...And Ladies of the Club

Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I ever read.
Review: Helen Hooven Santmeyer's "...And Ladies of the Club", is everything all the other reviewrs have said it is, and more. I would like to note, though, that Amazon.com has her name wrong. Her middle name is Hooven, not Hoover.

Rating:
Summary: Authentic period fiction!
Review: Helen Hooven Santmyer said that she didn't have to do much research for this book, just check a few dates, because she wrote what she knew. It took me quite a few tries to get past the first couple hundred pages the first time (as several other reviews also mentioned) but it's well worth the wait. The author's descriptions of people and places are so vivid and authentic, so Victorian, that it was hard to stop reading and come back to the information age. The aspiring writer in me is heartened that the author wrote this book in her 80s! An awesome, captivating book!

Rating:
Summary: I felt like I was living with the characters!
Review: Honest! I've read this book three times...and it won't be the last! An absolute must for anyone who likes reading about families, American history, friendships, relationships, love, sorrow, joy......I give it a l0 without blinking an eye; I'd give it a "12" if I could talk more people into reading it. The length scares them off. Isn't some Hollywood-type missing the boat here? I smell a mini-series all over the place

Rating:
Summary: History, family and small-town America
Review: I don't remember why I originally plunked down better than $20.00 to buy this book in hardback when it first came out, but I have since come to regard it as one of the best book investments I've ever made. I really came to love the characters in this book, and I am moved to tears in the end: by how inexorable time is, by the passing of characters who have come to be real to me, by, perhaps, the loss of a small-town America I am just old enough to have experienced the last remnants of. The author doesn't romanticize her town, but I think Norman Rockwell could have found a great many subjects to draw here -- the trotting race in the snow, the Fourth of July housewarming, and many others. I keep envisioning this as a miniseries (as I believe another reviewer mentioned) -- if anything has kept that from happening, I suspect it is the contemporary-with-the-book (read: not politically correct) views of the status of women and African-Americans. I still recommend this book without reservation. It reminds me a good deal of Thomas Chastain's "The Tontine" -- albeit a different time and place.

Rating:
Summary: This is a book to read over and over....
Review: I have read this book at least 4 times and each time I get something new from it. I have always been a student of the Victorian life and this book gives a vivid discription of the way it was, not all glamorous like some fiction. The people in this book are believable, as well as lovable. If you want to transport yourself to the 19th century, then this book is for you. Also, if you live in the midwest it will be a double treat to read about this ficticious town.

Rating:
Summary: An amazing work of Art!
Review: I have read this book twice through. It is the most wonderful piece of historical fiction ever written. These women are as alive to me as my real ancestors. I find myself wondering if there are any great great grandchildren still alive and then I remember its fiction! If you read one great novel in your life..this has to be it!!! don't let the size daunt you, it reads like dream and before you know it you will be crying because it has come to an end! Everyone will want to know What happens next!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: An amazing work of Art!
Review: I have read this book twice through. It is the most wonderful piece of historical fiction ever written. These women are as alive to me as my real ancestors. I find myself wondering if there are any great great grandchildren still alive and then I remember its fiction! If you read one great novel in your life..this has to be it!!! don't let the size daunt you, it reads like dream and before you know it you will be crying because it has come to an end! Everyone will want to know What happens next!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!!
Review: I loved this book!! It totally pulls you into the lives of the characters and you can't wait to continue reading to see what will happen to them next. It is a long book and still I wanted it to go on longer. I did not want it to end. It was wonderful.

Rating:
Summary: A book that you cannot put down
Review: I read this book about 10 years ago and have never forgotten it. When I first tried reading it, it took me 3 attempts to get past the first 2 chapters. But, once I made it past that hurdle I got so into this book with it's wonderful cast of characters, the time periods it covered and the setting of a small town that was growing that I wanted it to go on and on even though it was a pretty hefty book, over 1,000 pages. I have just purchased another copy because in some move or another I lost my original copy. I am ready to re-read this wonderful book - January is a perfect time to do this - the rush is gone, life is quiet and it's a wonderful opportunity to get into a book such as this one that just transports you right out of your living room into another time and era and mingle for awhile with some very interesting people. I cannot recommend this book enough for a great read.

Rating:
Summary: like visiting an old friend
Review: I reread this book every few years. It is like visiting with an old friend. In times of trouble, it is a comfort. In times of joy, it is an affirmation of the beauty as well as the wonder of the seasons of life.