Rating: 
Summary: Ready to Have End
Review: This book seemed a bit too long to me. While there is a good plot and enough secrets to keep you turning the pages, I still don't see the warrant of three hundred and four of them. The story between mother and daughter is a good one, albeit a unique one. While I thought it covered a fairly common topic, that of a mother and daughter and a daughter's introduction to her sexuality, the mother and daughter are so unique, it makes for a very different story. I enjoyed the all-knowing narrator that could tell of things to happen in the future and let us glimpse into the other lives around town. I almost think there were more stories in the townspeople lives, then in just Amy and Isabelle's. The hottest part of the book comes on the last day of school when Amy and Mr. Robertson finally act on their afterschool yearnings. At the end of the book, I didn't long to learn what happened when Amy met her new relatives or wonder what happened between the new mother and daughter. That in itself tells a lot about my concern for the characters and involvement in the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Great read
Review: This was a great book of a mother and daughter, with plenty of detail to make it more realistic. I did enjoy the extra minor characters, as they added a bit more to the story.
Rating:
Summary: A Mother and Daughter Both Discovering Themselves
Review: Amy and Isabelle is an excellent book which tells the complex nature of a mother/daughter relationship. Both Isabelle (mother) and Amy (daughter) are very well developed characters who are both searching for their own place and meaning in the world. They appear to have absolutely nothing in common, but eventually come to terms with their differences and discover the love they truly feel for each other. The characters in the small town of Shirley Falls are all involved in their own small dramas that make the book highly entertaining. I would like to read more by this author; it is a very well written book.
Rating:
Summary: Poignant tale of a mother and daughter
Review: I must say there were times during my reading of this book when I wanted to scream at both Amy and Isabelle. Amy for her stupidity and naivety and Isabelle for her rigid and cold demeanor. Amy's obvious need for comfort and love is endearing though and that what's gets her into the situation with Mr. Robertson (what a jerk!) Isabelle's journey though with Amy and her co-workers is hopeful and the end makes you think they will be fine. One particular aspect of the book I enjoyed was how the author takes you into the lives and minds of other characters. Just when Isabelle thinks someone else's life is perfect, we get a glimpse of what their life is really like..ie..Barbara Rawley and Peg Dunlap.
Rating:
Summary: Under-spoken
Review: This book is very moving because it shows you how much you really have. When I read this book I noticed how much support I got from my friends and people around me. MY family and I aren't very close but once in a while we talk which I didn't think as very much but through this book I noticed that I have more than Isabelle or Amy had. Not communicated makes everything worst and you need to compromise and except others for them.
Rating:
Summary: Full of heat
Review: Amy and Isabelle is the story of a mother and daughter who reside in Shirley Falls, a small town where everyone is in the know about everyone else's business. The members of the church and the ladies who work with Isabelle at the mill spend countless hours gossiping over who's doing what. Isabelle, closed-off and reserved, works hard to remain that way, and refuses to let herself get to know or be known by anyone. She is the quiet one in the office, the one everyone assumes is stuck up. Appearances mean a great deal to her, and she is extremely careful about maintaining a degree of Godliness whether she's in front of others, or by herself. Amy, her daughter, is a shy fourteen year old who spends her school lunch hour smoking cigarettes with the one girl who she's close with. She feels empty inside when having to listen to her friend discuss her relationship with her boyfriend. Amy longs for attention, and finally finds it when the new substitute teacher at school, Mr. Robertson begins to show an interest in her. When Amy comes of age sexually, Isabelle reacts in the only way she can think of to do so. The conflict drives a wedge between mother and daughter who are forced to ultimately re-examine their relationship, as Isabelle finally comes to terms with her past.
Rating: 
Summary: Ultimately Predictable
Review: AMY & ISABELLE is the story of the classic conflict between a mother and her adolescent daughter taken to a fictional extreme...the novel is beautifully written. Still...the plot and, especially, the conclusion ultimately is predictable.
Rating:
Summary: different to what l imagined
Review: The front cover of this book led me totally astray. I read the edition that had a picture of the interior of a car door, and I expected a 'travelling' novel. Instead I got a story of an uncomfortable relationship of a mother and daughter, stuck in the heat of summer in a small town. Daughter Amy is in need of affection and sets her sights on her math teacher who makes her feel special. Mother Isabelle is a nervy quiet woman, trying to fit into a small community without the locals discovering her past. There are many sad and awkward moments in this book, as the community begin to learn more of Amy and Isabelle and their lives, good and bad. All in all it is an interesting read of a dysfunctional mother/daughter relationship interspersed with other town characters, some well written, others a little one dimensional.
Rating:
Summary: A small table for two....
Review: Amy and Isabelle are a mother and daughter grown more distant with each passing year. Completely out of touch, yet each dependent on the other, their private existence is circumscribed by loneliness. Loneliness makes Amy vulnerable to any attention by a man, and when one of her teachers notices her, Amy's imagination creates a scenario that never exists except in her mind. Throughout the story Amy refers to this man as Mr. Robertson. In Amy's youthful mind, Mr. R must be as obsessed with thoughts of her, as she is of him. But, of course, he is well aware of the inappropriateness of this attraction, able to walk away without a second thought. Isabelle, the mother, lives a quiet, solitary life, one that is built upon a dark secret, a lie structured to accomodate acceptance in her small town. All of Isabelle's identity is derived from the care of Amy, intent upon teaching her daughter structure and values. She is blind to the pathetic needs of this fragile sixteen year old, until confronted by a harsh reality she cannot avoid. In a moment of helpless fury, Isabelle hacks off her daughter's long hair, an act she deeply regrets but is unable to change. Through the extended grace of two friends from work, Isabelle is finally drawn into the circle of friendship by her own desperate isolation, and she learns to comfort and to be comforted. In turn, Isabelle reaches out to her daughter, finding a renewed sense of self in this act. In time, Amy sheds her fears and steps out from her mother's world and into her own. I would like to see more depth in the characters, but the prose is sparse and clean. I found myself wondering how the movie would be, if the actors would define Amy and Isabelle, giving them more texture and likeability. However, many people love the book written in this simple style, so it is probably a matter of personal taste. What I would give 2 stars, maybe 2.5, other reviewers may give 4. It is ultimately up to the reader to decide.
Rating: 
Summary: Mother and Daughter: A Sacred Union?
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The author did an excellent job of portraying the personalities and traits of the characters. I haven't seen the movie if it's been on yet, but from reading the book I know I would have still enjoyed the book more. Elizabeth Strout has depicted how tenuous the relationship is between a mother and daughter. She also portrays how vulnerable teenagers can be while at the same time she makes you realize how important it is for children to grow up with love and acceptance. If not, teenagers grow up with complexes and an awkwardness that they wouldn't have if they received love and acceptance at home. No mother can know everything their child is doing, but when a mother is so involved in her own problems and fails to acknowledge how frail and vulnerable her daughter is it leaves the door open for so many terrible things to happen. The book is very intense and I was completely caught up in all the dynamics going on in Shirley Falls of which there were plenty. Anyone interested in reading about discovering love between a mother and daughter will definitely want to read this book.
| 
