Rating: 
Summary: Tedious
Review: Would have made a good short story, book was too long and tedious. Had to force my self to finish, not worth purchasing.
Rating:
Summary: TOO DEPRESSING !
Review: I read this book because I have enjoyed other Oprah selections, but I think this choice was certainly not the best one. I found the characters to be almost unbelievable and Ellen especially seemed too resigned to the hopelessness of the situation for such a long time. The fact that she finally pulled herself and her children out of this quagmire of doom did not make me like her very much. I can't believe that a woman would let this torment last so long especially for the children she loved. Better late than never? Not necesssarily-- Especially in terms of reading this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Somewhat disappointed
Review: I enjoyed reading this book. Ansay has a beautiful writing style. I thought the characters were well developed, and the story moved along at a nice pace. However, I was terribly disappointed with the end of the book. The entire book was dreary, and focused on the dreariness of the lives of the characters. The only thing that happened to the characters was that they realized how dreary their lives were. We don't know if she went through with her plans at the end of the book. There was no closure. I saw no hope in Ellen, only bitter tolerance. She no more than tolerated everyone around her. The book left me feeling annoyed and disappointed. I give it three stars only because I enjoyed the author's writing style, and enjoyed the book up until the very end.
Rating: 
Summary: dark, with a promise of hope
Review: I read this book on Christmas day -- the first complete book I had read in one sitting in a long time. It was depressing but I stuck with it because I was rooting for the character of Ellen to do the right thing for herself and her children. I loved how the author brought the in-laws, her husband and her husband's aunt's issues to light. She made me feel for them, despite their horrible behavior towards Ellen and one another. Reminded me that even horrible people have a history and a sadness inside. And while reading I wanted to have a chat with Ellen and tell her to be there for her kids. I loved this book.
Rating: 
Summary: a "brilliant, bitter book"
Review: One of the back cover reviews said this was a "brilliant, bitter book" and I agree. I found this book hard to put down--I read it in less than 24 hours. Many of the characters do horrible things to one another--I wanted to yell at them, especially when they were emotionally abusive to the children. Though it's frustrating to read a book about people like this, I see it as a sign of how skillfully Ansay writes--the characters seemed real. It is not a book that will please conservative Catholics or those who argue that feminism has hurt the family--Ansay clearly thinks that a big dose of feminism was needed to help fix the all-too-often-present pathologies of male-dominated traditional families. It made me happy, as a woman, to live now rather than the early 70s.
Rating:
Summary: Good writing, lousy message
Review: Despite my low rating, I actually enjoyed reading this book. Ansay's writing is wonderful if you like (as I do) the meandering "academic literary" style. The characters were realistically drawn, even though their personalities were well outside the normal realm of behavior. My problem with the book is that I disagreed with its message. The main character, Ellen, makes the decision to leave her husband and abusive in-laws to salvage her life and give her children a bearable future. Ellen's struggle is supposed to be seen as a difficult, yet admirable choice, but the cards were stacked in such a way that this ending was the only reasonable outcome. The male characters were all mean and lazy, the Catholic Church chauvinistic and grossly inept, and the female characters had been victimized by society's gender roles. Rather than depicting realistic options for dealing with a dysfunctional family, this book simply endorses the feminist mindset that it is better for an unhappy woman to break up her family than live in an oppressive situation. There was no ray of hope, no middle ground, and no serious attempt to explore or even acknowledge the dangers of divorce.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting but incomplete
Review: The premise of this book is great and easy to get into, however when you reach the end you're left with an unsatisfied feeling that nothing was really resolved. Lots of dysfunctional family problems/issues (some really horrifying), yet the book ends abruptly without addressing many of those issues. It's almost as though the writer got tired of the story and felt the need to wrap it up quickly.
Rating:
Summary: I loved it!
Review: A. Manette Ansay's expressive text creates a novel for your senses. Her language draws you in and gives you the ability to smell, taste, hear and see the story which she has crafted. Her thought-provoking tale is unsettling and all too real. I would definitely recommend this book to a friend.
Rating:
Summary: I throughly enjoyed this book
Review: Yes I bought this book even after reading the discouraging reviews. Yes it is a dark book, at times I could only read for 15 min. before I had to put it down but then picked it up again in 1/2hr. What you have to remember is the times, being the 70's the church was still rather stringent. You see Ellen going through misery after misery and you want to say "Hey girl get out" but you have the pressure of family and church keeping you in a bad situation and it's easy to see her plight. It's remarkable that she did make the decision that she did. I would encourage anyone who enjoys a book for making you stop and think to read this one.
Rating: 
Summary: What a depressing useless read
Review: Vinegar Hill was terrible. Not only was it depressing but, it wreaked of hopelessness. What a terrible, meaningless, a-spiritual read! Shame on Oprah for recommending such a waste of time book.
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