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Summary: A Classic dysfunctional Mother/Daughter duo
Review: Let's face it, there are very few mothers and daughters that can claim their relationship doesn't have SOME element of dysfunction in it. Perhaps not as exaggerated as Amy and Isabelle, but maybe that's why I liked the book. It was like a good soap opera- and I've been known to like those too. The story starts out slowly and builds to a wonderful, shattering breakthrough for both mother and daughter. Readers will find Isabelle a little odd- and too extreme to understand at first. Stick with the book and you'll understand why later. Amy, on the other hand, was the perfect characterization of a teenager. Says (when she speaks at all) very little to Mom about what her life is really like, and acts in a very typically rebellious way. Smoking, skipping school, hangs out with a "tough" girlfriend,-even necking with her teacher. (But of course, who could blame her for that- he's the only one in the book who really showed her any "love" in the story- if that's what it was). I thought it was a good embellishment on what real life can be like between mothers and daughters. If the book makes you uncomfortable, maybe you had a one of those rare, more perfect experiences with your mother than I did. I liked this book a lot. It got better with every page.
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Summary: A Journey Through an Open Wound
Review: This book is particular to America's class system. Its focus is on a woman bred in a confined structure built to achieve social acceptability. She has an illegitimate child at a time in American history when there was no social acceptance of bastards from woman of working and middle class. She establishes an identity for herself as a widow in a new town where she rears her daughter. It is painful to watch Isabelle's attempts to gain admission into the town's society. She keeps her daughter on a very short leash to prevent her from making the mistakes she made. And her daughter has no idea of why she's so seemingly being punished. When all of the scabs from Isabelle's wounds are reopened, she finds friendship and consolation and integrity in her working class peers. From them, and from their ability to receive from her as well, her path, and thus her daughter's, are changed. In this book the town is a character, the weather is a chracter, the society is a chracter, and most prominently the socio-economic caste system is a character. The depth of representation of these blue-collar women was magnificent by the writer. Isabelle's journey from the hollows of rigid containment to her summit of honesty was an oppressive ride for this reader, but I did not want to leave them until I saw them through. To the writer I wish to say, I found this a perfect read. Thank you.
Rating: 
Summary: reads like a supermarket novel
Review: Originally, when I read this book, I thought it was going to be a deep exploration of mother/daughter relationship and a "literary gem". It turns out to read like a little paperback, it's certainly not literary. I found the small town setting to be too stereotypical. I thought a lot of the side stories were undeveloped and the characters were one-dimensional. It was almost like the author needed some filling to keep the story from becoming just about mom and daughter. It felt like I was "reading" a soap opera and not a very good one. Because of its soap opera quality, the story line was totally predictable. Also, I found Isabelle and Amy to be very annoying people, especially Isabelle. It was hard to sympathize with her.
Rating: 
Summary: Not that Good
Review: Amy and Isabelle Elizabeth Strout Random House 1999 ISBN 0375501347 H.C. A mother daughter story that was once good but now is troubled. This is real life stuff. IT has been a really hot summer in the town Shirley Falls in New England. THe citizens of the town are bothered by the crops were not right and the pole beans are small and shriveled on the vine and the carrots were no bigger than a child's finger. Amy Goodrow and her mom Isabelle have even bigger problems, Amy has fallen in love with her high school math teacher Mr. Robertson and the teacher has encouraged the relationship. THE author makes you feel the summer heat as if you were there but most of all you feel as if you are a helpless family member who can not speak up or mother or daughter will be angry so you hold back. When Isabelle finds out she is so horrified to realize that her anger against Mr. Robertson is not as bad as the rage she feels for her daughter I felt that the mother daughter relationship could not of been that good if Isabelle had harder feeling for her daughter than she did for this adult teacher, he should of been dealt with very harshly. I could never take the stance that Isabelle took with Amy.
Rating: 
Summary: Boring, irritating, disappointing drivel.
