Rating: 
Summary: Not impressed with Oprah's choice
Review: This is the first time I decided to try one of Oprah's recommendations. I was dissapointed. Yes, the story kept moving. That was one pleasurable thing. The author did an admiral job in connecting the reader to the characters. It didn't take long drawn out descriptions to identify the core of each player's personality. This helped the book be a very fast read. However, it was too simple a read. I enjoy a little more challenging, deeper, thought provoking novel. When it ended, my only thought was..."that's it?" I was not impressed.
Rating: 
Summary: No wonder Oprah chose this one
Review: The first test of strength for the main character is one of the strongest narrative hooks I have read in an extremely long time. This is a slice-of-life novel focusing on two years in the life of Julie, a young woman who has to learn the hard way what it actually means to be a real woman. The characters are full of flaws--as is most of humanity. In the end, the reader realizes that s/he has invested much in this character and her small family. No wonder Oprah chose this book as a book club selection.
Rating:
Summary: Don't quite see what all the fuss is about
Review: This book was OK. Based on the recommendation of the book in "what we're reading" on this site, I had it on the pile of books "to read sometime" by my nightstand when Oprah chose it (and being a big Oprah fan, I immediately read it). One positive thing is that the heroine, Julie, is extremely likeable. However, there were plot elements that didn't make sense to me (if she is such a hard, tough, nononsense person, then how does she make the silly mistake that seems to trigger a chain of ruin in her and her husband's lives?) and the litany of one disaster after another was a little hard to take. Another plus was the detail in which farm work is described (very realistic if you've ever seen a hog butchered, by the way, or cleaned a turkey yourself). However, the only character that seemed to have any subtlety was the the heroine. Her husband, mother-in-law, and sisters are all flat characters that seem to have only one major character trait (negative) a piece. I didn't see what the point of the marital infidently scene was, since it doesn't contribute additional information to the characterization of the husband or the heroine and it doesn't seem to play any role in the plot (which is pretty one-toned, if you asked me). The very limited character development in this book "didn't bring me anything but down," sadly: Julie is a hard worker when we meet her and that doesn't change, but every time she has a moment of happiness, it's crushed. Nonetheless, these experiences don't seem to have any effect on her.In short, the book is OK and I did read it all the way to the end, but I'm not sure it really rated the bestseller status that Oprah's selection is sure to give it. I'll have to read Oprah's website and find out why she selected it.
Rating:
Summary: **AN ABSOLUTE TREASURE**EXCELLENT READ!
Review: Julie Harmon will become one of the great heroines in literary history. The story takes place in 1899 to 1900 in the mountains of North Carolina. With a father with lung disease, Julie and her sisters must work the land for the family to survive. Julie is unlike any other young woman of the times - she has a desire to meet and marry a nice young man. After witnessing the agonizing death of her brother and suffering the hardships of being the "man" and essentially the leader of the family, Julie finally marries, leaves her family and moves with her husband down the mountain to Gap Creek. The young couple face numerous obstacles, challenges and hardships during their first year of marriage. This is her story. A great read and I heartily recommend it. If you like this, you may want to try THE TRUEST PLEASURE and THE MOUNTAINS WONT REMEMBER US, also by Robert Morgan.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant!
Review: This is a novel about a very poor young couple living in the Carolina mountains after the Civil War and their hard, hard lives. The work of day to day living back then was mind-boggling! The characters go through many trials and tribulations - fire, flood, extreme poverty, deaths of loved through and clean up after a flood; childbirth. This book reminded me of the book "Christy" and "Strangers in the Forest". Very realistic, very well written, amazing to us modern day folk. I only wish it had been longer, I hope there is a sequel featuring the young couple.
Rating: 
Summary: An enjoyable, authentic portrait !
Review: The book is very well written, with authentic (yet non-distracting) language of the location and era. The descriptions of the environment and day to day tasks are vivid. Morgan does a good job creating "real" people, with with real frailties, real fears, & real joys. The characters are relatively young at the beginning of the story, and it is satisfying to see them use their (mostly tragic) experiences to grow into mature, self-assured adults. Having grown-up in this area of North Carolina myself, I can say Morgan has quite a talent for capturing the essence of the place. The smallest details are there--the language, commonly heard first-names, typical religious services, daily tasks, the weather--everything that makes it what it is.
Rating:
Summary: A bit gritty, but worth it!
Review: I wasn't sure if I would like this book. With its title being "Gap Creek, a story of a marriage". Hmmm, how mundane? Not really! This book has a very strong character in Julie. I found myself respecting her and her decisions and feeling discomfort in her agonies. She was above it all (as a woman)...really, she could chop wood to heat a house, carry her sick brother for miles, slaughter a pig (quite a gruesome scene by the way) and even deliver her own child by herself. Yet, she has real emotions and letdowns that you can really relate to. The book, being set in the time period that it is, makes the lives of these mountain people excruciatingly difficult, and you find yourself being grateful for the local "Piggly Wiggly" and modern medicines. There are a couple scenes that are quite gritty...for example the slaughtered pig scene (as aforementioned). I am not an animal activist mind you, but this was like 4 pages of pig guts and gore...yuk. All in all, I really found myself enjoying the book, I read it quickly and didn't want to put it down. I was reading the Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison at the same time, and had to put that one down for a day or so...ugh! I found this book much more entertaining and enjoyable.
Rating: 
Summary: Ridiculous!
Review: I checked out the audio version and could not get past CD 4. The constant "I said/he said..." drove me crazy. However, the worst thing about it was the unbelievably dreary story line and how unrealistically mature and introspective Julie was. Her character, for all she went through, was actually one-dimensional and predictable. All the book amounted to were detailed descriptions of country life and too many down home southern sayings. It was one trial after another with ridiculous "tough" insights by Julie. This was not realistic! Do not waste your time on this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice read!
Review: I recently finished reading the novel "Gap Creek, The Story of a Marriage" and was fairly impressed by its message. A young girl endures and survives an upbringing in the rural mountains of Appalachia. Withstanding merciless grief over too-soon deaths in the family of mostly females, her fate is to be forced into a life of hard physical labor to support and sustain the family of her mother and four sisters. Julie successfully persists with this way of life until meeting and marrying. The story unfolds to reveal a young couple, married with too little money and too many woes. One particularly gloomy afternoon in their days old marriage, Hank strikes Julie. Julie is devastated, although a strong woman, she could not and will not stay with an abusive husband, but after a revealing visit from her mother-in-law, soon realizes what may have caused Hank's error. The young couple survive countless horrific tragedies driven by poverty and misfortune during their new life in this strange place called 'Gap Creek'. This is a story of a young unfortunate couple who may have lost each other along the path of a hard life, but have remarkably, through the power of love, forgiveness, hard work, and perseverance, find their way back to each other with a renewed sense of respect, commitment and triumph. There is no doubt that they are survivors and that they will continue to survive - together.
Rating:
Summary: A WONDERFUL SHORT NOVEL
Review: Actually, there is not all that much not to like about this novel. The writing is extremely well done, excellent character developement, flowing prose and a story well told and of hope. The author certainly did his research on this one and pretty well nailed the background of the time and place. I am not a great fan of The O's book club selections, but certainly had to agree with her on this one. Unlike the "Spotlight Reviewer" here, I do see why all the fuss was made over this work. It is good, simple as that. Perhaps I am not jaded enough or lack a certain level of sophistication, who knows. Now don't get me wrong, not everyone enjoys the same thing, the same genre, etc. but most folks can and do appreciate good writing and a good story by a good story teller. With this book we have that. Recommend it highly.
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