a negligent financial advisor, “pit bull” lawyers, hostile and suspicious family members, and Hasidic businessmen, leading her to the conclusion that “where there’s a Will there’s a war.” Occasionally she seeks stress relief by visiting the cemetery to direct her complaints at her father’s headstone.

At times Rotchin demonstrates that she is capable of writing with humour and grace, yet all too often she slips from that quality into a bog of poorly explained, repetitious details. Overall, the memoir is disappointing, capturing little of Sam’s life or personality. These weaknesses consign it to a very narrow audience of mainly family members and industry associates.