Rating: 
Summary: Grueling
Review: This book was so painful to read. The plot is sad and depressing and never gets better. The entire book carries an aura of "just can't win" and has no happy or redeeming moments. I had to make myself finish it and by the time I got to the end, I was sorry that I even bothered.
Rating: 
Summary: Disapointment
Review: I think this was a very disapointing book. I expected it to be a drama, but I didn't think that the end would be so negative or that after reading it I would be left with such a jilted feeling about the book. I just didn't find the quality epic I wanted to find through the main characters, and the neighbor and husband never redeemed themselves in my opinion. I am the type of reader that has a hard time putting a book down once I've started it. I feel like I've invested in it and I always think that good things will come... This is one of those books I should have just laid down and forgotten about.
Rating:
Summary: Not for summer reading..
Review: I read this book for summer reading and I must say it was the longest and most drawn out thing ever. I really did have a hard time actually sitting down and reading it. I even stopped reading in in July, read everything else I had to read, and decided I had to finnish it by today, for school tomorrow. The ending was terrible.
Rating: 
Summary: very good
Review: I like how she captured reality and her simple prose. It was slow, but if it were paced faster it would make it harder to relate to how the characters are feeling. I understand some might find it depressing, but hard to follow? The author breaks it down into 3 sections and is even nice enough to tell you whose perspective she's putting it in. Overall, I think it's a worthwile read.
Rating:
Summary: Depressing!
Review: God knows how or why I ever finished this book. It must have been a bad week for finding good books.
The subject matter was depressing, and throughout the entire book the story just seemed too fantastical and didn't ring true.
Frankly, since this book made Oprah's book club, I have refused to read anything else that did. It just left a bad taste in my mouth.
Rating:
Summary: Inaccurate details ruin story
Review: This just isn't an accurate look at small towns, school nurses, or farming. Too many details are so contrived they make the entire story unbelievable. No farmer would sew up his cow with a shoestring; school nurses do not work in a vacuum in a school - one just cannot be that isolated in a small town. I got the feeling the author had a plot, developed some characters, but attempted to create a setting she knew nothing about.
Rating: 
Summary: Ok, so she's a little disjointed....
Review: This novel is about Alice & Howard Goodwin, but it is mainly told through Alice's eyes. The novel starts off happily enough--you immediately get the feeling that Alice is a free spirit who says and does things without thinking. However, quickly the novel hits tragedy and it never fully recovers. The majority of the novel deals with everyone's reactions to the the tragedies in Alice & Howard's life. I got the feeling that none of the other characters understood Alice, and maybe that was the author's intent--to make her out to be someone noone would understand so as to better illustrate her isolation when she goes to jail. I also got the feeling that there wasn't any real substance to the marriages portrayed. Howard and Alice seemed to have gotten married because Alice got pregnant, but they didn't have anything in common. Theresa and Dan seemed to love eachother, but after Lizzy's death, it took a major event to get them even talking again. One thing I thought was really interesting was that when Howard brought the girls to see Alice in jail, that there were two completely different stories about what happened that day--pay attention to that--it illustrates their completely different temperments and outlooks on life. I think this is a WAY better book than "Book of Ruth" which I couldn't read. But don't read this book looking for accurate portrayals of life on a farm, or life as a school nurse.
Rating:
Summary: The toughest year of their lives
Review: Get ready for a depressing but gripping tale of a devoted mother whose life spirals out of control after the death of her neighbor's daughter, while in her care. Just when she seems to have hit an emotional rock bottom, she is dealt another blow: a disturbed student falsely accuses her of sexual molestation and she is carted off to jail, leaving behind two daughters, her Wisconsin farm, and her faithful(?) husband. The novel is written very realistically, exposing emotions and insecurities, strengths and weaknesses. Alice is repeatedly the guilt-filled victim--of a false accusation, of battery while in jail, and of her husband's infidelity--yet she has this unrealistic ability to forgive and understand. That's probably why I only gave this novel 4 stars--the main character's lack of anger is unrealistic to me. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the novel and find myself wanting to read another by Jane Hamilton.
Rating:
Summary: A revolting concoction.
Review: This book was terrible. It's horribly constructed, and Hamilton's attempt at 'graceful language' falls flat when wasted on such shallow characters. I have an exam coming up in less than 3 hours, and a good chunk of this exam rests of my ability to successfully write about 'mimetic desire' in relationship to Hamilton's travesty of a novel. How on earth I'm expected to come up with this sort of material, especially with such an intolerable work, is beyond me. Other problems include the storyline 'gracefully' grinding to a complete halt. Following the plot is like watching an old person slip into a coma. As well, I strongly suspect that very few readers have the patience to deal with Hamilton's abominable elements of self-pity and unrelenting stubborness. Oh, god, I could go on forever, but I need to start studying.
Rating:
Summary: An absorbing story
Review: I finished this book and actually enjoyed it! I was surprised to see so many negative reviews. I couldn't put it down!
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