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Summary: River, Cross My Heart
Review: The short description of this book sounded great; however, one could read the book jacket and get the same level of satisfaction as from the entire book. Was there a plot here? Did I miss something? I, too, kept waiting for something to happen and then the story ended. Also there were loose ends that were never resolved. What happened to the kitten? Did it live? What happened to Pearl? Why did Willie have a change of heart and decide to support Johnnie Mae in her swimming? Help!
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Summary: a pleasant read, if not a little too saccharine
Review: I liked this novel. However at times I thought it glossed overmany of the serious racial issues of the day. Breena Clarke has a niceeasy relaxed style which lends itself well to the subject matter. River Cross My Heart paints a graceful and profound portrait of life in an entire community in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington DC, 1925. I liked the portrayal of the closeness of the Afican-American family during this time and the sense of community which is efffectively described. The initial tragedy at the beginning of the novel does not diminish the affectionate eye that Clarke has for small town life. River Cross my Heart is a pleasant if not mediocre read. I feel though that it is certainly not one of the best Oprah Book Club books.
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Summary: What a let-down.
Review: I'm usually very pleased with Oprah's selections, but this book was a major disappointment. I almost stopped reading it several times because I kept waiting to discover the plot. Character development is pretty poor and the story line is practically non-existent.
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Summary: Another Aspect of Washington, DC
Review: This book stands out among the typical coming of age books. It combines great story-telling with geographical accuracy, and presents a charming story of African-American life in the historic area of Georgetown in Washington, DC.Clarke demonstates both a flair for telling a wonderful, though somewhat haunting story, and the ability to capture the essence of a character. It is a modern approach to the pre-integration era in the South I look foward to reading more of Breena Clarke's novels.
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Summary: For 2 days I became a young black girl
Review: Unbelievably beautiful, poignant writing that managed to transfer this reader right onto the pages of this author's very first book. The loss of a child, a daughter, a sister, is realistically achieved (and this reader knows of what she speaks). But, hope, love and survival shine through along with a caring community - despite pervasive racism and achingly heavy burdens. The funeral of 6 year old Clara was more a painting than a chapter, beautiful vivid and comforting. A book to dwell in, not an easy, fluffy read at all. Right up there with TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD - truly great literature, and hopefully the first of many from this author.
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Summary: Good First Novel
Review: I am a 13 year old girl. I purchased this book because I have read some of Oprah's Book Club books, and I have enjoyed some of them. This book has it's ups and downs. It is quite good in places, but slow in others. Clarke does give you a good sense of what is was like to grow up black in the 1920's. And, the charectars are easy to relate to. The main ones are: Johnnie Mae, Alice, Willie, Ina, and Clara.
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Summary: River, Cross My Heart
Review: I thought the book was slow at getting started, it couldn't keep my interest. I didn't connect with any of the characters, and I only finished it because I paid for it.
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Summary: Johnnie Mae and Clara...
Review: I have to say that this book may be one of the best that I have read this year! It is a beautifully written work in which readers are able to easily identify with the characters at all levels. From the struggling Johnnie Mae to the eccentric Ella, readers find themselves sympathizing and caring a great deal about the characters. Clarke's portrayal of Georgetown in the 1920's makes you want to go back and experience everything from the swirling waters of the Potomac, to the unrelenting river rats that have no fear. This book is definately a wonderful read and as a English Literature student, it definately tickles my fancy!
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Summary: Very boring
Review: "River, Cross my Heart" has good intentions, but in the end the author becomes so filled up with self-righteousness that the text dwindles down into a mushy puddle. This is an ok book-just ok, and the reaon for that lies in the author's inadept execution. This book has HEAVY undertones of both Eudora Welty and Toni Morrison, but those inspirations are short and sporadically disbursed. For a long time NOTHING- absolutely NOTHING- happens in this book, and the reader is not able to derive any significance from the characters or what they do therein. Perhaps the author thought her prose too significant to be taken for nothing, but in the end this book is just a mass of dead ends and characterless characters, scenes that stop in mid-action and lessons lurking underneath the surface. If you like this book, I suppose an afternoon of watching paint dry is a favorite hobby. Oprah, you done wrong chile.
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Summary: Social studies in disguise
Review: I fully agree with the Virginia Kirkus review quoted above: this novel is well-intentioned but as fiction it is anemic. It made me curious about parts of Georgetown that are certainly different now from the 1920s and earlier but the novel doesn't flow as a novel: one chapter doesn't lead to the next, there are no character transitions, etc. In one chapter Pearl is sticking her tongue out at Johnnie Mae and they're not getting along and in the next chapter they're best friends and appear to have been so for years. Plot lines appear but are never developed. There is a little friction between the mother and father which is never resolved (fictionally), and Johnnie Mae's Indian heritage is mentioned enough that you expect something to be made of it, but it's not. The social studies aspects of it are interesting and this might be good for classroom (social studies) reading but it falls short in terms of the plot and character development working together. I finished it only because our book group decided to try it. And now I'm sorry we are reading it as I don't even think it will good for a discussion. What I don't understand is why this was an Oprah Pick. Oprah's endorsement has now lost a lot of credibility with me.
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