Rating: 
Summary: Good Reading/Good Harbor
Review: As a native of Gloucester, the story relating to a beach that I have sunned on numerous times put smiles on my face. Although I have not read, but have tried reading "The Red Tent" I still place Good Harbor high on my favorite reading list.
Rating:
Summary: Good Harbor/Safe Harbor
Review: I purchased this book solely because I was so moved by Diamant's The Red Tent. Good Harbor did not disappoint and I found myself greedily devouring each page well into the wee hours on the am. High praise for any book that can keep my sleep deprieved self awake. For women in my age group (not tellin') the value of the company of women was never appreciated. Always on the go, trying to be superwomen, the luxury of cultivating these relationships was not an option. Only later did these friendships receive the importance that they deserved. Like a beacon in choppy seas, Diamant's good harbor reminds us the safe harbor one finds in the arms of a friend.
Rating: 
Summary: Quite a disappointment...
Review: Following on the heels of her marvelous novel The Red Tent, Anita Diamant has disappointed any readers hoping to re-experience the breadth and magnitude of Tent. She has chosen to focus on two women with a shared past transgression and a marginal link of their Jewish faith. Pedantic and "preachy" this novel glosses over true-to-life female friendships in an unsatisfactory fashion. I was disappointed in this book and would not recommend it based on the authors previous works.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Harbor - Good Story
Review: I enjoyed this book very much because it made me realize how important female relationships are. As a woman I found that we are always told that we need a man to complete us...this story demonstrated the crucial need that women have for one another...not to replace men by any means, but how important it is to have another woman to share our lives, dreams, sins, children with. I was disappointed that adultery had to be part of the story. I felt it was totally uncalled for and marred the storyline rather than build it up. All over, a good by the fire with a cookie and hot chocolate kinda story.
Rating:
Summary: Tale of friendship
Review: This is a wonderful tale of friendship. This wasn't as good as Red Tent, but was still a book that really held my interest.
A great story for women.
Rating: 
Summary: Nothing like the Red Tent
Review: I was expecting a book in the same league as her first novel, and didn't hesitate to buy her hardcover. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. It may be unfair to critique this book by comparing it to The Red Tent, but The Red Tent made such an impact on me and in the world of book lovers. Maybe Diamant should have written more about Good Harbor, as the title suggests and less about the friendship. The characters were pretty plastic and the friendship seemed manufactured. What attracted the two women to each other and why did Joyce do what she did? Kathleen and Joyce never felt real to me and I'm not sure that they were real to Diamant. And parts of it were just so contrived that they were unbelievable. I kept getting the impression that Diamant was just trying to quickly fill the pages with the two women and one major event after another to get this book out in the stores. What was very real however was Good Harbor, the rocky shores, the smell of the ocean, the sunset, Kathleen's garden, in fact all of Kathleen and Joyce's surroundings. Maybe, that was more real to Diamant too and therefore chose Good Harbor as the title. Overall, the story was interesting enough and it kept me reading. I hope Diamant takes just a little more time and care with her next book. It sure would be worth the wait!!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful story of female friendship
Review: I loved this book! I have not yet read The Red Tent and had no preconceived notions of what Ms. Diamant's book would be like, but I loved it. The story of Kathleen and Joyce made me yearn for more time with my own best friend. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: The men are the only characters who do anything
Review: While this is ostensibly a book about women's sensitivities to friendship, the women in question didn't exhbit any insight into themselves or - particularly - to the needs of their families. In fact, the men in the book are the ones taking chances, trying new careers, driving and cooking on command. A book about them would likely have been a lot more interesting. Ladies, get a life! And readers, find another book that's a lot more fun.
Rating:
Summary: a good read!
Review: I felt such a connection with this book that I read it twice--once tearing through it, amazed by the many (not all!!) parallels between the book and my life, and again more leisurely to see what I really thought of it as a book. OK, this may not have the literary heft of THE RED TENT, which I read after GOOD HARBOR--perhaps accounting for the divergence between my views and the disappointment of those who picked this up expecting another RED TENT. And there are places where the devices in the plot showed as just that. But despite that, I enjoyed the book, and find myself thinking about its themes weeks later. Diamant clearly understands how easy it is to walk through our comfortable but hectic suburban lives without really connecting with one another, the emptiness that comes with that, the yearning for community, and the power of friendship.
Thank you, Anita!
Rating:
Summary: Harboring emotions
Review: Katleen is 59 years old, happily married, with two grown up boys, when suddenly her life is shaken by a diagnosis of breast cancer. Joyce is 42, a freelance writer, married, facing the hardship of dealing with a typical adolescent daughter, when she feels the need to change her life. They meet at a synagogue get-together, and a friendsip strikes between both. They go out for long walks at the beach, their dialoque touching on the dilemmas of the present and eventually revealing ghosts of the past. Daimant's core theme in her new novel "Good Harbor" is friendship, more specifically friendship between women. She does tackle on a number of other issues such as marriage, infidelity, guilt, and community life. The two main characters remain rather shallow, never fully elaborated, as much as their daily life seems to mellow. There is a lack of dynamics, of energy, of strength, as if neither one truly commits herself to life. They are indeed pitiful women, physically surrounded but lonely in their inner-self, struggling with feelings they find hard to share. To what extent this is a reflection of our present society? The narrative is subtle, very poetic when it comes to describing the beautiful setting, but rather laconic when it gets to dialogues. There is an ever-present feeling of somberness, a tragic sense of how repression of emotions affects the life of individuals. Diamant has failed to the expectations from readers who are familiarized with her previous novel "The Red Tent," and to a certain extent understandably so. A writer has many facets, and in "Good Harbor" Diamant strikes a chord she finds difficult to deal with and share.
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