The Inn at Lake Devine

Rating:
Summary: Really, really cute
Review: Calling Elinor Lipman's work "cute" is a bit of injustice, but that's just how I felt about this book. After reading this, I felt the same way I feel coming out of a great romantic comedy movie, all warm and fuzzy inside.

The book follows Natalie Marx who becomes intrigued/obsessed with an Inn who, when she was a child, did not allow her family to vist because they were Jewish. Natalie whowever, manages to find a way into the Inn through non-Jewish friends, and her commentary about the Inn and it's visitors, and the family who graciously allows her to vacation with them is hilarious. (And the gentile hottie Natalie becomes involved with is a pretty cool storyline too).

The back of this book contains a quote from the Chicago Tribune calling it a "punchy little comedy of manners. . .Think Jane Austen" and although way too many female authors get compared to "modern-day Jane Austens" this description actually fits. I highly recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Very entertaining summer reading
Review: I had 2 hours to spend at Davis-Kidd waiting on a printing order and decided to just read something entertaining instead of looking at every book on the fiction shelf.

This was the first novel I had read by Lipman but was hooked by the title. Yes, sometimes I do judge a book by it's cover.

The story had just enough seriousness to it to give the characters depth...like Natalie...I thought the development of her encounter with prejudice and how she handled it through the years was an excellent portrait. What other smarter than the average kid growing up in the 60's did not want to "get back" at someone for being haughty, prejudiced, or snooty?? Let's teach them a lesson, right? We all want to believe that there is some good in everyone...even if there is not. And, of course, if there is not then we must try to change them! Natalie was idealistic but it was really sincere.

The rest of the story follows what happens to the people that Natalie meets as they pass through summertimes into young adults. Oh, also it gives a portrayal of the grownups as they get older and some of their pre-conceived notions and generations of traditions are torn down.

As I said, I read it in 2 hours and found myself laughing out loud in a very quiet bookstore setting. I'm going to buy copies for my friends.

Rating:
Summary: A True to Life Treasure
Review: I really enjoyed reading The Inn at Lake Devine. I could really relate to Natalie as both a child and a young adult.

Who hasn't felt like an outsider without really understanding why. This novel touched on so many different feelings - anti-Semitism, love, grief and so much more.

From Natalie re-uniting with her childhood friend from camp to her relationship with the family at the inn (I don't want to ruin anything for those who haven't the book yet) - let's just say that her relationships are complicated.

This was a fun read from start to finish and I definitely plan to read more of Ms. Lipman's work.

Rating:
Summary: Not Lipman's best
Review: I'll reread any of Lipman's books multiple times - except this one. Boring and disappointing finish.

Rating:
Summary: Self centred heroine slighty spoils things
Review: Like most readers here, I love Lipmans stuff. This one was slightly marred for me though by the selfishness of the central character.

I felt she was judgemental and a bit of a hypocrite. She made such a big deal about Gretel getting off with the deceased's brother, but when she herself was wooed at the Inn, it was all about romance, and in the best possible taste. While Gretel may have been an irritating person, she was in her own home, and Natalie was the visitor. I felt this quite a few times throughout the book!

I thought it was actually a bit cheeky how the two couples so neatly inherited the Inn at the end (sorry, plot spoiler), and cheerfully put their parents out of business. If Natalie resented Ingrid so much, why didn't she just stay away from her?

I enjoyed the book immensely but I've noticed Lipmans' heroines being selfish in other books too and it has really pi**ed me off! I suppose you just feel like stepping into the pages and giving them a good shake.

And was it just me or was Linette such a sypmpathetic character because she wasn't particularly glamourous - and therefore posed no threat to Natalie? Just a thought.

Rating:
Summary: a great, quick, fun read!
Review: Natalie Marx as a child goes beyond irreverence to confront anti-semitism and try to uncover its causes, inspired by "The Diary of Ann Frank". The reader is led to believe this daring child will mature into an adult who is willing to fight against injustice, but instead she makes jokes and instructs her Wasp boyfriend in Yiddishisms. She becomes really cute. What a sellout.
The book also sets up a great villain with Ingrid Berry but doesn't explore any of the potential for a denouement with Natalie, who as a child tried to torment her with first with crank phone calls, then getting herself invited to the restricted Inn.
Lipman writes well, and can create good characters; did she lose interest after the first chapters? Kris, the boyfriend, had been fat as a child, and presumably also, like Natalie, felt like an outcast, but this is not explored.
All the main characters sound as if they could be played by movie stars, even the quirky Linette.
After setting us up for cultural confrontations, the Jewish girls marry their Wasp hunks with no sparks flying. Again, even comedic possibilities are unexplored. Everyone lives happily ever after.
This book could have appeared in a 50's women's magazine.

Rating:
Summary: Intriguing start dwindles down to lackluster conclusion
Review: The first chapter really had me - a twelve year old's indignation at her family's exclusion from a Vermont resort because of their religion. Natalie's revenge tactics were amusing, thought provoking and admirable.

I eagerly read on, hoping to see how Natalie would deal with this bit of discrimination - how it would affect her life and shape her as a person. After all, it occurred at a crucial "coming of age" point in her life, so there was the perfect opportunity for Ms. Lipman to plunge into an intriguing storyline.

Instead, it felt as if the following chapters were written by someone else using the classic pattern of girl-meets-boy, girl-loses-boy, girl-finds-boy-again. What this story lacked was a stormy confrontational scene between Natalie and the villainess who discriminated against her. I never got a true feeling for Natalie's concern for her Jewish heritage, even when Yiddish words were hastily tossed into the stilted dialogue towards the end.

When the story concluded, there was no real lesson learned by either protagonist or antagonist. There was no life-affirming changes, no maturation of character, no revelations or final acceptance.

Truly a disappointment since this had some real potential.

Rating:
Summary: Ummm.... Summer Reading, If The Beach Is Closed...
Review: The protagonist is rather obnoxious, though given, her crusade is a righteous one. To fight anti-semitism is a noble thing; to set out to destroy the anti-semite, perhaps, is not. I was left wondering whether true love had conquered all, or true revenge.

Rating:
Summary: Ummm.... Summer Reading, If The Beach Is Closed...
Review: The protagonist is rather obnoxious, though given, her crusade is a righteous one. To fight anti-semitism is a noble thing; to set out to destroy the anti-semite, perhaps, is not. I was left wondering whether true love had conquered all, or true revenge.

Rating:
Summary: Funny and charming
Review: This is my favorite book by Ms. Lipman. It is funny and heartfelt, with memorable dialog and characters. I find one seen in particular, where the main character is riding with a host family counting down from the top a hill, especially hysterical.

Great reading - summer, fall, or any time of year.