Vinegar Hill

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Summary: Nothing interesting happening, didn't go anywhere!
Review: So a woman lives with a lunatic, cheap, family. Nothing happened. It delves into the past of other family members for nothing critical to the story. I didn't get it, and was surprised that I could read the whole thing and not know anything.

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Summary: a bore from the begining
Review: I waited and waited for something to happen here and nothing ever did- I was bored from the begining but could not believe that nothing was ever going to happen- it was one of the most pointless stories I have ever read- The only thing that kept me from giving up was it was an easy read- not to wordy

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Summary: Any realist should enjoy this one
Review: This story was a sad one, but both realistic and engrossing. What most negative reviewers seem to have forgotten is the story takes place in early 1970's, and with that in mind, remains true to the times. Ellen was dealing with a terrible situation in the only way she knew how, and came through courageous and self-respecting. I cheered for Ellen as she toiled through her daily drudgery never losing sight of who she was, being able to see that greener pasture with all odds against her. How sad that her own family did not value her enough to see the misery she was dealing with, she was truly a woman alone trying to escape a hellish existence for her children's sake as well as her own. So many women of that era did not have the inner strength to fight and would've continued living in what can only be described as a "spirit-crushing environment". A. Mannette Ansay has written a winner!

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Summary: Vinegar Hill - Worth the Climb
Review: An intense, strongly written book! The subject, of a family moving back to live with with hellish relatives is depressing, and Ansay sugar coats nothing. From a psychological standpoint, the story shows how one event (in this case loss of job) can completely devastate and alter personalities, leaving family members trapped and unsure of what to do. Not a happy story at any point, but well written and impressive.

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Summary: No real plot
Review: This books plot just keeps going on and on. The funny thing is though that it hardly has a plot! If you like boring books that don't get to the point, this is for you.

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Summary: Vinegar Hill
Review: This book is not an easy read! I have to present this novel to my reading club in two weeks, I don't even want to pick the book back up! Come on OPRAH! Did you even read it?

Rating:
Summary: Subtle and Chilling.
Review: I was disturbed by the reviews of this book. Life is beautiful but it is not always kind, easy or clear. The book was about an unhappy woman who had difficulty leaving her husband. His family was religious, she was religious, the town was religious. Culturally, divorce can be a very big deal, depending, of course, on where you come from. If you want happy, read romance novels or check out the back cover of a book before you buy it. This is a well-written insightful elegant novel.

Rating:
Summary: hmmmmm?
Review: I understood the main character, Ellen, her desperate attemptsat putting together some sort of family unit. I do not understand herhusband, his insistance at going back to, and subjecting his family to an intolerable, horrific situation. That doesn't make sense.....Works from a female perspective..not from a male's. But a good read, even if not life affirming (or anything affirming) for that matter....asks more questions than it answers.

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Summary: A very depressing book
Review: I found this to be a hard read....and not a very good story line. The lead character is a weakling from the very start...so husband loses job and wants to move home with mommy.....NOT! Tell the bum to look for a job or throw him out...from the very beginning it was predictable that this woman was going to go through hell.....and it was of her own choosing... I have read only one other book from the Oprah Book Club that was worse than this one....Remember the one where a Mom goes to her reunion with her CHILDREN....what kind of person goes to a reunion with her children....come on Oprah, give us something better to read.....

Rating:
Summary: Are we there yet!
Review: Enough already! This book puzzled me from the beginning. I've made it a point not to judge a book immediately after completion, but rather to wait for that "aftertaste" that comes in the days after. If I find myself referring back to a book, whether it be positive or negative, then I feel it moved me in some way; which I think is what any writer's motives should be. The only time I thought about this book in the days after was when my cat knocked it off the counter and onto the floor and I had to go pick it up. Oprah usually recommends books worth reading. I'm sure the purpose for the recommendation of VINEGAR HILL was that she finally found her "spirit" at the end and gave herself some "oxygen" in order to give "oxygen" to the others in her life; but, PLLLEEAASSEE, we have to muddle through 240 depressing, suicidal, confusing pages to get to that lone paragraph on the final page to "get it." Take your Prozac before you read this one.