Review: This has got to be one of the worst books I've read in recent years. I was encouraged to read this book by the good reviews it got and the idea for the story, but I was quickly disappointed. The first and foremost thing that Ms. Strout seems to have forgotten is GOOD CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT! Her main characters, Amy and Isabelle, had absolutely no depth to them. I felt like I knew Barbara Rawley, Dottie Brown, and Fat Bev better than them. Amy is very unrealistic as a teenager in the 90s; I should know since I *am* a teen. Ms. Strout seems to think that all teen girls do is hate parents, smoke, and exclusively use 'f' and 's' every chance they get. Contrary to popular belief, teenagers do have a larger vocabulary than that. Isabelle was very icy and a little mad with the jealousy. It got to the point where I was looking at Ms. Strout's picture on the back flap and thinking *she* was Isabelle. Another thing Ms. Strout forgot about was good plot development. The "main" storyline was about Amy, Mr. Robertson, and Isabelle--and it went NOWHERE! Whatever happened to Mr. Robertson? It seemed to fizzle out 3/4 of the way through the book as secondary lines took center stage. Isabelle's reaction to Amy's affair was unbelievable. I don't know a mother who'd be so jealous of her daughter as to chop off her hair, yet minimally angry and the 40-something man who legally raped her daughter. That's mad! Ms. Strout also has a problem with dialogue. She can toss around curse words like they were embers of a cigarette, yet has to write "BM" instead of "bowel movement". She also seemed too interested in the digestive systems of her characters, going so far as to include descriptions in a sexual scene. Her ending was also too forced. It was too sugar-coated. No one can forgive and forget overnight! It's a long process to accept "secrets from the past", as well as the loss of a love (or lust) object. Yet, pop a Valium and your troubles were gone! It was a real chore to read this book, and it amazes me how highly people have regarded it.
Rating:
Summary: a frustrating read
Review: I read the book on a recommendation from a friend. While the mother daughter relationship was very interesting, I found myself much more interested in the lives of the peripheral characters than in those of Amy and Isabelle. I became frustrated with the way they never communicated. I didn't imparticularly like Amy or Isabelle but found myself loving the OTHER characters in the book. The story was rather quirky and very unlike anything else I've read.
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Summary: We Loved This Book!
Review: This was the 10th book for the CORBEL Book Club. We thoroughly enjoyed this one. It's hard to believe this was the authors' 1st book - it was very well written and kept our attention. All of us were really upset with Isabelle for not being able to see what was happening to Amy. Isabelle is so worried about being prim and proper and never (until the end) takes the time to help Amy. It was tragic that Isabelle was so lonely that she was actually jealous of her daughter's "relationship" with her teacher. How sad that she tried harder to become part of a social group than she did at being a Mother. Amy just wanted love, acceptance and encouragement. It's a shame that the only one who wanted to give her that was the pervert Mr. Robertson! Adding the characters from Isabelle's office was a nice twist in the story. It was great that these ladies offered Isabelle some acceptance and helped to open her eyes. "With a little help from her friends",Isabelle begins to show compassion at the end of the book. Great book! We look forward to the author's next one.
Rating:
Summary: Deserves six stars
Review: This is a must-read book for anyone who has ever been a daughter or a mother. The tension and drama of the conflict in this story is one that evokes many emotions. The multi-layered plotting keeps the reader intrigued. The author's use of language is superb. I am looking forward to reading more of this author's novels.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Wonderful
Review: I could not put this book down. In fact, I read it for four hours straight traveling from San Franscisco to Chicago and at one point was warned I would hurt my eyes if I continued (unknown to me, they had shut the lights out on the plane). Anyway, I don't have much time for reading, but I found time for this book. Highly Highly recommended. I have not been able to find a book this great since and hope the author has a new book coming out very soon.
Rating:
Summary: I LOVED THIS BOOK
Review: The writing was beautiful and evocative. I enjoyed the book so much that I found myself carrying it around with me in my purse so I could read it at odd moments - on line in the department store, for example! I wanted to finish the book yet I never wanted it to end. This was truly a great first novel and I look forward to her next book(s). Was I the only one who thought, at first, that the dead teenager had been killed by Mr. Robertson? That would have been a more sensationalistic ending, of course, and perhaps the book was better this way. But it seemed to me that it could have been an interesting concept - that Robertson was a killer, so perhaps he really did like Amy just a little bit because he didn't kill her. And - by the way - do other people think that Robertson was the one who made the obscene phone call? Robertson was an incredibly vile character. The Robertson character, at first, reminded me a little bit of the older seducer in Anita Shreve's latest book, Fortune's Rocks (which I also enjoyed, by the way), although the character in Shreve's novel had a lot more redeeming qualities than Robertson. The scene with the hair cutting was terrific. It actually made me say "oh my god" out loud in the fast food restaurant where I was eating my chicken sandwich. People must have thought I was a bit strange. After so much description of how beautiful her hair was you wanted to reach a hand out and grab Isabelle - say no, no, don't do it. One more thing - don't you think Evelyn Cunningham was just a little bit too nice to Isabelle? Great book, highly recommended.
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