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Summary: HANGS TOGETHER ALL THE WAY THROUGH
Review: I READ A LOT--LOTS OF VARIETY---LATELY I HAVE BEEN DISAPPOINTED WITH ENDINGS OF BOOKS...THEY START OFF GREAT ONLY TO GET WEAKER AND UNSATISFYING AT THE END. WHILE I WAS GONE TAKES YOU ON A READERS VACATION UNTIL THE LAST PAGE. I DISAGREE WITH THE READER THAT SAID THE CHARACTERS WERE NOT DEVELOPED...ACTUALLY SHE WAS NOT A READER..BUT ONLY LISTENED TO THE TAPE...THE CHARACTERS WERE HIGHLY DEVELOPED AND JO'S RELATIONSHIP WITH HER HUSBAND WAS QUITE BELEIVABLE...I AM AT THE AGE WHERE MY CHILDREN ARE GETTING "OUT OF THE NEST" SO I COULD RELATE TO JO'S FEELINGS. THERE IS SO MUCH GOOD PHILOSOPHY IN THIS NOVEL....THE WONDERFUL SERMON DANIEL GIVES...THE IDEA THAT PEOPLE HAVE "TO TELL"....THE REVELATIONS ABOUT WHAT KEEPING SECRETS CAN DO TO PEOPLE AND THE PEOPLE AROUND THEM....THIS BOOK IS A WINNER...AND I WAS REALLY GETTING TIRED OF OPHRAH'S CHOICES BUT I HAD FORGOTTEN TO BRING THE BOOK I WAS READING (A GOOD MYSTERY.... JUDAS CHILD BY O'CONNELL...SO I BOUGHT WHILE I WAS GONE IN THE MEMPHIS AIRPORT...
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Summary: If you came of age in the 60's
Review: If you were a teenager or college student in the 60's you'll recognize the time in this book. It took me back to my time living with a group of friends in an apartment in 1968. The lifestyle in the commune house was so familiar to me, I could see why Jo Becker had longings 20+ years later to go back to that free and adventurous lifestyle. We were so free and open back then! There is a terrific surprise in this book when she runs into one of her old housemates so many years later. I was truly not expecting this turn of events and could not put the book down after that twist, until I learned how it ended. Great story!
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Summary: GREAT PLOT - KEEPS YOUR ATTENTION FROM START TO FINISH
Review: At first glance, I was not sure if the book would appeal to me but the author has written some interesting books in the past, so it was impossible not to read this one. The book has a terrific plot and a writing style which has put Sue Miller on the bestseller lists.It is a book filled with emotions and conflict. If you have ever had someone from your past surprisingly reappear in your life, you will be able to relate to this story and identify with Jo. You know the feeling...suddenly you are twenty again and all the world is beautiful, filled with excitement, passion and wonder. You can almost forget all the broken dreams and disappointments you have experienced over the years. Jo is a woman who seemingly has it all, a career, husband and children. Then as life would have it, she encounters Eli, a man from her past, with a past all his own. Thrown into this intriguing tale is a old murder, a new affair, and a message that "the pasture is not always greener on the other side of the fence." Trying to recapture lost youth can bring a very high price. The one detail that prevented me from giving the book a five-star rating, was the fact the characters appeared rather weak. They lacked substance and depth in a plot filled with so many mixed and strong emotions. I had the feeling they were rather subdued as if going through the actions, but with an infinite amount of fire and attachment. Overall, it was still a book well worth reading.
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Summary: Do people really live like this - only in a novel
Review: One previous reviewer who said that this book raised some real moral questions was right on point. Unfortunately, the author raises the questions but in a way that makes the characters unrealistic. My first advise to Jo (or what ever she chose to call herself) was that she should have let the dead lay dying. What happened in the past should have stayed in the past. I listened to this book on the abridged audio cassette so maybe I missed any development of Jo's relationship with her first husband. But I felt that she "kind of did him wrong." She just got up and left one day. Maybe the hurt she inflicted on him came back on her eventually with Daniel. Frankly, I did not like the character of Jo. She was just as much a liar as other characters in the book. For an audio book it kept my interest, but I had real problems with the plot. Do people really live this way? And a minister's wife also? Did Jo have any involvment with her husband's church? From what I heard she didn't even go. I guess you could say "read it and weep" but I would say a liar is a liar and judge not less you be judged.
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Summary: Yearning for the Past
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book and whilst I didn't always sympathisze with Jo's struggle to let go of her past, I had no trouble forging ahead quickly with this well written novel. To me, a great deal of what Jo clings to is not what happened in her past but of what she feels she missed out on from her past. Her difficult relationship with her daughters stems from the opportunities they are seizing in their youth but which she did not seize upon, despite opportunity, when she was "away". I admit that the ending was not quite as dramatic as I anticipated it to be, but in retrospect, some of the potential endings I was envisioning would have probably been too melodramatic. Sue Miller instead takes Jo to a place in her life where she finally accepts and appreciates the life and family she has.
Rating: 
Summary: A real time waster
Review: I kept waiting for something to happen and it never did! I thought the characters were uninteresting to say the least and all I wanted was to get finished with it.
Rating:
Summary: An engrossing read
Review: I disagree with the many readers who disliked this novel. I thoroughly enjoyed it and felt really immersed in the main character and her situation. The writing was lovely, purposefully written in a somewhat languid fashion that set a distinctive tone of pensive contemplation. A deep exploration of the hurt and pain a couple experiences when suffering a partner's infidelity. A realistic portrayal of anguish.
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Summary: A real snoozer
Review: I kept waiting for this book to get more interesting, for something to happen. I was disapointed that nothing ever did. I felt it was a weak story that the author attempted to disguise with her overuse of descriptive language. There are much better Oprah books out there to read. This is the only one out of ten which I didn't like.
Rating:
Summary: Disjointed and melodramatic
Review: This book had all of the elements of a great story. Unfortunately, the author didn't deliver a great story. The writing was clumsy and disjointed, the dialogue was melodramatic and unbelievable, the characters were not very likable, and the ending was disappointing.
Rating:
Summary: Worth the read? You be the judge....
Review: I kept waiting for this book to get exciting and stay that way. It would grab me for a brief moment encourage me to read a little further then it would lose momentum. The narrator is constantly jumping around from past to present. After a while it became monotonous. I disagree with one of the previous readers about the narrator being the murderor and her reasons for doing so. But I did feel that the narrator was immature (even in later life) and a liar. There were so many characters and sub-plots (ie her relationship with her daughters and her mother) but nothing gets fully developed. I think the author should have consentrated on several aspects instead of trying to pull together in the format that she did. Generally speaking it was a book I couldn't wait to finish. But unlike some novels this couldn't be skimmed because it was too easy to get lost....never knowing whether the character is in the present or thinking to the past or dreaming about the future. I'm glad it is finally done! It's not a book I will recommend to any of my friends or relatives. It would bore them to tears and only frustrate them.
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