Rating: 
Summary: Too Cliché
Review: The themes in this book are not new or original, and the stereotypes drawn on German-Catholic-Small Town- Midwesterners are almost too pat. I found the pace rather slow, and was waiting until the last sentence for Ellen to get a grip, get her children, and get out. The plot thread of the two murdered infants was just a little TOO easy, yet at the same time too preposterous to be believable. It seems hard to believe that in the late 30's/early 40's, the deaths of two infants would go unquestioned. I wasn't convinced that Mary-Margaret's character was so warped because of her abusive husband. And the elderly aunt: the name Salome didn't seem believeable either, and her character was really nothing more than a sinister hulk in the background.I've read much better books, but this one wasn't the worst I've read. Just wish it had been a little more satisfying.
Rating: 
Summary: Superb
Review: Truly a book for everyone. Fans of stories like The Triumph and the Glory or The Testament will like this book. People who liked The Reader or Memoirs of a Geisha will like this book. People who liked Stones From the River or The Pilot's Wife will like this book. Readers who enjoy the Oprah books will LOVE this book. It has everything one could ask of a book. A vast range and scope of human emotion and experience is encapsulated into this book, in a very eloquent manner. Don't miss this one, it is unforgettable.
Rating:
Summary: Dark, compelling, and elegantly written
Review: This is one of those books can't put down even though it disturbs you. It's something like a car wreck of a family life. You're simultaneously drawn in and repelled. I think it speaks volumes about Ansay's talent and gift as a writer. She simply has a great sense of language and tone. I highly recommend her other works -- none as dark as this but equally engaging -- River Angel, Sister, Midnight Champagne, and Read This and Tell Me What It Says.
Rating: 
Summary: Bitter as vinegar...
Review: This book left me cold. The stuggle between feminist independence and old style religion was too cliche. I had a hard time liking any of the characters. They all were content to accept their meaningless lives. I had heard good things about this book and was eager to read it. I would not recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: So true to life its scary !
Review: As a 39 year old married man from a small town I see real life all through this book. Fritz is not able to break the cycle of the overbearing person he is, just as his son can not pull himself out of the hole his father pounded him into. I think all of us feel like Ellen from time to time in our lives. This is a very good true to life book I enjoyed the lessons it taught me.
Rating:
Summary: Vinegar Hill
Review: I have read many, if not most, of the Oprah's Book Club books. I have enjoyed the majority of them, albeit in varying degrees. This was my least favorite. It was slow-moving. I hung in there waiting for something to happen, some thread of hope, some reward. Although the reviews on the book cover say the reward comes in the last sentence, it wasn't a big enough reward for me. I don't have the patience to give 2 days to reading a book for one quasi-fulfilling sentence.
Rating: 
Summary: Vinegar Hill
Review: I cannot believe that his book has received such favoirable press. The characters are all weak and the plot is one big run-on-sentence. I mildly enjoyed the chapter on Christmas, which was the book's real climax. Unfortunately, I had about 200 pages to go. Nothing is accomplished and nothing resolved. I have never hated a book as I do this one. What a darn waste of time...and money.
Rating:
Summary: Vinegar Hill
Review: A beautifully written book that draws you into the story of a couple moved by circumstances to live with the husband's parents. Stingy with both affection and money, the man's parents provide a home as cold and austere as the Wisconsin winter in which the novel begins. Ansay balances the precision of style of a true wordsmith with the compassionate perceptions of a skilled observer as she explores the ways Ellen, the young wife, finds the strength to deal with her increasingly distressing situation. This book looks at relationships, control, and dirty family secrets in ways that may make you wince in empathy if not recognition. But it also considers resilience and inner spirit, and in the end leaves you with hope. Read this book, then read the others she's written. No doubt about it, Manette Ansay is a fine writer.
Rating:
Summary: vinegar hill - food for thought
Review: Vinegar Hill is an eloquent and gripping story depicting the intergenerational transmission of family violence, and the way in which cultural forces both sustain and reinforce it. The author writes with a clarity and maturity that belies her years. She explores the impact of violence on each family member, and offers important insights on the means by which people attempt to resist its grip. I hope readers will not brush off the experience of this family as problems of another era -- this is too often a reality for many families even today.
Rating:
Summary: Didn't live up to the "hype"
Review: I guess I expected this book to be some sort of masterpiece after hearing all of "Oprah's hype" about it. I should have trusted my instincts. I almost never like a book that Oprah suggests. But I wanted to read this book because I had read "River Angel" and liked it. So I wanted to see what else Ansay could do. I didn't like any of the characters because I didn't feel that any of them HAD any character, except maybe Amy. I had heard that the mother-in-law, Mary-Margaret, was the villain in this piece, but I thought Fritz and James were much, much worse. And Ellen must have been born without a spine. It really angered me when she was going to follow the ambulance to the hospital and Amy asked to go along, and Ellen told her to stay home with her horrible grandfather. What kind of mother would do that? James' character made me so sick I wanted to shake some sense into him. Sadly, I've known a few men like him and I think they are just beyond contempt. And finally, the constant moving back and forth between past and present tenses made me crazy. It made me very disoriented. Will I ever read another Ansay book? Doubtful.
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