Rating: 
Summary: If you like spineless people who drone on in misery read thi
Review: Very hard to get into the characters. They are all droning on about how unhappy they are.I couldn't figure out the plot. Just a lot of stupid miserable people with no manners, and no life. This book just does not compare with any of the other Oprah Whinfrey picks. Just a monotone of sick, non dimensional people. A real disa pointment. This one is definately not a book I would recommend.
Rating:
Summary: Quite disappointing
Review: I have read a few of Oprah's picks and this one has to be the worst! Where are the characters that you feel something for? I kept thinking, WHO CARES, but kept reading, hoping that I would grow to care for them. I liked one character -- the mother who killed the babies! She should have been expanded on -- she was the only one who knew the doldrums of the daughter's life to come, and for the readers to come as well!
Rating: 
Summary: A Morbid Book
Review: The book is morbid. Pessimistic and sometimes simply ghastly. Ellen does not know what she wants. There seems to be hatred everywhere and no character is well defined except maybe Amy's (?) The reader keeps waiting for something definite something that will finally emerge from the haze but is sadly disappointed. Nonone in the book is sure whether they can be happy or disgusted about any particular thing and what is left is a a half-formed unhappy taste, a feeling of unsurety and ambiguity. A book that I would have gladly missed.
Rating:
Summary: Vinegar Hill is fitting title
Review: --as this is the sourest, most depressing bunch of people I've read about in a while. I assume we were supposed to feel for Ellen as she struggled against oppression, but I found her and the rest of this crew totally unredeemable and tiresome. Beyond the morbid turn of the story, there are too many side stories and subplots that leave you wondering, "Why?" or just, "Huh?" I bought this book about a week before it hit Oprah's list. If I'd known she was picking it, I probably wouldn't have bought it as I have found most of her picks to be celebrations of whining women or minorities. The only one of her picks I've really enjoyed was Ernest Gaines', _A Lesson Before Dying_.
Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable, but not enthralling...
Review: This is another story of a woman struggling to reclaim her life amidst the tangled mess of in-laws, husband and children, and family history. Thematically quite relevant and thought provoking, this book touches on one aspect of what seems to be a central theme in Oprah's book-picks -- that of women truly finding themselves amidst the mess of every day life. The circumstances are intriguing, the theme is timeless, but the characters were not as fully developed as I would have liked. Also, the story line always hints at truths and insights that are never convincingly revealed or illustrated. I enjoyed this book, but it wasn't enthralling. Easy to put down, easy to pick back up.
Rating: 
Summary: Bittersweet- sad and compelling
Review: I wasn't sure if I was going to like the book when I started it because of its sad and somewhat hopeless situation that the characters find themselves. The writer does an excellent job of pulling you in and emphasizing with the main character, Ellen. I found myself becoming frustrated with her and at the same time admiring her for staying as long as she did. It is a painful journey but the book is worth staying with until the very end where I found myself applauding Ellen for doing the inevitable.
Rating:
Summary: hard to continue reading
Review: I found this book a little too difficult to pick back up, and start reading, maybe it was because I was distracted at the beach, but I wasn't that surprised by the ending, I think Ellen should have come to her senses alot sooner, and James needed to find his back bone! The book was somewhat enjoyable, though, not meaning to cut the book apart.
Rating:
Summary: Sad, wistful book
Review: This book had a lot of emotion in it. I could tell that Ellen, the protagonist, was suffering. That was made clear through her interactions with her husband and her in-laws. She was in a loveless marriage and it was easy to see her despair. So, on that front, I think the book was a success. I did, however, want more-- more depth, more action from Ellen, something more. If there was one thing this book did do for me, it was to show me that it's better to be on your own than to be with a man who just doesn't do it for you. And that's a worthwhile lesson.
Rating: 
Summary: A Book That Stays With You
Review: This as a book about a woman we all know, a woman who is determined to make her marriage "work"--for the sake of her family, for the sake of her children, because of religious beliefs--when it is clear to everybody (except her) that the marriage is over, that she's only hurting the very people she wants to protect by staying in it. I got very frustrated with Ellen for refusing to act, but I also understood her, having played the "Barb" role in a friend's life, trying to urge her to wake up and do something. I read this book in two sittings, and I was so grateful for the way it ended. I highly recommend it, especially to someone who has found it difficult to leave a bad marriage because of religious (Catholic) beliefs about divorce.
Rating:
Summary: In-Laws from Hell ................
Review: This is a story of Ellen Grier who together with her weak and unemployed husband and her two children return to the small town of their youth. As a result of financial problems, they move in with her irascible and depressing in-laws. A strong tale of misguided love and loyalties, shocking secrets and loveless marriages in the 1970's. A time when there was no support groups and women had few choices if any, and a time when divorce was not an option. Ansay writes well. Sadly though I have read too many other sad tales of dysfunctional families which seem to be ever popular at present - they do not interest me. Overall a very well written book if you are interested in this genre.
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