Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful
Review: I read some good reviews of this book and it sounded so great I had to have it. I read it in three days (would have been less, but I do have a life as a teacher and a mom and can't read all of the time, sadly.) It was a fabulous read, and as I expected, I was able to highly recommend it to my two daughters, ages 18 and 16. I love finding books we all like! (The Shipping News was one.) The characters in the book are SO beautifully portrayed and I loved the emotions, the sadness, the humor. I LOVED this book!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: This book is extremely well written and the story compelling. One feels one knows the varous characters, and comes to care very much about the Morrison children and the others in their rural community. The baby Bo and her older brother Matt are particularly appealing. It is rare to come upon such a wonderful novel; I hope the author plans on writing more.
Rating:
Summary: Done in one sitting.
Review: I read this compact story in one sitting. There's a quality to the narrator's voice that is intoxicating, a fine shimmering undertow that kept me reading. She is also adept at placing the small hints of charater and of plot of what is to come. Very sly. She is resistant to tell this heartbreaking story, both for the privacy of the other's as well as her own unexamined emotional life.A very excellent afternoon. She will have a fine following both as writer and storyteller.
Rating:
Summary: NEW AUTHOR MARY LAWSON A NAME TO REMEMBER
Review: A Literary novel emerging from a first-time writer is an event to cherish. Mary Lawson is destined to make a splash with her excellent grasp of novel craftsmanship in this, her first attempt at casting her line over the water. There is fine characterization: 'Mrs. Stanovitch arrived at least twice a week, heaving her bulk out from behind the steering wheel of her husband?s battered truck and puffing up the steps to the front door with two loaves of bread balancing on the top of a bushel basket of corn, or a leg of pork tucked under one arm, and a sack of potatoes under the other.' Drama too: 'They were outside still, and she was still sobbing with terror. He was holding her, helplessly, helplessness in every line of her body.' Twenty-six year-old Kate Morrison narrates the story of a rural Ontario, Canada family whose past saturates their present. It would seem that old family sins rise again in the following generation. Even older brainy brother Matt, whom Kate adores, hides secrets. When she finds them out, she meets them with resentment, and her hero worshipping of Matt evaporates. Life will never be the same. Other characters stand out: Aunt Annie with her wobbling chin, the handsome Pye brothers: This is a novel of depth, it is intoxicating and altogether overwhelming.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice read, interesting flashbacks keep you turning the pages
Review: I picked this book because I found it on someone else's listmania list and it was ranked fairly well. The story is written from the perspective of the main character, Kate. She is now an adult and college professor, but for the majority of the novel (and in my opinion the most interesting parts) she is flashing back to her childhood. Specifically, the flashbacks start soon before her parents are killed in an auto accident. She and her two older brothers and younger sister go through a series of events that are described beautifully through the eyes of a young Kate. These childhood events not only tell a lovely story, but also are influential towards the end of the book when Kate, as an adult, comes to terms with her and her loved ones' choices. This book I found to be a really nice read, not earth shattering, but a very lovely story.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Worth the Hype
Review: This book is a quick, easy read that lacks any real substance. I don't really understand why it's received so much acclaim. Like many other reviewers on this site, I am puzzled by Lawson's choice to frame this story in the conetxt of a "mystery". She frequently makes allusions to some huge tragedy that befalls Matt after their parents' death, and it was this curiosity to find out what this tragedy actually was that led me to finish this book in one afternoon. In fact, there isn't really any "tragedy", just a small series of unfortunate (but pretty common) events that happen to a lot of people. The ending is most definitely a let-down. Also, I agree with other reviewers that Kate is a very unlikeable heroine. I couldn't relate to her at all: I found her to be cold and judgemental, and as a result I had problems really becoming interested in her story. I think Matt would have made a far more interesting protagonist. Bottom line:This books is better written than most, but it is not at all a book that I would recommend to friends. More iportantly, this books is NOT reminiscent of Margaret Laurence or Carol Shields. (I've heard these comparisons mentioned in many book reviews that I've read offline, and I just don't see it). I love most books by either of those authors, and it is clear that this book just isn't in their league.
Rating:
Summary: The effects of surface tension on the biosphere
Review: Mary Lawson's terse tale of family tragedy, triumph, and every day dirty diapers in Northern Ontario ripples on many levels as the orphaned Morrison children make their way through muddy waters. Brother Matt teaches Kate the fine art of pond gazing, which she later makes into an academic career. Some stay up on the farm. Lawson makes Kate and the reader consider: Who's in the Backwater and who's living the large life? /TundraVision, Amazon Reviewer
Rating:
Summary: A Quiet, Compelling Read
Review: The Northern Ontario landscape comes alive under the pen of writer Mary Lawson in this novel which reminds us that wholeness depends emotional maturity. There are many paths to personal integrity, Lawson seems to say -- don't be so quick to assume that yours is the best way.
The novel moves between an academic setting in Toronto and the land of muskeg and mosquitoes that is the far north, the settings of the protagonist's current (and emotionally sterile) life and her emotionally intense and challenged past.
If you've spent any time in the Ontario northland, Lawson's prose will paint familiar pictures behind your eyes. The story's outcome is predictable, and some of the characters are too one-dimensional to be real -- but these flaws don't alter the fact that this book is an enjoyable read.
Rating:
Summary: A Page-Turner....
Review: I picked this book up having no idea what it was about and soon found myself immersed in the story trying to figure out what was going to happen next. It does have some slow parts, but I think there is strong character development and it kept me guessing up until the end.
Rating:
Summary: Touching Story
Review: Having lost parents at a young age, I could relate with the heroine, Kate. Her road of discover was interesting to follow along. I'm glad I picked this book up. It was a quick read; finishable in an afternoon. I felt a lump in my throat many times as I read the descriptions of the family's dirty home and as they suppressed the grief they were feeling.
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