Rating: 
Summary: I feel that I know the girls.
Review: I thought this was a wonderful book. I was sad when I finished it because I wanted to keep the enjoyment going! I couldn't wait to open it every day and I would read it for hours. Just when you think you have the answer you are suprised all over again. I found that I was able to feel for every one of the characters. Reading is about losing yourself into another time another place and that is what this book did for me.
Rating:
Summary: Luminous, Beautiful Story
Review: I didn't think I would like this book, but within 20 minutes of starting it I was hooked. This is one of the most lovely books I have ever read. The characters are each so intimately crafted, the story is like a beautiful opera, the ending so incredibly sweet and redemptive. Although the characters are riddled with faults, there is true goodness in them. They get lost, they find their way, they are each somehow heroic. Although the story is so large, the intimacy of the detail is magnetic and rich. The poetry of this story reminds me of Toni Morrison's novels.
Rating: 
Summary: Falling out of interest
Review: Had trouble with the voices. Did like the changing viewpoints but each voice remained static. Almost like each character remains a child to the point you lose track of each of their ages. The torment by Catholicism--stereotypical, overwrought. Just don't see the value of going into these dark waters. No balance, no triumph for any character, nothing learned. The inter-ethnic/religious relationships were interesting. Lily's character could have delved into how those with handicaps dealt with/overcame prejudice. The repetitious gore serves no purpose after awhile.
Rating: 
Summary: Depressing!
Review: Good grief! Could there be anything more depressing than this book? I would have quit reading about 1/3 of the way through, but I just kept thinking it would get better. It didn't. You couldn't even like the characters. They were all so plagued with problems- guilt, anguish. I had heard high praise for this book, but now I'm left wondering why?
Rating:
Summary: Powerful!
Review: Definitely a page-turner! I could not put this book down- I think I finished it in 4 or 5 days. MacDonald's characters came to life on the pages. The reader can feel their happiness, heartbreak and loneliness. I was disappointed when the book was over. I was dying to know more! I have been burned by Oprah books in the past and pretty much swore them off for a long time, but I picked this one up on a whim and what a pleasant surprise.
Rating:
Summary: Simply Good!
Review: Okay, I'll admit, when I first began reading this book, I was starting to feel a little negative and I wanted to stop. I'd just grown so tired of reading about extremely dysfunctional people all the time that I wanted to feel inspired for a change. But then, what do you know... The novel and its characters just drew me in. It's true that the themes of this book are a little on the serious side, but you can't help but feel like you know the characters that you just want to keep on reading to see their story unfold. It's that kind of book. And because you just get so involved, it's likely you'll turn back to the first few pages the moment you're through just to check up on things you might've missed the first time around. That's how attached you'll be to the characters by the time you reach the last page. You almost hate for it to end.
Rating:
Summary: A Book With Everything But A Story
Review: This book is full of it: inter racial marriage, statutory rape, parental neglect, physical and sexual abuse, war, psychotic parents, a minor "exotic dancer", the religious daughter, attempted murder, lesbian relations, adulterous relations, a father raping 2 of his daughters and a child produced from one of those relations, and much more. The back of this book should read "How screwed up can a family get? Just read this book to find out." I was very disappointed with this book. How can one family be so deranged? The fact that there was no storyline was not what was disappointing but rather that there seemed to be no end to the madness that is truly unbelievable. Don't buy this book, save your money.
Rating:
Summary: ImGrateful
Review: Wonderful book! The writing has a character of its own and is enough to pull you into the story. Once in, you're hooked by the characters and the richly unfolding plot. One becomes part of their world and the end of the book feels like the loss of an old friend. I couldn't wait to finish it but cried when it was over.
Rating:
Summary: Well worth your undivided interest...
Review: This book is one of the best books I have read in a long time. Despite people's comments below, I love the fact that MacDonald has a way with writing that makes you think. I love the craziness of these characters, and that everyone is not a cookie cutter copy of characters we see too frequently in other novels. The interaction with the sisters / daughters is impressive, as well as the network of people involved in their lives. If you're in the mood for some creative writing that's going to make an impression on you, pick up this page turner.
Rating: 
Summary: Intriguing
Review: As the story unfolds it draws you in deeper and deeper into the family's unmentionable secrets. Not until the last sentence does the gravity of the family's undoing hit you full force.
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